Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in Tunisia
06: Independent Tunisia 1956-1970
Tunisification - anti-Jewish measures - increasing
emigration - attitude to Herzl Israel
from: Tunisia; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 15
presented by Michael Palomino (2007 / 2010)
[since 20 May 1956:
Independence with Tunisification and following anti-Jewish
measures]
<Once independence was achieved, the Tunisian government
gradually introduced an extensive program of Arabization and
"Tunisification", which had considerable psychological and
social repercussions on the Jews. On Sept. 27, 1957, the
rabbinical court was abolished, and on July 11, 1958, the
Jewish community council dissolved. The
hara, or Jewish quarter
in Tunis, was destroyed under the guise of a slum-clearance
project. The quarter's synagogue, the oldest in town, was
also destroyed. The old Jewish cemetery in Tunis was
expropriated and turned into a public garden without
compensation to the community. Tunisia's alignment with the
Arab countries, the breaking off of postal ties with Israel,
the premature retirement of minister André Barrouch,
and the cessation of government subsidies to the Jewish
community all created an element of disquiet in the Jewish
population of Tunisia.> (col. 1448)
<In 1958 Habib Bourguiba's government dissolved the
[[Jewish]] council and replaced it with "A Provisional
Commission for the Propagation of the Jewish Religion". The
members, who were government appointed, were charged with
preparing new elections of administrators for a future
cultural association, as provided for by law, the activities
of which would be strictly limited to the cultural sphere.
At the same time government subsidies ceased. This
provisional commission was still functioning in the late
1960s. In no town in Tunisia was it elected. The originally
appointed members (or those among them who were still in the
country) continued to serve the spiritual needs of the
Jewish community.
[R.AT.]> (col. 1450)
[[Supplement: All these anti-Jewish actions since 1948 have
to be seen as an answer to the Herzl Free Mason Israel wars
and expulsions against Palestinians in the Middle East
according to the Herzl program "The Jewish State" which
claims that Arabs can be driven away as the natives in the
"USA" had been driven away, and with a border of "Greater
Israel" at the Euphrates according to First Mose chapter 15
phrase 18.
Many non-Zionists now had to suffer for this Herzl Zionist
Free Mason CIA Israel nonsense]].
[1961: Bizerta crisis -
increasing emigration - 1967: Six-Day war - increasing
emigration]
<The Bizerta crisis in 1961 led to accusations that Jews
were unpatriotic and to increased Jewish emigration. The
1960s were marked by a serious economic crisis during which
the authorities brought Jews to trial and inflicted various
humiliations on them Following the outbreak of the *Six-Day
War on June 5, 1967, Muslims set fire to the Great Synagogue
and the
mazzah
bakery in Tunis and publicly tore up Torah scroll. After the
war there was a new wave of emigration, indicating that the
Jewish community in Tunisia would shortly disappear
altogether.> (col. 1448)
[Literature: Hebrew presses
mostly closed]
<In 1963 the Hebrew presses at Tunis and Sousse were
closed. Only the Jewish presses of Djerba continued to
function, publishing one or two Hebrew works per year.
Reading material in Judeo-Arabic was gradually replaced by
French, and in less than two generations Tunisian Jewry was
beginning to express itself in French.> (col. 1449)
<DEMOGRAPHY [[1921-1968]]
The French Protectorate's censuses conducted in 1921, 1926,
1931, 1946, and 1956, counted only Jews of Tunisian
nationality; French and foreign nationals were considered
together with Europeans of other faiths. During the period
1921-56 the proportion of Jews in the Tunisian population
fell from 2.6% to 1.7% in relation to the Muslim population
and from 2.3% to 1.5% in relation to the overall population
of the country.
The 1956 census showed that the Jewish population of the
Jewish quarter in Tunis numbered 7,638 persons, of whom
6,611 were Tunisian nationals, 871 French nationals, and 156
aliens. During the years 1948 (creation of the State of
Israel), 1956 (Tunisian independence), 1961 (the Bizerta
crisis), and particularly in June 1967 (Six-Day War) a
considerable number of Tunisian Jews emigrated to Israel and
elsewhere.
