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177-558: From 1688, the French community in Tunis , mainly merchants, made representations to the French consul through two deputies. On 23 June 1885, after the establishment of the French protectorate, this arrangement was superseded by a chamber of commerce . The Resident General, Paul Cambon , wanted it to represent all the interests of French colonists in the context of the Protectorate, but the members of

354-600: A special garb, with a yellow cloth for a head-covering . The living conditions of the Jews in Tunisia were relatively favorable during the reign of the Aghlabids and then Fatimid dynasties . Of the three principal Jewish communities that came into prominence by the 10th century, Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia) was the first to flourish, beginning with the establishment of the Shi'ite caliphate of

531-540: A water supply , natural gas and electricity networks, public transport services, and other public infrastructure. Under French rule, a substantial number of Europeans settled (like the Tunisian Italians ); half of the population was European in origin. The city expanded and created new boulevards and neighborhoods. Tunis was quiet during the First World War. After the war, the city faced new transformations as

708-473: A Jewish governor, and the political influence of the Jews made itself felt in the administration of the country. Especially prosperous at that time was the community of Kairwan ( Kairouan ), which was established soon after the foundation of that city by Uqba bin Nafi in the year 670. Nevertheless, the attitude of Islamic authorities regarding ghiyār (differentiation of non-Muslims from Muslims) begun to harden and in

885-433: A brief shower. The highest temperature of 49.0 °C (120.2 °F) was recorded at Tunis-Carthage International Airport on July 24, 2023. In autumn, it begins to rain, often with short thunderstorms, which can sometimes cause flash floods or even flood some parts of the city. The month of November marks a break in the general heat with average temperatures ranging from 11 to 20 °C (52 to 68 °F). Tunis has been

1062-596: A first development entirely devoted to the history of this community. In Tunisia, following the thesis of Abdelkrim Allagui, a group under the direction of Habib Kazdaghli and Abdelhamid Largueche brought the subject into the field of national academic research. Founded in Paris on June 3, 1997, the Society of Jewish History of Tunisia contributes to the research on the Jews of Tunisia and transmits their history through conferences, symposia and exhibitions. According to Michel Abitbol ,

1239-682: A large part of the country was set to the torch, the Zirid capital Kairouan was razed in 1057, and only a few coastal towns, including Tunis and Mahdia , escaped destruction. Exposed to violence from the hostile tribes that settled around the city, the population of Tunis repudiated the authority of the Zirids and swore allegiance to the Hammadid prince El Nacer ibn Alennas , who was based in Béjaïa , in 1059. The governor appointed by Béjaïa, having reestablished order in

1416-666: A minority of the Jews of Tunisia. On the other hand, indigenous elites didn't wish to give up their power to newcomers, unlike their Maghreb neighbors, probably due to the later arrival of the Granas in Tunisia. The Granas also differed geographically from the Tuansa, settling in the European district of Tunis, thus avoiding the Hara , and more culturally approach the Europeans than their co-religionists. However,

1593-553: A modest social position. This is why, contrary to what was happening elsewhere in the Maghreb, these new populations were hardly accepted, which gradually leads to the division of the Jewish community into two groups. In this context, the Jews played a major role in the economic life of the country, in commerce and crafts, but also in trading and banking. Despite the tariffs being higher than those paid by Muslim or Christian traders (10% vs. 3%),

1770-403: A night in either of these cities; and only by special permission of the governor were they allowed to enter them during the day. Although the difficulty of the economic context leads to a surge of probabilism , the triumph of Maliki Sunnism with little tolerance towards the "people of the book" meant material and spiritual misery. The massive settlement of Jewish-Spanish scholars fleeing from

1947-667: A saddle. From the 16th century Tunisia and more particularly Tunis had an influx of Sephardi Jewish families, who initially settled in Livorno ( Tuscany , Italy), and who later moved to work in other trading centers. These new settlers, called granas in Arabic or gorneyim (Hebrew: גורנים ) in Hebrew after the name of the city in both languages, were wealthier than the Jewish natives called tuansa . They spoke and wrote in Italian but gradually adopted

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2124-466: A secret ballot. This form of election was universally denounced by the nationalist and communist press in Tunisia. Only rich landlords were represented in the Tunisian section, with workers and intellectuals excluded from the electorate. Tunisians accounted for just 29% of delegates (a small increase on the 26% under previous system) when they were the vast majority of the population. From the late 1920s to

2301-449: A separate cemetery. This state of affairs was endorsed by a takkanah (rabbinic decree) signed in July 1741 between the great rabbis Abraham Taïeb and Isaac Lumbroso . This agreement was renewed in 1784 before being annulled in 1899. This takkanah sets, among other rules, the fact that every Israelite from a Muslim country was attached to the Tuansa, while every Israelite from a Christian country

2478-403: A significant portion of the city's income. Because of the concentration of political authority (headquarters of the central government, presidency, parliament, ministries, and central government) and culture (festivals and mainstream media), Tunis is the only nationally ranking metropolis. Tunis is the heartland of the Tunisian economy and is the industrial and economic hub of the country, home to

2655-416: A similar latitude as the southernmost points of Europe. The city of Tunis is built on a hill slope down to the lake of Tunis. These hills contain places such as Notre-Dame de Tunis, Ras Tabia, La Rabta, La Kasbah, Montfleury, and La Manoubia with altitudes just above 50 metres (160 feet). The city is located at the crossroads of a narrow strip of land between Lake Tunis and Séjoumi. The isthmus between them

2832-487: A steady influx of Jewish immigrants from the Levant to the end of the eleventh century, and their communities participated in these economic and intellectual exchanges. Monopolizing the goldsmiths' and jewelers' crafts, they also worked in the textile industry, as tailors, tanners and shoemakers, while the smallest rural communities practiced agriculture (saffron, henna, vine, etc.) or breeding of nomadic animals. The departure of

3009-465: A third for others (workers, civil servants and professionals). Each college selected fifteen delegates, constituting a conference of forty-five, elected for four years. The electorate was French males over the age of 21 with two years’ residence in Tunisia, excluding those who had specified court judgements against them. In 1914, there were 10,406 electors out of 44,000 French colonists in Tunisia. This constitution ensured that farmers were overrepresented in

3186-522: A third of Tunisian companies—including almost all the head offices of companies with more than fifty employees, with the exception of the Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa , headquartered in Gafsa —and produces a third of the national gross domestic product. Tunis attracts foreign investors (33% of companies, 26% of investments and 27% of employment), excluding several areas due to economic imbalances. According to

3363-515: A tradition, the Jews of the island of Djerba are the descendants of that tribe. In 793 Imam Idris was poisoned at the command of caliph Harun al-Rashid (it is said, by the governor's physician Shamma, probably a Jew), and circa 800 the Aghlabite dynasty was established. Under the rule of this dynasty, which lasted until 909, the situation of the Jews in Tunis was very favorable. As of old, Bizerta had

3540-563: Is a term for non-Muslims, originally Jews and Christians as People of the Book , living an Islamic state and refers to the state's obligation to protect the lives of these communities as well as their freedom of religion and right to administer their own laws in certain regards (i.e. the Jewish halakhic courts), in return for the payment of the jizya , the poll tax. Jews were economically, culturally and linguistically integrated into society, while retaining their cultural and religious peculiarities. If it

