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Tunisia’s Jewish pilgrimage and Tuesday’s shooting, explained
(JTA) — When a security official opened fire outside a Tunisian synagogue during a pilgrimage on Tuesday night, killing two Jewish pilgrims and two security guards, he shattered what was meant to be a day of sacred celebration for the country’s Jews and their compatriots around the world.
The shooting at the synagogue in Djerba, an island in Tunisia, is the deadliest attack on the holy site in more than 20 years. It brought tragedy to a public celebration of Jewish life at Africa’s oldest Jewish house of worship.
Here’s an introduction to the Jews of Tunisia, the annual pilgrimage to Djerba and how the community is reacting to Tuesday’s attack.
Who are the Jews of Tunisia?
Jews have lived in Tunisia since ancient times. Archaeological evidence has shown that there was a Jewish community in the area that once surrounded the Roman city of Carthage, and Jewish life continued to exist there as the territory was conquered by Muslim empires, France and Nazi Germany. During the Holocaust, the Nazis seized Jewish property, put thousands of Jews in forced labor camps and persecuted them in other ways.
Tunisia gained independence in 1956. During and after Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, Jews endured an increasingly hostile environment, including antisemitic riots and the torching of a synagogue in Tunis. In the years that followed, the vast majority of the country’s Jews emigrated, shrinking a Jewish population that once may have numbered more than 100,000 to around 1,000-1,500 today.
What is the Djerba synagogue, and why does it host an annual pilgrimage?
Tradition has it that the synagogue on the island of Djerba was founded at the time of the destruction of the First or Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in either 586 BCE or 70 C.E., and contains a stone from the temple. Today the synagogue, which was rebuilt in the 19th century, has rows of benches, brilliant white-and-blue arches as well as an outdoor arcade and other resplendent design features.
The synagogue’s name, El Ghriba, means “the isolated one” and comes from another legend. According to “A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations,” published in 2013, local Jews long ago found the body of a girl who lived and died alone — but whose body was miraculously preserved.
That incident was also the inspiration for the annual pilgrimage on the holiday of Lag B’Omer, which takes place each spring, a little more than a month after the beginning of Passover. Pilgrims who come to the synagogue pray, dance, sing, feast, light candles and write their wishes on hard-boiled eggs.
In the 1990s, the pilgrimage attracted some 10,000 people, according to a report in The Conversation, and attracts thousands today. Since 2011, Israelis have been able to enter the country for the pilgrimage even though Israel and Tunisia do not maintain diplomatic relations. Attendance dipped in the years following the 2011 Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia, and the pilgrimage was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Djerba Jew praying at the El Ghriba Synagogue in 2012. (Wikimedia Commons)
Has the synagogue ever been attacked before?
Yes. In 2002, al-Qaeda set off a truck bomb near the synagogue that killed 20 people, most of them German tourists, about six weeks before the pilgrimage. Tunisia’s government denounced the attack and paid to restore the damage.
And in 2018, five men were arrested in connection with a firebomb attack at the synagogue. A suspicious fire also broke out at the synagogue in 1979.
How will this attack affect the pilgrimage?
Tuesday’s attack, and the fact that it was perpetrated by a security official, have led to despair among current and former pilgrims to the synagogue. Avi Chana, who has gone on the pilgrimage, told the Times of Israel, “I think it’s a death blow, at least for the foreseeable future, to a beautiful tradition and pilgrimage, and it is causing palpable pain. This is dealing the pilgrimage a mortal blow.” Another former pilgrim opted not to organize a group this year out of fears of an attack.
Tunisian President Kais Saied, who has been accused of gutting Tunisia’s democracy, is seeking to reassure future visitors that the country will be safe, and condemned the attack as “criminal and cowardly.”
“I want to reassure the Tunisian people and the whole world that Tunisia will remain safe despite this type of attempt intended to disturb its stability,” Saied said, according to the Times of Israel.
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The post Tunisia’s Jewish pilgrimage and Tuesday’s shooting, explained appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Canada Boosts Security at US, Israeli Diplomatic Buildings After Consulate Shooting
A member of law enforcement personnel works at the scene outside the US Consulate after shots were fired, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 10, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. Photo: REUTERS/Kyaw Soe Oo
Canada is increasing security around US and Israeli diplomatic buildings after a shooting at the US consulate in Toronto, a Canadian police official said on Tuesday.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said the consulate shooting is being investigated as a “national security incident,” although it’s too early to determine the motive.
Leather said the US and Israeli consulates in Toronto, the country’s most populous city, and embassies in the capital Ottawa will be seeing a change in the security posture in response to the shooting.
“These consulates deserve a heightened amount of vigilance and security at this time in the hopes that we can bring the temperature down in the coming days and weeks,” Leather told reporters at a press conference.
Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said police were called to the US consulate in Toronto around 5:30 am ET on Tuesday, where they found spent shell casings and damage to the building.
Barredo said witness evidence indicated that two men exited a white SUV that was stopped outside the consulate around 4:30 am ET, shot a handgun at the front of the building and then drove away.
While there were people in the building at the time of the shooting, police say no one was injured.
SYNAGOGUE SHOOTINGS
The consulate shooting follows three separate incidents last week where gunshots were fired at synagogues in the Toronto area. No one was injured in those shootings. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the attacks “criminal antisemitic assaults.”
Barredo said it’s too early to draw a connection between the consulate shooting and those at the synagogues.
“We definitely will be looking at any possible connections. Obviously, it is far too early in this investigation, but we do not look at them in isolation,” he said.
Canada‘s public safety minister described the consulate shooting as an unacceptable incident.
“The shooting … is absolutely unacceptable. Canada will never tolerate intimidation and violence of any kind, including towards our American friends in Canada,” Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a post on X.
The US State Department said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was closely monitoring the situation in coordination with local law enforcement.
Separately, on Sunday, an improvised device exploded in Norway at the US embassy in Oslo, and police were still searching for a suspect, with a possible link to the Iran war among the lines of inquiry.
In New York City, two men have been charged with terrorism after throwing a homemade bomb at anti-Islam protesters over the weekend.
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Suspected Hamas Member Detained in Cyprus Over Weapons Procurement
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Cypriot authorities have detained a suspected member of Palestinian terrorist group Hamas wanted in Germany for procuring weapons and ammunition for attacks on Israeli or Jewish facilities, German federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The Lebanese-born suspect, identified only as Kamel M. in line with German privacy rules, was detained at Cyprus‘ Larnaca airport on March 6, arriving from Lebanon, they added in a statement.
The suspect is wanted in relation to the transport of 300 rounds of live ammunition, according to prosecutors. It wasn’t clear from the statement where the rounds had come from, or where they were thought to be heading.
“The operation served as preparation for deadly Hamas attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany and Europe,” they said.
Police also searched the suspect’s apartment in Berlin.
Once Kamel M. is extradited to Germany, a judge will decide on pre-trial detention, the statement said.
Attacks against Jews and Jewish targets have risen worldwide since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Islamist group’s 2023 attacks on Israel.
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Russia Told Trump It Isn’t Sharing US Military Asset Info With Iran, Says Witkoff
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attend a documents signing ceremony in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool
Russia has denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday in a CNBC interview.
Witkoff said the denial came during a phone call that US President Donald Trump had with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Russia was providing Iran with targeting information that included locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East.
“Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Russia had shared with Tehran intelligence about the location of US military assets.
“We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared [Kushner] and I had a call with [Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri] Ushakov who reiterated the same,” said Witkoff.
He added: “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”