VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS: Prayers not enough to consign terror to the past

Visitors entering the compound of La Ghriba walk past a large stone memorial – inscribed in Arabic, German and French – to the 19 people killed at the synagogue on Djerba in 2002. Like any such plaque, it is also a prayer: the local people’s and Tunisian government’s hopes and wishes for such terrorist attacks to be consigned to the past.

When Jewish News was at the synagogue this week, hours before the deadly attack on Tuesday, the heavy security presence was clear a mile from the site. Armed police carried out checks on vehicles leading to the village of Erriadh; others stood guard under the trees around its pretty main square.

Our reporter mixed with other pilgrims wandering the quiet streets to see the murals of Djerbahood and stopped at one of the kosher cafes before joining the thousands who, protected by a concrete crash barrier and airport-style bag scanners, pray in front of the stone said to have come from the first temple.

The 2002 bombing was targeted at Germans: 14 of the dead were German nationals. The attacker this week, reportedly a Naval officer, shot dead two pilgrims.

His ability to carry out the attack is particularly shocking in a country which appears to be doing all it can to ensure the safety of La Ghriba’s visitors, who are mainly Jewish but also Muslim Djerbians who have embraced the synagogue’s heritage.

Jews in Tunisia have lived peacefully alongside Muslims and Christians for centuries but the country will have to work harder, and find new strategies, if it is to succeed in keeping its visitors safe.