3717-461: Is almost completely absent and the sunlight is at a maximum. The average temperatures in the summer months of June, July, August, and September are very high. Sea breezes may mitigate the heat, but sometimes the sirocco winds reverse the trend. Occasional thunderstorms in the afternoon can develop quickly, especially after the periods of extremely hot weather. They usually do not produce precipitation (see dry thunderstorm ), but may be accompanied by

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3894-553: Is clear that the purpose of the patch was not merely ghiyār, but also dhull (humiliation) in keeping with the koranic injunction (Sura 9:29) that non-Muslims should be humbled. A period of reaction set in with the accession of the Zirite Al-Mu'izz (1016–62), who persecuted all heterodox sects, as well as the Jews. The persecution was especially detrimental to the prosperity of the Kairwan community, and members thereof began to emigrate to

4071-587: Is high in young people aged 18 to 24, with one in three unemployed as compared to one in six at the national level. In Greater Tunis, the proportion of young unemployed is at 35%. History of the Jews in Tunisia The history of the Jews in Tunisia extends nearly two thousand years to the Punic era . The Jewish community in Tunisia grew following successive waves of immigration and proselytism before its development

4248-829: Is problematic. Because its culture and records were destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War , very few Carthaginian primary historical sources survive. While there are a few ancient translations of Punic texts into Greek and Latin , as well as inscriptions on monuments and buildings discovered in Northwest Africa , the main sources are Greek and Roman historians, including Livy , Polybius , Appian , Cornelius Nepos , Silius Italicus , Plutarch , Dio Cassius , and Herodotus . These writers belonged to peoples in competition, and often in conflict, with Carthage. Greek cities contended with Carthage over Sicily , and

4425-734: Is slow, arabization is faster in urban areas, following the arrival of Jews from the East in the wake of the Arabs , and in the wealthy classes. In 788, when Idris I of Morocco proclaimed Mauritania 's independence of the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad , the Tunisian Jews joined his army under the leadership of their chief, Benjamin ben Joshaphat ben Abiezer. They soon withdrew, however; primarily because they were loath to fight against their coreligionists of other parts of Mauritania, who remained faithful to

4602-601: Is the capital and largest city of Tunisia . The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as " Grand Tunis ", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. As of 2020 , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casablanca and Algiers ) and the eleventh-largest in the Arab world . Situated on the Gulf of Tunis , behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette (Ḥalq il-Wād),

4779-657: Is what geologists call the "Tunis dome", which includes hills of limestone and sediments. It forms a natural bridge and since ancient times several major roads linking to Egypt and elsewhere in Tunisia have branched out from it. The roads also connect with Carthage, emphasizing its political and economic importance not only in Tunisia but more widely in North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea in ancient times. The Greater Tunis area has an area of 300,000 hectares (1,200 sq mi; 3,000 km ), 10% of which are urbanized,

4956-568: The Arab world , to which was added nationalist agitation, nationalization of enterprises, Arabization of education and part of the administration. Jews left Tunisia en masse from the 1950s onwards because of the problems raised and the hostile climate created by the Bizerte crisis in 1961 and the Six-Day War in 1967. According to the Jewish Virtual Library , the Jewish population of Tunisia,

5133-724: The Barbary pirates , then in their golden age. Profits obtained from the trade in Christian slaves allowed the rulers to build sumptuous structures that revived the architectural heritage of the Middle Ages. In April 1655 the English admiral Robert Blake was sent to the Mediterranean to extract compensation from states that had been attacking English shipping. Only the Bey of Tunis refused to comply, with

5310-766: The Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Spanish under John of Austria succeeded in retaking the city and re-establishing the Hafsid sovereign in October 1573. Following these conflicts, the city finally fell into Ottoman hands in August 1574. Having become an Ottoman province governed by a Pasha who was appointed by the Sultan based in Constantinople , the country attained a degree of autonomy. After 1591,

5487-669: The Castile in 1391 and again in 1492 was mainly carried out in Algeria and Morocco , and the Tunisian Jews, abandoned by this phenomenon, were led to consult Algerian scholars such as Simeon ben Zemah Duran . In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Jews of Tunis were treated more cruelly than those elsewhere in the Maghreb. While refugees from Spain and Portugal flocked to Algeria and Morocco , only some chose to settle in Tunis. The Tunisian Jews had no eminent rabbis or scholars and had to consult those of Algeria or Morocco on religious questions. In

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5664-466: The French protectorate in 1881 was a turning point in Tunis's history, leading to rapid redevelopment of the city in the span of two to three decades. The city quickly spread out of its fortifications: it divided into a traditional Arab-populated old city, and a new city populated by immigrants, with a different structure from that of the traditional medina . Tunis also benefited from the French construction of

5841-591: The Hafsid dynasty , which was established in 1236 as a breakaway from the Almohad dynasty , the condition of the Jews improved. Jews could again practice their religion and thus reconstituted the communities that existed before the Almohad period. Systematic persecution, social exclusion and hindrance to worship disappeared, but the dhimma was strict, especially in matters of dress. The Hafsids followed late Almohad practice and forced

6018-599: The Iberian Peninsula , often through Livorno , greatly altered the country. Its economic, social and cultural situation has improved markedly with the advent of the French protectorate before being compromised during the Second World War , with the occupation of the country by the Axis . The Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948 and following 1948 Arab–Israeli War provoked a widespread anti-Zionist reaction in

6195-661: The Israel Folktale Archives in University of Haifa , the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Ben Zvi Institute , collect material evidence (traditional clothing, embroidery, lace, jewelry, etc.), traditions (folk tales, liturgical songs, etc.) and manuscripts as well as Judeo-Arabic books and newspapers. Paul Sebag is the first to provide in his 1991 book History of the Jews of Tunisia: from origins to our days

6372-600: The Jarawa and Nefzaouas quoted were of Christian confession before the arrival of Islam . In any case, even if the hypothesis of the massive conversion of whole tribes appears fragile, individual conversions seem more probable. With the Arab conquest and the arrival of Islam in Tunisia in the eighth century, the " People of the Book " (including Jews and Christians) were given a choice between conversion to Islam (which some Jewish Berbers have done) and legal status as dhimmi . The dhimmi

6549-469: The Mercenary War , it is possible that the town served as a center for the native population of the area, and that its population was mainly composed of peasants, fishermen, and craftsmen. Compared to the ancient ruins of Carthage, the town's ancient ruins are not as large. According to Strabo , it was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC during the Third Punic War . Both the town and Carthage were destroyed;

6726-463: The Pagans Stigmatized again, they are excluded from any public office, their synagogues were to be transformed into churches, their worship is proscribed and their meetings forbidden, though the legislation was hardly enforced. If the emperor Maurice attempts to repeal these measures, his successors return there and an imperial edict imposes baptism on them. Nevertheless, in the 7th century,

