Police in Tunisia have arrested a man they believe stabbed a local middle-aged Jew on the island of Djerba.
The suspected aggressor, 38-year-old Lasaad Tounsi, is believed to have caused minor injuries to Morris Bachiri, a Jewish merchant from El Hara El Kabira, on Monday by assaulting him with a sharp object, the French-language news website African Manager reported Tuesday.
The incident occurred a month before the annual Jewish pilgrimage to the El Ghriba synagogue, on the island of Djerba. Every year, Jews from around the world convene there for the Hilula of Ghriba – a feast which features a festive procession on or near Lag B’Omer.
Last month, the Tunisian government allocated funding towards renovating the synagogue.
In 2002, terrorists detonated a bomb outside the synagogue during the pilgrimage period. Twenty-one people died in the explosions, which several intelligence agencies attributed to al Qaida.
