Tag Archive for Tunisia

| November 7, 2018
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Tunisia’s PM Appoints Jewish Minister of Tourism

Appointed by the Tunisian Prime Minister, the new tourism minister Roni Trabelsi, will be the second Jewish minister to have ever served in the predominantly Muslim country, after Nessim Samama, who served as the finance minister to the King of Tunis in 1860.

By Daniel Salami

 

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced 13 new appointments in his Cabinet on Monday, including several ministers. The new tourism minister is Roni Trabelsi, a Jewish man who reportedly lives in France but also holds Tunisian citizenship.

Trabelsi is a prominent and successful businessman in Tunisia, dealing mostly with tourism. He owns the Royal First Travel agency. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| July 30, 2018
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Tunisia must grant Israeli chess prodigy visa or won’t host World Chess match

FIDE secretary Polina Tsedenova said the World Chess Federation will forbid Tunisia from hosting the international chess competition for kids, should they still refuse a visa to the 7 yr-old European School Individual Chess champion, an Israeli.

By ELIANA SCHREIBER

 

Tunisia, which is currently scheduled to host the 2019 World Schools Chess Championship, could have its hosting privilege revoked if the country refuses to grant a visa to a seven-year-old Israeli girl.

The country, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel, does not permit Israelis to enter its borders, and is refusing to make an exception for Liel Levitan, the European School Individual Chess champion in her age group, for the upcoming World Chess Federation (FIDE) tournament. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , ,
| May 6, 2015
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Jewish pilgrimage to Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia under tight security

Hundreds of Jewish pilgrims expected at 2-day religious festival on the Tunisian island of Djerba, despite Israel’s security warning of ‘concrete terror threats’.

By i24news

 

The Jewish pilgrimage to Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba is to take place Wednesday under extra security after the Bardo museum massacre and Israel’s warning of terror threats.

An employee cleans an engraved Star of David at the Ghriba Synagogue on May 5, 2015 on the eve of the annual Jewish pilgrimage to the synagogue on the Mediterranean resort island of Djerba – Photo: Fethi Belaid/AFP

Hundreds are expected to take part, unlike the thousands who flocked to Africa’s oldest synagogue for the annual pilgrimage in the years before a 2002 suicide bombing claimed by al-Qaida that cost 21 lives. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , , ,
| July 9, 2014
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Olympic committee suspends Tunisia after barring Israel’s flag

The Chief of the Israeli baseball association was forbidden from displaying Israel’s flag at the World Baseball Softball Confederation congress in Tunisia.

 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee has issued a warning to the international baseball and softball federation after an Israeli delegate was barred from displaying his national flag at a recent meeting in Tunisia.

IOC executive

The IOC Executive in session. – Photo: International Olympic Committee

The IOC opened an investigation after the head of the Israeli baseball association, Peter Kurz, was told he could not display the Israeli flag or name plate at the World Baseball Softball Confederation congress in Hammamet, Tunisia, in May. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, The Diaspora | Tags: , , , ,
| May 4, 2014
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Entry for Israeli tourists causes heated debate in Tunisia

 

Tunisia, which does not recognize Israel, but is desperate for tourism, questions permitting Israelis into the country for annual pilgrimage.

By i24news

 

Tunisians are embroiled in a heated debate over allowing Israeli tourists into the country, which does not recognize the Jewish state, before an annual pilgrimage that attracts Jews from around the world.

File picture shows an Israeli tourist taking a picture outside the synagogue of La Ghriba on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba on May 25, 2005 ( AFP Photo/Fethi Belaid )

Israeli tourist taking a picture outside the synagogue of La Ghriba on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba on May 25, 2005 – AFP Photo/Fethi Belaid

It is an open secret that Israelis have been visiting Tunisia for years on the quiet.

The dispute is not over Jews from third countries, who are openly welcome, just Israelis.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News, The Diaspora | Tags: , ,
| March 1, 2013
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Bearded Salafist to Tunisian Students: ‘You’re dancing while Israelis kill?’

Tunisian Salafis try to convince students from filming themselves doing popular western dance, while in Egypt, some 400 youngsters dance outside Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters, chanting ‘Leave! Leave!’

Roi Kais, agencies

 

Egyptian protesters gathered at the headquarters of the country’s most powerful Islamic group and did the Harlem Shake while chanting “Leave! Leave!” to Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptians do the 'Harlem Shake'About 400 young men, some in funny costumes and others bare-chested, rallied in Cairo in front of the main office of Morsi‘s group, The Muslim Brotherhood.