6903-582: The Roman Empire , the Jews of Roman Africa were romanized after hundreds of years of subjection and would have adopted Latinized names, worn togas , and spoken Latin. According to St. Augustine , only their morals, modeled by Jewish religious precepts ( circumcision , kashrut , observance of Shabbat , modesty of dress ), distinguish them from the rest of the population. On the intellectual level, they devote themselves to translation for Christian clients and to

7080-466: The Romans a capitation tax of 2 shekels . Under the dominion of the Romans and (after 429) of the fairly tolerant Vandals , the Jews of Tunis increased and prospered to such a degree that early African church councils deemed it necessary to enact restrictive laws against them. Al-Qayrawani relates that at the time of the conquest of Hippo Zaritus (Arabic: Bizerta ) by Hasan ibn al-Nu'man in 698

7257-448: The Romans fought three wars against Carthage . Not surprisingly, their accounts of Carthage are extremely hostile; while there are a few Greek authors who took a favourable view, these works have been lost. The area was originally a Berber settlement. The existence of settlements in and around the area of Tunis is attested by sources dating from the 4th century BC. Situated on a hill, its location served as an excellent point from which

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7434-643: The Sunni population tolerated Shi'ite rule less and less, and carried out massacres against the Shi'ite community. In 1048 the Zirid ruler Al-Muizz ibn Badis rejected his city's obedience to the Fatimids and re-established Sunni rites throughout all of Ifriqiya. This decision infuriated the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mustansir Billah . To punish the Zirids, he unleashed the Banu Hilal Arab tribe on Ifriqiya;

7611-460: The Tunis Governorate into parts of the governorates of Ben Arous , Ariana and Manouba . The municipality of Tunis is divided into 15 municipal districts: These include El Bab Bhar, Bab Souika, Cité El Khadra, Jelloud Jebel El Kabaria, El Menzah, El Ouardia, Ettahrir, Ezzouhour, Hraïria, Medina, El Omrane, El Omrane Higher Séjoumi and Sidi El-Bashir. In the years following independence,

7788-472: The kasbah of Tunis. The Almohad conquest marked the beginning of the dominance of the city in Tunisia. Having previously played a minor role behind Kairouan and Mahdia , Tunis was promoted to the rank of provincial capital. In 1228, Governor Abu Zakariya seized power and, a year later, took the title of Emir and founded the Hafsid dynasty . The city became the capital of a Hafsid kingdom stretching towards Tripoli and Fez . Walls were built to protect

7965-463: The messiah had not come, they were to be forced to embrace Islam . Accordingly, Jews as well as Christians were compelled either to embrace Islam or to leave the country. 'Abd al-Mu'min's successors pursued the same course, and their severe measures resulted either in emigration or in forcible conversions. Soon becoming suspicious of the sincerity of the new converts, the Almohadis compelled them to wear

8142-526: The qaid charge of the Jews (qdyd el yihud) and that of Receiver General of Finance under the authority of the Treasurer of the Kingdom (khaznadar). He was an intermediary between the bey and his community and therefore enjoyed entry to the court. He had a very important bureaucratic power over those co-religionaries in whom he apportioned the payment of the jizya – of which they were collectively liable – according to

8319-558: The souks of Tunis , thus shipping imported products from Europe under the leadership of a Muslim amine, or in the Jewish quarter. In 1710, a century of friction between the two groups led to a coup de force of the Livornese community, with a tacit agreement of the authorities. By creating its own community institutions, it creates a schism with the indigenous population. Each of them had their council of notables, their grand rabbi, their rabbinical court , synagogues, schools, butcher's shop and

8496-484: The 12th-century Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in his Mu'jam al-Bûldan ( Dictionary of Countries ). Different explanations exist for the origin of the name Tunis . Some scholars relate it to the Carthaginian goddess Tanith ('Tanit or Tanut), as many ancient cities were named after patron deities. Some scholars claim that it originated from Tynes , which was mentioned by Diodorus Siculus and Polybius in

8673-445: The 2004 census, 9.9% of the total population of Tunisia. As in the rest of Tunisia, literacy in the region of Tunis evolved rapidly during the second half of the 20th century and has reached a level slightly higher than the national average. The education level is only exceeded by the neighboring governorate of Ariana which has many institutions of education. Products include textiles, carpets , and olive oil . Tourism also provides

8850-569: The 2nd or 4th century, was discovered in Naro (present Hammam Lif ) in 1883. The mosaic covering the floor of the main hall, which includes a Latin inscription mentioning sancta synagoga naronitana ("holy synagogue of Naro") and motifs practiced throughout Roman Africa, testified to the ease of its members and the quality of their exchanges with other populations. Other Jewish communities are attested by epigraphic or literary references to Utique, Chemtou, Hadrumète or Thusuros (present Tozeur ). As elsewhere in

9027-414: The 3rd–5th century CE was discovered by the French captain Ernest De Prudhomme in his Hammam-Lif residence in 1883 called in Latin as sancta synagoga naronitana ("holy synagogue of Naro"). After the fall of the Second Temple , many exiled Jews settled in Tunis and engaged in agriculture, cattle-raising, and trade. They were divided into clans governed by their respective heads ( mokdem ), and had to pay

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9204-444: The Allies held a victory parade on Avenue Maréchal Galliéni, and Avenue Jules Ferry, to signal the end of fighting in North Africa. Having succeeded in driving the Axis powers out of Tunisia, the Allies used Tunis as a base of operations from which to stage amphibious assaults first against the island of Pantelleria , and then Sicily , and finally the mainland of Italy . After independence in 1956, Tunis consolidated its role as

9381-435: The Beylic Court, they performed executive functions of court – collectors of taxes, treasurers and intermediaries without authority over Muslims – and noble professions in medicine, finance or diplomacy. Even if they settled in the same neighborhoods, they had virtually no connection with the Tuansa, to which Jews from the rest of the Mediterranean Basin have assimilated. The Tuansa spoke the Judeo-Tunisian dialect, and occupied

9558-429: The Fatimids in 909. The Fatimids, in general, were more tolerant towards dhimmi subjects than interpretations in orthodox Sunni Islam. Jews were employed in the civil service, sumptuary laws for non-Muslims were repealed, and the discriminatory tariffs were not imposed. Jews worked in the service of the dynasty, as treasurers, doctors, or tax collectors but their situation remained precarious. Kairouan (Qayrawan), now

9735-405: The Fatimids to Egypt in 972 led their Zirid vassals to seize power and eventually break their bonds of political and religious submission in the middle of the eleventh century. The Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym , were sent in retaliation against Tunisia by the Fatimids, took Kairouan in 1057 and plundered it, which empties it of all its population then plunges it into the doldrums. Combined with

9912-430: The Foreign Minister Alexandre Ribot to write to the Resident General Justin Massicault on 24 October 1890 suggesting that he gathered representatives of French colonists periodically to seek their views on agricultural, industrial and commercial matters of importance to them. A consultative conference was therefore established, which met for the first time in a wing of the Resident General's building in January 1891. It

10089-441: The French become increasingly active in the city and in the economy. Various sources estimate the 19th-century population to have ranged from 90,000 to 110,000 inhabitants. During the later 19th century, Tunis became increasingly populated by Europeans, particularly the French, and immigration dramatically increased the size of the city. This resulted in the first demolition of the old city walls, from 1860, to accommodate growth in

