Djerba Synagogue Terror
By: Dr. Chaima Amari
PC: Lonely Planet
Five people have been murdered -in cold blood - during an annual Jewish
pilgrimage near Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in Tunisia.
The assailant, a member of the Tunisian National Guard, first killed his
colleague with his service weapon and then seized ammunition and
headed toward the Ghriba synagogue.
When he reached the site, he opened fire on another colleague stationed
at the temple, who fired back, killing him before he reached the entrance,
then died in the blast, turning peaceful prayers into a chaotic and tragic
scene and leaving behind five killed and 10 injured.
The victims included two Jewish pilgrims and three Tunisian National
guards agents.
Those injured include six national guard agents and four civilians.
Djerba, the picturesque island off the southern coast of Tunisia, is home
to the North African country's main Jewish community, where Jews,
Muslims and Christians live in harmony. They consider the Ghriba
synagogue as the most sacred place of worship in Africa. According to
tradition, it’s the first synagogue on the site, built with a stone or gate
brought from King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed
in 586BC.
While authorities said they are investigating the ‘motives’ for the attack;
The reality is that this monster was a part of the authority itself.
Being a disqualified officer, allowed to hold a gun, he decided rather than
serving and protecting his country and community, to kill his fellow
colleagues and citizens in a violent and brutal act.
Although the International Community has yet to adopt a comprehensive
definition of terrorism, for its existing declarations and resolutions This
was ‘terrorism by any definition.’
Specifically, in Tunisia, where one the major questions today, when
dealing with terrorism is its definition; as we can see political opponents
condemned for ’Terrorism acts’ while local authorities have refrained
from referring to Tuesday’s shootings at the Djerba synagogue as a
terrorist attack.
Therefore, the world will always consider "the former's brutality worse
than the latter's hypocrisy”.
