Tunisian police arrest 6 men photographed barbecuing in Jewish cemetery

Mayor of coastal city of Sousse announces investigation into incident, vows to take ‘appropriate action’ after site turned into local hangout

By ToI Staff and JTA 23 July 2018, 4:01 am

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Tunisian men photographed barbecuing in the Jewish cemetery in the coastal city of Sousse, July 2018. (Courtesy)

Tunisian authorities arrested six men last week on suspicion of desecrating a religious burial ground, after they were photographed barbecuing in the Jewish cemetery in the coastal city of Souse.

The arrests took place after Tunisian Jewish businessman Elie Trabelsi posted the photos on Facebook on Thursday, according to local media [Arabic].

Tawfiq al-Oreybi, the mayor of Sousse announced that the arrests took place as part of an investigation into the incident, and vowed to take “appropriate action.”

The cemetery has reportedly has become a local hangout.

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Only a few Jewish families now live in Sousse, which boasted a Jewish community of nearly 6,000 at the time of Tunisia’s independence in 1956.

Tunisia had a Jewish population of more than 100,000 at the time of independence in 1956, comprising the country’s largest religious minority. Today less than 2,000 remain, living mostly on the southern island of Djerba and around the capital, Tunis.