10266-400: The Granas managed to control and prosper trade with Livorno. Their trading houses also engaged in credit banking activities and participated in the purchase of Christian slaves captured by privateers and resold. The Tuansa saw themselves conceding the monopoly of the leather trade by the Muradid and then Husainid beys . Jews who were traveling as Tunisians worked in the retail trade in

10443-697: The Hafsids maintained Christian mercenaries who lived in a neighbourhood closed off with a gate near the Hafsid palace complex. They worshipped in a church dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi which visitors described as "very beautiful and great" and which was allowed to ring the bell, a practice forbidden by the so-called Pact of Umar and a privilege not granted to the Genoese and Venetian merchants who maintained chapels in their merchant quarters. When Jean Adorno visited Tunis in 1470, he described these Christians as assimilated culturally and linguistically into Tunisian society, though they remained Christians and would sing in Latin during mass. During this period, one of

10620-464: The Jewish population was augmented by Spanish immigrants, who, fleeing from the persecutions of the Visigothic king Sisebut and his successors, escaped to Mauritania and settled in Byzantine cities. Some Jews have fled the Byzantine-controlled cities to settle in the mountains or on the confines of the desert and fight there with the support of the Berber tribes, many of whom would have been won by their proselytism. According to other historians,

10797-459: The Jews a privileged status confirmed by the Magna Charta pro Judaeis under the Roman Empire . These Jews were joined by Jewish pilgrims , expelled from Rome for proselytizing, 20 by a number of defeated in the First Jewish–Roman War , deported and resold as slaves in North Africa, and also by Jews fleeing the repression of revolts in Cyrenaica and Judea under the reigns of the emperors Domitian , Trajan , and Hadrian . According to Josephus,

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10974-402: The Jews and collection of Jewish taxes . Three kinds of taxes were imposed on Tunisian Jews: In addition to these, every Jewish tradesman and industrialist had to pay an annual tax to the guild . After the 13th century, taxes were collected by a qaid , who also served as an intermediary between the government and the Jews. His authority within the Jewish community was supreme. The members of

11151-429: The Jews of Tunisia (until the establishment of the French protectorate) was first studied by David Cazès in 1888 in his Essay on the History of the Israelites of Tunisia ; André Chouraqui (1952) and later by Haim Zeev Hirschberg (1965), in the more general context of North African Judaism . The research on the subject was then enriched by Robert Attal and Yitzhak Avrahami. In addition, various institutions, including

11328-406: The Jews, who were the only non-Muslim religionists left, to wear yellow turban and garments and caliph Muhammad I al-Mustansir renewed these regulations in 1250. The yellow patch Tunisian Jews wore from this time until the nineteenth century became so emblematic that they became commonly referred to as shikliyyun . Besides Kairwan, there were at that time important communities in Mehdia , Kalaa ,

11505-410: The Judaization of the Berbers would have taken place four centuries earlier, with the arrival of Jews fleeing the repression of the Cyrenaic revolt; The transition would have been made progressively through a Judeo-Pagan syncretism with the cult of Tanit , still anchored after the fall of Carthage. Whatever the hypothesis, the historian of the fourteenth century Ibn Khaldun confirms their existence on

11682-404: The Mercer 2017 Cost of Living Rankings, Tunis has the lowest cost of living for expatriates in the world. The urban unemployment rate of university graduates is increasing and the illiteracy rate remains high among the elderly (27% of women and 12% of men). The number of people living below the poverty line, falling at the national level, remains higher in urban areas. In addition, unemployment

11859-464: The Muslims sometimes did. Moreover, they were periodically obliged to carry out public works and were subjected to forced labor which affected mainly the poorest of the communities. Regarding dress code, the chechia that served as their headdress had to be black and wrapped in a dark turban, unlike the Muslims who wore a red chechia surrounded by a white turban. The Granas, dressed in European fashion, wore wigs and round hats like Christian merchants. At

12036-412: The National Assembly is to sit in Tunis (article 51) and that the Presidency is based there (article 73). Following the municipal elections of 6 May 2018, Ennahdha obtained 21 seats out of 60. Nidaa Tounes came second with 17 seats. On 3 July 2018, the head of the Ennahdha list Souad Abderrahim was elected by the council as the new mayor of the capital. Before 2011, unlike other mayors in Tunisia,

12213-440: The North, three from the South, and twelve for the municipalities). The delegates for the North and the South were elected by indirect suffrage - French colonists voted for twelve delegates in the north and seven in the south, who then voted among themselves to decide who should take seats in the conference. This method allowed the Resident General to make sure that those taking seats were those of established position, or indeed, in

12390-400: The Ottoman governors ( Beys ) were relatively independent, and both piracy and trade continued to flourish. Under the rule of deys and beys , the capital sprang into new life. Its population grew by additions from various ethnicities, among which were Moorish refugees from Spain, and economic activities diversified. To traditional industry and trade with distant lands was added the activity of

12567-437: The PLO's headquarters was bombed by Israeli Air Force F-15s, killing approximately 60 people. Many protests took place during the Arab Spring of 2011–12. On 18 March 2015, two gunmen attacked the Bardo National Museum and held hostages. Twenty civilians and one policeman were killed in the attack, while around 50 others were injured. Five Japanese, two Colombians, and visitors from Italy, Poland, and Spain were among

12744-553: The Romans deported 30,000 Jews to Carthage from Judea after the First Jewish-Roman War. It is very likely that these Jews founded communities on the territory of present-day Tunisia. A tradition among the descendants of the first Jewish settlers was that their ancestors settled in that part of North Africa long before the destruction of the First Temple in the 6th century BCE. The ruins of an ancient synagogue dating back to

12921-705: The Second World War, a steady series of reforms expanded Tunisian representation in the Grand Council. In 1928 Tunisians who held a high school diploma were given the vote for the first time, and the number of delegates they elected indirectly rose from 18 to 26 (33% of the Council). At the same time, the number of French delegates went up from 44 to 52. In 1934, the number of Tunisians elected (rather than appointed) rose from 10 to 19, and there were henceforth 41 Tunisian delegates (42%) including four Jews, and 56 French. This

13098-627: The Talmudic academies of Babylonia, acting as intermediaries between them and his own community. Jacob ibn Shahin was succeeded by his son, Nissim ben Jacob , considered the greatest of the Qayrawan sages. Another academy was founded by Chushiel ben Elchanan , originally from Bari , developed the simultaneous study of the Talmud of Babylon and the Jerusalem Talmud . His son and disciple Chananel ben Chushiel

13275-458: The Tuansa . The socio-cultural and economic differences between these two communities have increased in the nineteenth century. The Granas, due to their European origins and higher standard of living, but also to their economic, family and cultural ties with Livorno, found it difficult to cope with their indigenous coreligionists, the Tuansa, who were considered less "civilized". The Granas were an important contributions whereas they represented only