The dance brought a rare moment of light-hearted expression of dissidence amid Egypt’s political turmoil that has left dozens dead and hundreds injured in recent months. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| December 20, 2012
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Imam Accused of Inciting Hatred Against Jews in Tunisia

Tunisian association for minorities has lodged a complaint against Sheikh Ahmed S’hili, accusing him of inciting hatred against Jews in a televised sermon.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

A Tunisian support group for minorities said Wednesday that it has lodged a complaint against an imam, accusing him of inciting hatred against Jews in a fiery television sermon.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali – Reuters

“We have lodged a complaint with the court of the first instance in Ben Arous against the imam of Rades mosque, Sheikh Ahmed S’hili, for inciting hatred,” the association’s lawyer Kais Baltagi told AFP.

The complaint is based on legislation which stipulates that anyone using media to “incite hatred between races, religions and people” can be jailed for up to three years. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 7, 2012
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Tunisian Cleric Calls the Jews Apes and Prays for Allah to Annihilate Them

A Tunisian cleric recently referred to Jews as “prophet slayers and apes” & prayed for Allah to annihilate them, not leaving a single one left on Earth.

By Elad Benari

 

A Tunisian cleric recently referred to Jews as “prophet slayers and apes” and prayed for Allah to annihilate them.

Muslim congregation prays for the annihilation of all the Jews – Screenshot from MEMRI TV

The remarks were made in a Friday sermon in Rades, Tunisia, which was delivered by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Suhayli and aired on a local television network on November 30. They were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 1, 2012
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Tunisian Law Enforcement Foil Plot to Kidnap Local Jews

4 people arrested for allegedly plotting to kidnap Jews for ransom.
With less than 2,000 Jews remaining in Tunisia, they claim they are the victims of an ‘intimidation campaign.’

By Reuters

 

Tunisian security forces arrested four people for allegedly plotting to kidnap local Jews and hold them for ransom, an Interior Ministry official said on Thursday.

Jews in Tunisia - AP

Pilgrims, most of them Jewish, walk towards the synagogue of El-Ghriba, in DJerba island, southern Tunisia – Photo by AP

There are less than 2,000 Jews in Tunisia, mostly living in Zarzis and the nearby island of Djerba in the south of the country. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: ,
| March 30, 2012
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Tunisia’s Jews Sue Over Anti-Semitic Chants

Tunisia’s Jewish community is making an official complaint regarding anti-Semitic slogans that were chanted at a protest held, on Sunday.

 

Tunisia’s Jewish community said that it is making an official complaint regarding anti-Semitic slogans that were chanted at a protest held, on Sunday, by radical Islamist Salafists.

The demonstration called for the imposition of sharia, or Islamic law, as the main source of legislation in the constitution that is currently being drafted.

“The call to fight against the Jews is absurd,” said Tunisia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs in a statement issued Tuesday, according to the French news agency AFP. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: ,
| March 30, 2012
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Tunisia’s Jews Sue Over Anti-Semitic Chants

Tunisia’s Jewish community is making an official complaint regarding anti-Semitic slogans that were chanted at a protest held, on Sunday.

Tunisia’s Jewish community said that it is making an official complaint regarding anti-Semitic slogans that were chanted at a protest held, on Sunday, by radical Islamist Salafists.

The demonstration called for the imposition of sharia, or Islamic law, as the main source of legislation in the constitution that is currently being drafted.

“The call to fight against the Jews is absurd,” said Tunisia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs in a statement issued Tuesday, according to the French news agency AFP. “The ministry rejects this attack against all Tunisian citizens. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: ,
| March 23, 2012
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Tunisia’s Secular Opposition Uniting Against Islamists

Five months after an Islamist-led coalition came to power in Tunisia, the country’s fractious opposition is working to unite and fight for a secular state.

Tunisia

Tunisia

The numerous opposition parties in Tunisia’s parliament are merging into bigger blocs in hopes of mounting a challenge to the ruling Islamist party, Ennahda.

Ennahda and its coalition partners – the Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol – won up most of the votes in the October 23 election that followed nine months after dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali’s ouster.

Several leftist and liberal groups have already announced they were planning to merge, such as the Ettajdid movement, the Labour Party and the Democratic Modernist Pole. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: