Tunisian Jew arrested in Djerba, social media claims arrest politically motivated - report

Videos were published showing groups of Jewish citizens attempting to break into a police station and block roads leading to it on the island in protest against the arrest.

 A Tunisian Jewish man walks in Hara Kebira, the main Jewish quarter in the resort island of Djerba, during the annual Jewish pilgrimage, on May 24, 2024.  (photo credit: FETHI BELAID/AFP)
A Tunisian Jewish man walks in Hara Kebira, the main Jewish quarter in the resort island of Djerba, during the annual Jewish pilgrimage, on May 24, 2024.
(photo credit: FETHI BELAID/AFP)

A Jewish man from the Tunisian island of Djerba was reportedly arrested on Sunday after having been sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison, according to Arabic media and the Tunisian Jewish community.

Videos were published showing groups of Jewish citizens attempting to break into a police station and block roads leading to it on the island in protest against the arrest.

Several reports on social media claimed that the Tunisian Jew’s arrest was due to his stance on the Israel-Hamas War. A prominent account called Al Kasserine said, “A Tunisian Zionist returned from Israel after he was involved in the war on Gaza.”

The Tunisian Jewish Community Authority, however, denied this, saying in a public statement that his arrest “was the implementation of a final judicial decision sentencing him to seven years in prison in a public interest case involving the burning of a car, the events of which date back several years.”

The authority said on Sunday that some “digital platforms and social media sites have circulated inaccurate news regarding the reason for the arrest of a Tunisian Jewish citizen on the island of Djerba on Saturday.”It asked people not to be swayed by rumors.

Protests over arrest

According to Al Alhurra, citing a security source, the man’s arrests reportedly led to large protests from the residents of his neighborhood, Haret El Yahoud. The same source also denied that the arrest was politically motivated.Mustafa Abdel Kabir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the man was sentenced to death in absentia, as he had been residing in the capital before returning to Djerba.

Djerba is home to most of Tunisia’s Jewish community, numbering about 2000 people. Most of the Jews live in Hara Kabira (the bigger quarter) and Hara Saghira (the smaller quarter), which includes the famous El Ghriba Synagogue, one of the oldest Jewish synagogues in North Africa.