13452-639: The Tunisian Muslim delegates were still elected indirectly, and the ballot was still not secret. The French and Tunisian sections once again reached deadlock on 1 December 1951. The attempt to break this by calling new elections also ran into trouble, as the Resident General Louis Périllier tried to push ahead while Mohamed Chenik , grand vizir since 17 August 1950, refused to convene the Tunisian electors until his demands for internal autonomy for Tunisia had been met. The Grand Council met for

13629-595: The United States consul in Tunis, Mordecai Manuel Noah , gave the following account of the situation of the Tunisian Jews: With all the apparent oppression, the Jews are the leading men; they are in Barbary the principal mechanics, they are at the head of the custom-house, they farm the revenues; the exportation of various articles, and the monopoly of various merchandise, are secured to them by purchase, they control

13806-456: The age of twenty-five, recognised as notable in their local area by virtue of their age, piety, education, social, or recognised service to the state. Those representing the chamber of agriculture and commerce were elected from lists approved by the government. Votes were not cast in secret - each Tunisian voter had to cast they vote by voice in front of two lawyers. Only the Jewish delegates were permitted to stand for election by direct suffrage on

13983-502: The agreement of the authorities, under a law of 423. However, various councils held by the Church of Carthage , recommending Christians not to follow certain practices of their Jewish neighbors, testify to the maintenance of their influence. At the beginning of the 5th century the arrival of the Vandals has opened a period of respite for the Jews. The Arianism of the new masters of Roman Africa

14160-687: The arabization of the population. Because of population pressure and the rate of migration to the capital, the city continued to grow, even with the creation of new districts in the suburbs. Old buildings have gradually been renovated and upgraded. New buildings have come to influence the urban landscape. At the same time, an active policy of industrialization is developing the municipal economy. The Arab League represents 22 Arab nations. It transferred its headquarters to Tunis in 1979 because of Egypt's peace with Israel. The Arab League returned to Egypt in 1990. The Palestine Liberation Organization also had its headquarters in Tunis, from 1982 to 2003. In 1985,

14337-439: The arguments were so violent that two of the three French-speaking Muslim delegates walked out so as not to hear any more." The Resident General Gabriel Alapetite eventually decided this arrangement could not work, so from 27 April 1910, the two sections sat separately. A Higher Council was set up, composed of ministers and heads of service, as well as three French and three Tunisian conference delegates, chosen by their peers. It

14514-442: The authorities didn't seem to intervene. An observer declared that the Jews were recognized "not only in their black costume, but also in the imprint of a curse they carry on their foreheads". At the end of the eighteenth century, Hammouda Pasha denied Jews the right to acquire and possess real estate properties, while the learning of literal Arabic and the use of the Arabic alphabet was also prohibited during this period. Finally,

14691-695: The authors attached to this community, and that the associations of Jews originating from one or another community (Ariana, Bizerte, etc.) or Tunisia multiply. As for the fate of the Jewish community during the period of the German occupation of Tunisia (1942–1943), it remains relatively uncommon, and the Symposium on the Jewish Community of Tunisia held at the University of La Manouba in February 1998 (the first of its kind on this research theme) does not mention it. However,

14868-504: The beginning of the eighteenth century, the political status of the Jews improved somewhat thanks to the growing influence of the political agents of the European powers who, seeking to improve the living conditions of the Christian residents, also pleaded the Jews. But if the wealthy Jews – who held positions in administration or trade – succeeded in being respected, especially through the protection of influential Muslim personalities, poor Jews were often victims of bullying and even murder, and

15045-507: The behavior of the Muslim population towards the communities varied from the will to rigorous application of the dhimma by the Ulama to the absence of hostility of the rural population, marginalized urban fringes but assured of impunity. Communities were structured under the authority of a leader of the "Jewish nation" with the title of hasar ve ha-tafsar, a prestigious and powerful post containing both

15222-563: The budget instead of just scrutinising it, and the Resident General now had to secure the agreement of both sections before contracting any loans. Elections for the French section were conducted by universal male suffrage using a list system which allowed for panachage . The electoral process for the Tunisian section was more complex, but represented a real step forward compared to the system of designated delegates created in 1907. Tunisian candidates for election had to be taxpaying men over

15399-418: The caliphate of Baghdad; and secondarily, because of some indignities committed by Idris against Jewish women. The victorious Idris avenged this defection by attacking the Jews in their cities. The Jews were required to pay a capitation-tax and provide a certain number of virgins annually for Idris' harem . The Jewish tribe 'Ubaid Allah preferred to migrate to the east rather than to submit to Idris; according to

15576-525: The caliphate, and was briefly the national capital from the end of the reign of Ibrahim II , from 902 until 909, when control over Ifriqiya was handed to the newly founded Fatimid Caliphate . Local opposition to the authorities began to intensify in September 945, when Kharijite insurgents occupied Tunis, resulting in general pillaging. With the rise of the Fatimid-viceregal Zirid dynasty

15753-750: The capital of Tunisia since 1159. Under Articles 43 and 24 of the Constitution of 1959 , Tunis and its suburbs host the national institutions: the Presidential Palace, which is known as Carthage Palace , residence of the President of Tunisia , the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors and parliament, the Constitutional Council and the main judicial institutions and public bodies. The revised Tunisian Constitution of 2014 similarly provides that

15930-652: The capital of the Aghlabids, was the seat of the most important community in the territory, attracting migrants from Umayyad, Italy, and the Abbasid Empire. This community would become one of the major poles of Judaism between the ninth and eleventh centuries, both economically, culturally and intellectually, ensuring, through correspondence with the Talmudic academies in Babylonia . Many major figures of Judaism are associated with

16107-545: The capital, first with the establishment of a constitution stating that the Chamber of Deputies and the Presidency of the Republic must have their headquarters in Tunis and its suburbs. In a very short time, the colonial city transformed rapidly. As the city has grown and native Tunisians gradually began to replace the extensive European population, the conflict between the Arab city and the European city has gradually decreased with

16284-476: The caprices of princes and outbursts of fanaticism. Petty officials were allowed to impose upon them the most difficult drudgery without compensation. They were obliged to wear a special costume, consisting of a blue frock without collar or ordinary sleeves (loose linen sleeves being substituted), wide linen drawers, black slippers, and a small black skull-cap; stockings might be worn in winter only. They might ride only on asses or mules, and were not permitted to use

16461-630: The case of the deputy mayors, chosen personally by him. Even with this composition however, most sessions of the conference were taken up with two demands that never went away – the election of a full assembly based on full suffrage for the French, and the right to examine the budget. On 2 January 1905, the first of these demands was met. The conference was to be elected by universal suffrage of male French colonists, now divided into eight constituencies (Northwest, Bizerte , Tunis , Northeast, Centre-East, Centre-West, Sfax and South) and three colleges - agricultural, commercial (now including industrialists) and

16638-594: The chamber wanted Tunisia to be annexed outright by France, and would not confine themselves to the limited role he envisaged for them. They were supported from France by député Honoré Pontois , a former magistrate in Tunis, who in June 1890 brought forward proposals in the National Assembly for legislation to create a representative body for colonists in Tunisia, with the explicit remit of defending France's interests there. Although this bill did not go forward, it prompted

