A Jewish man from the Tunisian island of Djerba was reportedly arrested on Sunday night after having been sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison, according to Arabic media and the Tunisian Jewish community.
Videos were published showing groups of Jewish citizens attempting to break into a police station and block roads leading to it on the island in protest against the arrest.
Several reports on social media claimed that the Tunisian Jew’s arrest was due to his stance on the war in Gaza. A prominent account called Al Kasserine said, “Aal Tunisian Zionist returned from Israel after he was involved in the war on Gaza.”
The Tunisian Jewish Community Authority, however, denied this, saying in a public statement that his arrest “was the implementation of a final judicial decision sentencing him to seven years in prison in a public interest case involving the burning of a car, the events of which date back several years.”
בעקבות מעצר של יהודי: תסיסה באי ג’רבה בדרום תוניסיה, בו מרוכזת הקהילה היהודית במדינה. לפי גרסת מנגנוני הביטחון במדינה, המעצר בוצע לאחר שאותו אדם נשפט לשבע שנות מאסר ונמלט וכי אין קשר בין מעצרו לבין המלחמה בעזה | תיעוד@kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/jnrhzePh0y
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 31, 2025
The authority said on Sunday evening that some “digital platforms and social media sites have circulated inaccurate news regarding the reason for the arrest of a Tunisian Jewish citizen on the island of Djerba on Saturday.” It asked people not to be swayed by rumours.
Protests over arrest
According to Al Alhurra, citing a security source, the man’s arrests reportedly led to large protests from the residents of his neighborhood, “Haret El Yahoud.” The same source also denied that the arrest was politically motivated.
Mustafa Abdel Kabir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, said the man was sentenced to death in abstentia, as he had been residing in the capital before returning to Djerba.
Djerba is home to most of Tunisia’s Jewish community, numbering about 2000 people. Most of the Jews live in Hara Kabira (the bigger quarter) and Hara Saghira (the smaller quarter), which includes the famous El Ghriba synagogue, one of the oldest Jewish synagogues in North Africa.