From 1948 to 1970 over 40,000 Tunisian Jews settled in
Israel, and nearly as many in France, while several hundred
emigrated to Canada. In 1968 there were only 7-8,000 Jews in
Tunisia, over 80% of whom lived in the capital, compared to
59% of the 71,000 Jews of Tunisian nationality living there
in 1946.> (col. 1448)
Table. Jews
in Tunisia 1921-1968
|
Year
|
number
|
%
of total population
|
emigration
|
1921
|
|
2.6%
|
|
1946
|
71,000
(59%
in Tunis)
|
|
|
1948-1970
|
|
|
- over 40,000 to
Israel
- about 40,000 to France
- several hundred to Canada
|
1956
|
- Jewish quarter
Tunis: 7,638,
6,611 Tunisian
nationality
871 French nationality
156 aliens
|
1.5%
|
|
1968
|
7-8,000
(over
80% in Tunis)
|
|
|
Table by Michael Palomino; from: Tunisia;
In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 15, col. 1448
|
<Attitude Toward Israel.
Tunisia stood out among the Arab states for its relatively
moderate approach to the solution of the Israel-Arab
conflict.
[[This conflict has it's base in the Herzl book "The Jewish
State" which claims that it would be possible to drive all
Arabs away as the natives had been driven away in the "USA".
Ben Gurion did not define any borderline of the new "Jewish
State" so the borderline of Euphrates can be admitted as
it's aim of his dreams, see the Bible First Mose chapter 15
phrase 18. It's no wonder that the Arab side with the
English did never accept this Herzl Israel]].
This attitude was characterized in a speech made in a
Palestinian refugee camp in Jericho by President Habib
Bourguiba during a visit to Jordan in 1965. He stated that
the Arab states should recognize the existence of Israel and
settle the conflict by accepting the U.N. decision of Nov.
29, 1947, to establish two states in Palestine, one Arab and
one Jewish.
[[This is really naive]].
Tunisia did not participate in any of the wars against
Israel; it acquiesced in emigration of Tunisian Jews to
Israel, and absented itself for prolonged periods from Arab
League meetings, which Bourguiba believed were dominated by
Nasser's Egypt. Immediately before and during the Six-Day
War (1967), however, a wave of solidarity with the Arab
states swept the Tunisian people. Bourguiba therefore
terminated Tunisia's isolation in the Arab world, returned
to the Arab League, and gradually normalized his relations
with it (excepting Syria), after the period of tension that
followed his Jericho speech.
[after 1967: Bourguiba's
attacks Nasser - Bourguiba for coexistence]
However, when Bourguiba realized that the Arabs had not
changed their belligerent attitude toward Israel, as
expressed in the resolutions of the Khartoum Summit
Conference after the 1967 was, he openly criticized the
extremism that brought disaster upon them. His criticism was
directed mainly at President Nasser, whom he held
responsible for the Arab defeat. He accused Nasser of making
the fatal mistake of providing Israel with a
casus belli, although
Israel had no intention of expanding its territory.
Bourguiba reiterated his view that only a political - not a
military - solution could bring about a settlement of the
conflict and reinstate the territories occupied by Israel in
1967. He accused Nasser and the Ba'th leaders of exploiting
the plight of the Palestinian people as a tool for their
ambitions in the Arab world and expressed his belief that
the conflict with Israel should be taken out of the (col.
1450)
hands of the Arab heads of state and settled by the
Palestinians themselves. Bourguiba saw the conflict as a
clash between two national movements; he also admitted that
Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, and therefore
called upon Israel to compromise and on the Arabs to agree
to the coexistence of Jews and Palestinian Arabs in
Palestine
[Tunisia and Palestinian
national movements]
After the Six-Day War, Bourguiba supported the Palestinian
terrorist movement as a means to pressure Israel into
retreating from the occupied territories. He believed the
Arab states should assist the Palestinians in achieving
their goal, just as they aided the North African (Maghreb)
peoples in their struggle for independence. Although
Tunisia's support was limited to the political field, it was
of importance because of the country's influence in the
Western world, where Bourguiba's regime was regarded as a
moderate one. However, Bourguiba explained his moderation to
the Arabs as being only tactical, i.e., a method to achieve
their aims in stages, settling for the UN initiatives in
order to regain the territories lost in the war; later on,
he suggested, they can advance further demands. In his view,
had the Arabs agreed to the 1947 UN partition resolution,
there would be no problem in the present day. The Arabs
should agree to such "peace" initiatives, improve their
image before international public opinion, and let Israel
appear as the obstacle to peace.
