Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Mishleh Bitan

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Increased harassment of Jewish merchants in Djerba, Tunisia

Tunisian Jews are again in the eye of the storm. The arrest of a local Jewish merchant has shaken the peace of the island community of Djerba that dates back to the times of King David.

Today there are only about a thousand Jews left in Djerba, a quiet Mediterranean island just off the coast of Tunisia. There is almost no crime or politics on this idyllic refuge, where most of the Jewish residents observe the Sabbath.

The event that shocked the Jewish community in Djerba took place on Tuesday of last week, when the police, accompanied by large forces of undercover officers, arrested a 60-year-old Jewish merchant named Mishleh Bitan. According to the authorities, he was accused of smuggling gold. The Jews of Djerba have been dealing in gold for generations and many of them own gold shops on the island.

Police planned to apprehend the wife and son of the Jewish merchant, but dozens of Jews showed up to protect the family and physically prevented the arrest.

In a conversation I had with a number of Jews in Djerba, it appears that every two or three weeks the police come to the neighborhood and try to harass them under the pretext of hunting smugglers. Sometimes they conduct searches and force the Jews to report their sales and tax statements. Other times the police show up for random inventory and often steal gold during the count. No one dares say a word because of the fear of further harassment.

Life has turned upside down in recent years for these Jews. Everyone I spoke with expressed deep concerns and even disbelief at the harassment that has suddenly descended upon this ancient Jewish community.

Police took Mishleh in a police car to the capital of Tunis, a journey of about seven hours. Then unexpectedly, and following pressure exerted by various parties both in Israel and in other countries, Mishleh was released after less than a day in detention.

Another Jewish source told me: “We didn’t stay. We first of all prevented the arrest of the family’s mother and son. They wanted to arrest them to put pressure on Mishleh to make a confession. But we prevented that. For the whole day after the arrest, we sat and waited and closed the shops. In protest we put up signs saying ‘We will not be silent any longer.’”