Tunisian Jews are canceling the annual pilgrimage to the ancient synagogue due to security concerns

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Jewish Tunisians who organize an annual pilgrimage to one of the world’s oldest synagogues are planning a smaller-scale event next month, citing security concerns less than a year after a deadly shooting there rocked their community.

Thousands regularly make the journey to Djerba – the North African island where many of Tunisia’s remaining 1,500 Jews live – to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer. But this year the community has decided to limit it to the 26th-century El-Ghriba Synagogue rather than the traditionally held island-wide events.

“Those who visit are welcome and can hold religious rituals and light a candle in the synagogue,” Perez Trabelsi, the head of the island’s Jewish community, told The Associated Press.

The decision comes more than six months after the war between Israel and Hamas, which has reverberated across the Middle East and North Africa and led to massive street protests from Morocco to Iraq. In Tunisia, most protests have been peaceful, but in October demonstrators desecrated a synagogue in Al-Hammah on the mainland.

The limits on the Lag B’Omer pilgrimage are a blow to Djerba’s tourism sector after it welcomed more than 7,000 people to the three-day event last year. Days afterward, a 30-year-old national guard killed five people at the El-Ghriba synagogue, causing panic among the population and visitors.

The shooting and the war between Israel and Hamas are politically charged topics in the North African country. Trabelsi attributed the decision to limit this year’s Lag B’Omer festivities to security concerns over the shooting, not the war. He said the community did not feel threatened, but noted that leaders felt obligated to protect it.

He praised the Tunisian authorities for their efforts to ensure the safety of the event and underlined the importance of the pilgrimage in a statement on Friday: “Tunisia and Djerba will remain countries of tolerance, coexistence and peace.”

Similar questions have been raised about the annual pilgrimages to Jewish sites in Morocco, traditionally home to North Africa’s largest Jewish community.

According to local media reports, the International Federation of Moroccan Jews has called for the cancellation of collective celebrations of the Mimouna holiday and the avoidance of festive events in public spaces.

Massinissa Benlakehal, Associated Press