In 1970 Tunisia renewed its activity on the Arab scene. This
move, which was motivated partly by internal needs in
Tunisia, was facilitated by the estrangement between Nasser
and the Palestinian terrorists after Nasser accepted the
U.S. peace initiative in August 1970. Tunisia played a
leading role in Arab efforts to achieve conciliation between
the Palestinian organizations and the Jordanian government.
The former prime minister of Tunisia, Bahi el-Adgham, headed
the "follow-up" committee of the Arab League after the
September 1970 civil war there and succeeded in bringing
together representatives of both sides and arranging the
Cairo and Amman agreements.
[R.CO.]> (col. 1451)
<Bibliography
(from: Tunisia; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 15)
GENERAL:
-- A. Rousseau: Annales Tunisiennes (1864), passim
-- D. Cazès: Essai sur l'Histoire des
Israélites de Tunisie (1888)
-- E. Vassel: La littérature populaire des
Israélites tunisiens avec un essai ethnographique et
archéologique sur leur superstitions (1904-07)
-- J. Chalom: Les Israélites de Tunisie (1908)
-- Baron, Social, index
-- A. Chouraqui: Between East and West (1968), index
-- Hirschberg, Afrikah, index
-- R. Attal, in: Sefunot (1961), 480-9
ANTIQUITY:
-- D. Kaufmann, in: REJ, 12-13 (1886), 45-61
-- P. Delattre: Gamart ou la Nécropole juive de
Carthage (1895)
-- Ch. Diehl: L'Afrique Byzantine (1896), passim
-- P. Monceaux, in: REJ, 44-45 (1902), 1-28
-- H. Leclercq: L'Afrique Chrétienne, 2 vols. (1904),
passim
-- M. Mieses, in: REJ, 92-93 (1932), no. 184, 133-5, no.
185, 53-72, no. 186, 135-56, 187, 94-96 (1933), 73-89k
-- M. Simon, in: RHPR (1946), 1-31, 105-45
-- idem: Verus Israel (1948), passim
-- idem: Recherches d'Histoire
judéo-chrétienne (1962), 30-87
-- J. Ferron, in: Cahiers de Byrsa (1951), 176-224; (1956),
99-102, 105-52
UNDER ARAB RULE TO THE ADVENT OF THE HAFSIDS:
-- I. Goldziher, in: REJ, 46-47 (1903), 179-86
-- S.D. Goitein, in: Etudes d'Orientalisme dediés
à la mémoire de Levi-Provençal (1962)
-- idem, in: Speculum (1954), 181-97
-- idem: A Mediterranean Society (1967), passim
-- H.Z. Hirschberg, in: Eretz Israel, Mazar Jubilee Volume
(1958), 213-9
-- D. Corcos, in: Zion (1967), 146ff.
HAFSID RULE:
-- R. Brunschvig: La Berbèrie Orientale sous les
Hafsides, I (1940), 396-430
-- J. Pinkerfeld, in: Cahiers de Byrsa (1957), 127-88
-- A.M. Hershman: Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet and his
Time (1943), index
UNDER OTTOMAN RULE:
-- M.R. Elfasi: Mishna Direbuta (1805)
-- J.H. Dujnant: Notice sur la Régence de Tunis
(1858), 229-46
-- U. Elhaik: Mishkhenot Haro'im (1860)
-- P. Faynault: Tunis et Kairouan (1889), 138-71
-- D. Cazès: Notes bibliographiques sur la
littérature juive tunisienne (1893)
-- R. Darmon: La Situation des Cultes en Tunisie (1930)
-- P. Grandchamp: La France en Tunisie de la fin du XVI
siècle à l'avènement de la dynastie
hassanide, 10 vols. (1920-1933), index (col. 1451)
-- C. Masi, in: Revue Tunisienne (1938), 155-7, 323-42 (col.
