TUNIS: According to the Interior Ministry, a man killed himself by setting himself on fire in front of the Grand Synagogue in the capital of Tunisia. Both a bystander and a police officer were burned. Around the time of the synagogue’s Sabbath prayers on Friday, after sunset, the man ignited the fire.
The individual approached a police officer while burning, and another officer fired fire to defend his colleague, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry. According to the statement, both the officer and a bystander were hospitalised due to burn injuries. The government stated that the man had unidentified psychiatric issues but did not reveal his identity or possible motivation for his actions.
Historically, Tunisia had a sizable Jewish population, currently estimated at 1,500. There have already been attacks on Jewish locations in Tunisia. In 2023, following an annual pilgrimage, a national guardsman assassinated five people at the 2,600-year-old El-Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba. A historic synagogue and sanctuary in the southern village of El Hamma was vandalised by pro-Palestinian demonstrators later that year. Additionally, last year in the seaside city of Sfax, a garden outside the synagogue was set on fire. The 2010 self-immolation of a street vendor in a protest associated with repression, corruption, and economic despair was another significant event in Tunisia’s recent history.
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