16815-566: The city and its buildings. During this period, the city prospered as a center of commerce. Taking advantage of divisions within the ruling house, Algerians captured Tunis in 1756 and put the country under supervision. Hammouda Bey faced bombardment by the Venetian fleet, and the city experienced a rebellion in 1811. Under the reign of Hussein Bey II , naval defeats by the British (1826) and French (1827) saw

16992-734: The city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it. At its core lies the Medina , a World Heritage Site . East of the Medina, through the Sea Gate (also known as the Bab el Bhar and the Porte de France ), begins the modern part of the city called "Ville Nouvelle", traversed by the grand Avenue Habib Bourguiba (often referred to by media and travel guides as "the Tunisian Champs-Élysées "), where

17169-599: The city of Tunis, which speedily gained in population and in commercial importance. The conquest of Tunisia by the Almohad Caliphate in the 1150s proved disastrous to the Jews of Tunis. The rise of the Almohad Caliphate shaked both the Jewish communities of Tunisia and the Muslims attached to the cult of the saints, declared by the new sovereigns as heretics . Jews were forced to apostasy by Caliph Abd al-Mu'min . Many massacres took place, despite many formal conversions by

17346-839: The city. Among them is Isaac Israeli ben Solomon , a private doctor of the Aghlabide Ziadet Allah III and then of the Fatimids Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah and Al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah and author of various medical treatises in Arabic which would enrich the medieval medicine through their translation by Constantine the African , adapting the teachings of the Alexandrian school to the Jewish dogma. Israeli's works in Arabic were studied in their Hebrew and Latin translations in both medieval and Renaissance Europe. Dunash ibn Tamim , his disciple,

17523-448: The city. This quarter, called the "Hira," constituted until 1857 the ghetto of Tunis; it was closed at night. In 1270, in consequence of the defeat of Louis IX of France , who had undertaken a crusade against Tunis, the cities of Kairwan and Ḥammat were declared holy; and the Jews were required either to leave them or to convert to Islam. From that year until the conquest of Tunis by France (1857), Jews and Christians were forbidden to pass

17700-496: The colonial-era buildings provide a clear contrast to smaller, older structures. Further east by the sea lie the suburbs of Carthage , La Marsa , and Sidi Bou Said . As the capital of the country, Tunis is the focus of Tunisian political and administrative life and also the center of the country's commercial and cultural activities. Tunis is the transcription of the Arabic name تونس which can be pronounced as "Tūnus", "Tūnas", or "Tūnis". All three variations were mentioned by

17877-419: The comings and goings of naval and caravan traffic to and from Carthage could be observed. It was one of the first towns in the region to fall under Carthaginian control, and in the centuries that followed the settlement was mentioned in the military histories associated with Carthage . Thus, during Agathocles' expedition, which landed at Cape Bon in 310 BC, the town changed hands on various occasions. During

18054-428: The conference should be based on elections, not appointment. Zaouche's view was that taking part in the conference was a way of making Tunisians' voices heard, and he used his position to speak out on many topics of importance to the nationalist movement. Zaouche remained a vociferous and leading member of the conference until 1917, when he was appointed caïd of Sousse , a post which required him to step down. Some of

18231-403: The conference, even as their numbers declined as a proportion of the French population. In 1920 for example, they accounted for a third of delegates when they accounted for just 15.3% of the electorate. From 1898, sessions of the conference were held in a building bought by the Resident General at 20 Avenue de Paris. It originally had a ground floor and a first floor, but when the Tunisian section

18408-678: The council of elders, as well as the rabbis, were nominated at his recommendation, and no rabbinical decision was valid unless approved by him. During the conquest of Tunis by the Spaniards in 1535, many Jews were made prisoners and sold as slaves in several Christian countries. After the victory of the Ottomans over the Spaniards in 1574, Tunisia became a province of the Ottoman Empire led by deys, from 1591, then by beys, from 1640. In this context, Jews arriving from Italy have played an important role in

18585-503: The country, did not hesitate to free himself from the Hammadids to found the Khurasanid dynasty with Tunis as its capital. This small independent kingdom picked up the threads of trade and commerce with other nations and brought the region back to peace and prosperity. In 1159, the Almohad ' Abd al-Mu'min took Tunis, overthrew the last Khurasanid leader, and installed a new government in

18762-409: The country. The population of the city of Tunis exceeds 2,000,000 inhabitants. After independence, the Tunisian government implemented a plan to cope with the population growth of the city and country, a system of family planning, to attempt to lower the rate of population growth. However, between 1994 and 2004, the population of the governorate of Tunis grew more than 1.03% per annum. It represents, in

18939-825: The course of descriptions of a location resembling present-day Al-Kasbah, Tunis's old Berber village. Another possibility is that it was derived from the Berber verbal root ens which means "to lie down" or "to pass the night". The term Tunis can possibly mean "camp at night", "camp", or "stop", or may have referred to as "the last stop before Carthage" by people who were journeying to Carthage by land. There are also some mentions in ancient Roman sources of such names of nearby towns as Tuniza (now El Kala ), Thunusuda (now Sidi-Meskin ), Thinissut (now Bir Bouregba), and Thunisa (now Ras Jebel ). As all of these Berber villages were situated on Roman roads, they undoubtedly served as rest-stations or stops. The historical study of Carthage

19116-416: The dead. Both gunmen were killed by Tunisian police. The incident has been treated as a terrorist attack . Tunis is located in north-eastern Tunisia on the Lake of Tunis , and is connected to the Mediterranean sea's Gulf of Tunis by a canal which terminates at the port of La Goulette / Halq al Wadi . The ancient city of Carthage is located just north of Tunis along the coastal part. The city lies on

19293-424: The delegates chosen for their loyalty could not even speak French, which hindered discussions considerably. Zaouche noted in 1910 that each year these brave men arrived in Tunis fully briefed on the needs of their regions, but once the conference began its work, they felt completely out of place and, unable to follow the discussion, reached the end of the session without having been able to say a word.” For three years,

19470-415: The emerging principal town of the kingdom, surrounding the medina, the kasbah, and the new suburbs of Tunis. In 1270 the city was taken briefly by Louis IX of France , who was hoping to convert the Hafsid sovereign to Christianity. King Louis easily captured Carthage , but his army soon fell victim to an outbreak of dysentery. Louis himself died before the walls of the capital and his army were forced out. At

19647-444: The end of the fifteenth century, converted back to Judaism at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and left Tuscany to settle in Tunisia, in the framework of the establishment of commercial relations. They spoke and wrote Tuscan and sometimes Spanish, and constituted a highly influential economic and cultural elite in the rest of the Italian community. Their surnames recalled their Spanish or Portuguese origin. Quickly introduced to

19824-455: The eve of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb on the basis of eleventh-century Arab chronicles. However, this version is fairly questioned: Haim Zeev Hirschberg recalls that the historian wrote his work several centuries after the facts, Mohamed Talbi that the French translation is not totally exact since it does not render the idea of the contingency expressed by the author, and Gabriel Camps that