1451-1452)
-- J. Bercher, ibid. (1939), 67-86; (1940), 59-69
-- M. Uzan: Fêtes et Solennités d'Israël
(1950)
-- M. Eisenbeth, in: Revue Africaine (1952), 115-87, 344-84
-- J. Ganiage, ibid. (1955), 153-73> (col. 1452)
Encyclopaedia
Judaica 1971: Tunisia, sources
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1430 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1431-1432 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1433-1434 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1435-1436 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1437-1438 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1439-1440 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1441-1442 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1443-1444 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1445-1446 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1447-1448 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1449-1450 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Tunisia, vol. 15, col.
1451-1452 |
=====
Articles
|
20
December 2011: Marzouki says Jews could come
back from Israel
|
|
|
20.12.2011:
Marzouki sagt, die Juden könnten aus
Israel zurückkehren
|
aus / from: Der Standard online: Neuer
Präsident fordert jüdische
Bevölkerung zu Rückkehr auf (New
president says Jews could return to Tunesia); 20.
Dezember
2011;http://derstandard.at/1324170325042/Neuer-Praesident-fordert-juedische-Bevoelkerung-zu-Rueckkehr-auf
|
|
<Übergangspräsident Marzouki:
Jüdische Bevölkerung hat gleiche
Rechte
Der neue tunesische Präsident Moncef
Marzouki hat der staatlichen tunesischen
Nachrichtenagentur zufolge die ehemalige
jüdische Bevölkerung zur Rückkehr
nach Tunesien aufgefordert.
Während eines Treffens mit dem Rabbiner
Haim Bittan sagte Marzouki, dass die
jüdische Bevölkerung Tunesiens
gleichwertige Staatsbürger seien und jene,
die das Land verlassen haben, zurückkommen
sollten. Vor zwei Wochen hatte der israelische
Vize-Premier Silvan Shalom noch tunesische
Jüdinnen und Juden angesprochen, nach dem
Sieg der Islamisten nach Israel zu emigrieren.
Derzeit leben in Tunesien 1500 Juden, in den
1960er Jahren waren es noch 100.000. Die meisten
verliesen das Land während des
Sechstages-Kriegs im Jahr 1967 zwischen Israel
und arabischen Ländern. Jene, die
zurückblieben, wohnen heute großteils
auf der Ferieninsel Djerba, an der Grenze zu
Libyen.
Marzouki, der selbst als Menschenrechtsaktivist
aktiv war, versuchte die letzten Jahre auf die
Leiden der unterdrückten Minderheiten unter
Diktator Ben Ali aufmerksam zu machen. Er wurde
am 15. November von der islamistischen
Ennhada-Partei und der Kongress-Partei zum
Übergangspräsidenten bestimmt.
(red/derStandard.at, 20.12.2011)>
|
|
|
<Interim president Marzouki: Jewish
population has the same rights
According to statal Tunisian news agency the new
Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki said that the
former Jewish population could come back to
Tunisia.
During a meeting with rabbi Haim Bittan, Marzouki
said that the Jewish population of Tunisia would
be equal civilians and those who had left their
land should come back. Two weeks before Israel
vice prime minister Silvan Shalom said to Tunisian
Jews that they should emigrate to Israel after the
victory of Islamists.
there are 1,500 Jews living in Tunisia. In the
1960 there were 100,000. Most of them left the
country during 6 day war between Israel and the
Arab countries in 1967. Those who were left behind
are living today on Djerba island at the frontier
to Libya.
Marzouki himself was activist for Human Rights.
During the last few years he tried to present the
suffering of suppressed minorities under dictator
Ben Ali. He was determined as interim president on
15 November by Muslim Ennhada party and Congress
party. (red/derStandard.at, 20.12.2011)> |
^