20001-400: The expenditure side, provision is made for the consolidation of hygiene and cleanliness, the state of the environment and urban design, infrastructure maintenance, rehabilitation and renovation of facilities, and strengthening the logistics and means of work and transport. The city of Tunis, whose size has increased significantly during the second half of the 20th century, now extends beyond

20178-401: The famous travelers to Tunis was Ibn Battuta . In his travel account, when Ibn Battuta and his group arrived in Tunis, the population of the city came out to meet him and the other members of his party. They all greeted them and were very curious, many were asking questions, however, no one in Tunis personally greeted Ibn Battuta, greatly upsetting him. He felt very lonely and could not hold back

20355-469: The fifteen Tunisian and forty-five French delegates sat together. Their interests were often at odds, and hardly any were bilingual. Interpreters were introduced, but this led to translation problems. Above all, most of the French delegates remained irreconcilably opposed to the presence of Tunisians. Accordingly, the French delegates opposed every measure that would give any advantage to the Tunisians, including

20532-435: The fifteenth century, each community was autonomous – recognized by power from the moment it counts at least ten major men – and has its own institutions; Their communal affairs were directed by a chief (zaken ha-yehudim) nominated by the government, and assisted by a council of notables (gdolei ha-qahal) made up of the most educated and wealthy family heads. The chief's functions consisted in the administration of justice among

20709-520: The former, however, was rebuilt first under the rule of Augustus and became an important town under Roman control and the center of a booming agricultural industry. The township is mentioned as Thuni in the Tabula Peutingeriana . In the system of Roman roads for the Roman province of Africa , the town had the title of mutatio ("way station, resting place"). The borough, increasingly Romanized,

20886-517: The founding of the city by order of Caliph Abd al-Malik . From the beginning of the 8th century, Tunis was the chef-lieu of the area: it became the Umayyad, and later the Abbasids ' naval base in the western Mediterranean Sea , and took on considerable military importance. Under the Aghlabids , the city gained significance and benefited from economic improvements and became one of the most important in

21063-531: The governor of that district was a Jew. When Tunis came under the dominion of the Arabs , or of the Arabian caliphate of Baghdad , another influx of Arabic-speaking Jews from the Levant into Tunis took place. The first documents attesting to the presence of Jews in Tunisia date from the second century. Tertullian describes Jewish communities alongside which Pagan Jews of Punic, Roman and Berber origin and, initially, Christians; The success of Jewish proselytism led

21240-404: The island of Djerba , and the city of Tunis. Considered at first as foreigners, the Jews were not permitted to settle in the interior of Tunis, but had to live in a building called a funduk . Subsequently, however, a wealthy and humane Muslim , Sidi Mahrez , who in 1159 had rendered great services to the Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min , obtained for them the right to settle in a special quarter of

21417-735: The land presently known as Tunisia: However, if these hypotheses were verified, it is probable that these Israelites would have assimilated to the Punic population and sacrificed to their divinities, like Baal and Tanit . Thereafter, Jews from Alexandria or Cyrene could have settled in Carthage following the Hellenization of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Basin . The cultural context allowed them to practice Judaism more in keeping with ancestral traditions. Small Jewish communities existed in

21594-504: The last time on 9 December 1951, and was then suspended owing to the serious political tensions spreading through the country. On 4 March 1954, a final attempt was made to set up a Tunisian National Assembly, although the proposal was still based on indirect elections for the Tunisian section, with the French section able to block legislation. Insecurity in the country meant that the proposed elections to this body were never held. Tunis Tunis ( Arabic : تونس Tūnis )

21771-470: The late ninth century the Aghlabid ruler but also Maliki qadi of Kairuoan issued decrees that ordered dhimmis to wear a white patch on the shoulder of their garment. The patch for Jews had the image of an ape, an image based on koranic interepretation that became standard in-anti-dhimmi propaganda and was polemic when referring to Jews. It is not clear how long these humiliating decree remained in force, but it

21948-427: The later days of Punic domination over North Africa, without it being possible to say whether they developed or disappeared later. Jews have in any case settled in the new Roman province of Africa , enjoying the favors of Julius Caesar . The latter, in recognition of the support of King Antipater in his struggle against Pompey , recognized Judaism and the status of Religio licita , and according to Josephus granted

22125-414: The latitude of the city, the moderating influence of the Mediterranean sea, and the terrain of the hills. Winter is the wettest season of the year, when more than a third of the annual rainfall falls during this period, raining on average every two or three days. The sun may still increase the temperature from 7 °C (45 °F) in the morning to 16 °C (61 °F) in the afternoon on average during

22302-455: The life of the country and in the history of Tunisian Judaism. During the Spanish occupation of the Tunisian coasts (1535–74) the Jewish communities of Bizerte , Susa , Sfax , and other seaports suffered greatly at the hands of the conquerors; while under the subsequent Turkish rule the Jews of Tunis enjoyed a fair amount of security. They were free to practice their religion and administer their own affairs. Nevertheless, they were subject to

22479-528: The local Arabic while introducing their traditional liturgy to their new host country. From the beginning of the 18th century the political status of the Jews in Tunis improved. This was due to the increasing influence of the political agents of the European powers, who, while seeking to ameliorate the condition of the Christian residents, had to plead also the cause of the Jews, whom Muslim legislation classed with Christians. Haim Joseph David Azulai , who visited Tunis in 1772, praised this development. In 1819,

22656-516: The mayor of Tunis was appointed by decree of the President of the Republic from among the members of the City Council. The 2008 budget adopted by the City Council is structured as follows: 61.61 million dinars for operations and 32,516 million dinars for investment. It reflects the improved financial situation of the municipality, the year 2007 was a year registering a surplus in resources that allowed

22833-404: The mint and regulate the coinage of money, they keep the bey's jewels and valuable articles, and are his treasurers, secretaries, and interpreters; the little known of arts, science, and medicine is confined to the Jews. If a Jew commits a crime, if the punishment affects his life, these people, so national, always purchase his pardon; the disgrace of one affects the whole community; they are ever in

23010-415: The modern portion grew in importance and extended its network of boulevards and streets in all directions. In addition, a series of satellite cities emerged on the urban rim and encroached on the municipality of Tunis proper. In the economic sphere, commercial activities expanded and diversified as modern industries continued to grow, while traditional industry continued to decline. During World War II, Tunis

23187-476: The morals and doctrines of the Jews of Tunisia, meant they as 'dhimmis' (after the disappearance of Christianity in the Maghreb around 1150) isolated from their other coreligionists, and was strongly criticized by the Maimonides . The first Almohad, ' Abd al-Mu'min , claimed that Muhammad had permitted the Jews free exercise of their religion for only five hundred years, and had declared that if, after that period,

23364-479: The old consultative conference. Established on 13 July 1922, this consisted of: As before the two sections conducted their business separately, with the French section presided over by the Resident General, and the Tunisian section by one of his nominees. An arbitration committee with seven members from each section and seven or eight high officials resolved any issues on which the two sections could not agree. The Grand Council had increased powers - it could now modify

23541-612: The oldest section of the city, dates from this period, during which the region was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate . The city had the natural advantage of coastal access, via the Mediterranean , to the major ports of southern Europe. Early on, Tunis played a military role; the Umayyads recognized the strategic importance of its proximity to the Strait of Sicily , with a dockyard built upon

23718-413: The outskirts of Tunis. These form a large percentage of the population of the Tunis metropolitan area. It grew from 27% of the total population in 1956, to 37% in 1975 and 50% in 2006. Tunis has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification Csa ), characterized by hot and dry, prolonged summers and mild winters with moderate rainfall. The local climate is also affected somewhat by

23895-650: The pagan authorities to take legal measures, while Tertullian wrote a pamphlet against Judaism at the same time. On the other hand, the Talmud mention the existence of several Carthaginian rabbis. In addition, Alfred Louis Delattre demonstrates towards the end of the nineteenth century that the Gammarth necropolis , made up of 200 rock chambers, each containing up to 17 complex tombs (kokhim), contains Jewish symbols and funerary inscriptions in Hebrew , Latin and Greek . A synagogue of

24072-405: The part of the judicial system which was arbitrary in their regard, with the exception of the more tolerant Hanafi courts. Jews were still subjected to the collective payment of the jizya – the annual amount of which varied according to the year, from 10,332 piastres in 1756 to 4,572 piastres in 1806 – and had to pay additional taxes (ghrâma) whenever the sovereign's treasury was in difficulty, as

24249-617: The performance, the people returned to their homes. The Ottoman Empire took nominal control of Tunis in 1534 when Hayreddin Barbarossa captured it from the Hafsid Sultan Mulai Hassan , who fled to the court of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. Charles, suffering losses from the corsairs operating out of Djerba , Tunis, and Algiers , agreed to reinstate Mulai Hassan in exchange for his acceptance of Spanish suzerainty. A naval expedition led by Charles himself

24426-418: The political level, the community emancipated itself from the exile of Baghdad at the beginning of the eleventh century and acquired its first secular chief. Each community was placed under the authority of a council of notables headed by a chief (naggid) who, through the faithful, disposes of the resources necessary for the proper functioning of the various institutions: worship, schools, a tribunal headed by

24603-453: The population of the metropolitan area continued to grow: by 21.1% from 1956 to 1966 and by 28.5% from 1966 to 1975 (55.6% between 1956 and 1975). This steady growth was accompanied by changes that affected the nature of the settlement of the capital. Decolonization led to the exodus of some European minorities whose numbers dwindled every year. The gaps created by their departure were filled by Tunisians who emigrated to Tunis from other parts of

24780-460: The presence of the bey, every minister has two or three Jewish agents, and when they unite to attain an object, it cannot be prevented. These people, then, whatever may be said of their oppression, possess a very controlling influence, their friendship is worthy of being preserved by public functionaries, and their opposition is to be dreaded. Marrano families, which have been settling in Livorno from

24957-475: The pronunciation of the Shahada . Indeed, many Jews, while outwardly professing Islam, remained faithful to their religion, which they observed in secret, as advocated by Rabbi Moses ben Maimon . Jewish practices disappeared from the Maghreb from 1165 to 1230; Still they were saddened by the sincere adherence of some to Islam, fears of persecution and the relativization of any religious affiliation. This Islamization of

25134-502: The proposed suppression of the mejba . Meetings grew more and more heated. Paul Lambert, one of the French delegates, commented that "One felt that these honourable colleagues - the French delegates - took a perverse delight in speaking badly of the Arabs, of making fun of them, at making the other French delegates laugh at the native delegates. Frankly, it made one feel ill to hear such sweeping and completely unjustified attacks. In one session,

25311-563: The rabbi-judge ( dayan ), etc. The maggid of Kairouan undoubtedly had the ascendancy over those of the communities of smaller size. The Jews participate greatly in the exchanges with Al-Andalus , Egypt , and the Middle East. Grouped in separate quarters (although many Jews settled in the Muslim districts of Kairouan during the Fatimid period), they had house of prayer, schools and a court. The port cities of Mahdia , Sousse , Sfax and Gabès saw

25488-409: The real powers of the assembly were "non-existent." At the same time, the issue for the Tunisian delegates was the lack of any elections. At their last session in 1920, seven of the sixteen delegates, from Tunis , Sousse , Bizerte and Le Kef ) made a statement decrying the fact that they had been appointed to their positions as long ago as 1907, calling for their terms of office to be ended, and for

25665-432: The remit of the conference in two important ways. First, it allowed examination of the state budget, and second, it established a Tunisian section for the first time. Sixteen Tunisians - fifteen Muslims and one Jew - were appointed for life by the government. Four were selected from Tunis (including the Jewish representative) and two from Sousse, with the rest drawn from the remainder of the country. Not every region of group

25842-487: The replacements to be directly elected. The problems of 1920 in the conference was followed by a serious political crisis between Naceur Bey and the Resident General Lucien Saint in the spring of 1922. The Bey's death in July led to the accession of the more pliable Habib Bey and the setting up of a new representative structure, the Grand Council, that went some way to responding to the frustrations of

26019-406: The resources of each household. It also refers to those who performed the duties imposed by the authorities. A state farmer, surrounded by some of the most fortunate and educated notables, also collected taxes such as the tithes, the tax on kosher meat and the offerings of the faithful. These allow him to pay for his services, those of his deputies and the rabbis-judges104 and finance the synagogues,

26196-411: The rest being shared between bodies of water (20,000 hectares (77 sq mi; 200 km ) of lakes or lagoons) and agricultural or natural land (250,000 hectares (970 sq mi; 2,500 km )). However, urban growth, which is estimated to be increasing by 500 hectares per year, is gradually changing the landscape with urban sprawl . After World War II, suburbs began to rapidly spring up on

26373-496: The result that Blake's fifteen ships attacked the Bey's arsenal at Porto Farina (Ghar el Melh), destroying nine Algerian ships and two shore batteries, the first time in naval warfare that shore batteries had been eliminated without landing men ashore. At the beginning of the 18th century, Tunisia entered into a new period in its history with the advent of the Husainid dynasty . Successive Husainid rulers made great progress in developing

26550-500: The same time, driven by the reconquest of Spain, the first Andalusian Muslims and Jews arrived in Tunis and would become of importance to the economic prosperity of the Hafsid capital and the development of its intellectual life. During the Almohad and Hafsid periods, Tunis was one of the richest and grandest cities in the Islamic world , with a population of about 100,000. Like the Almohads,

26727-458: The schools linked to them, the ritual abattoir , the cemetery , the relief fund for the needy and the sick and the rabbinical court , which were only in large cities under the presidency of the Grand Rabbi. Administrator of the affairs of the community designated the local secular or religious leaders – with the written approval of the Tunisian authorities – and gives them broad orientations. From

26904-402: The settlement of debts of the municipality and the strengthening of its credibility with respect its suppliers and public and private partners. Revenues are generated by the proceeds of taxes on buildings and vacant lots, fees for the rental of municipal property, income from the operation of the public, advertising, and that the fact that the municipality has capital shares in some companies. On

27081-458: The sphere of influence of the modernist currents, plays a dominant role. The vast majority of Tunisian Jews have relocated to Israel and have switched to using Hebrew as their home language . Tunisian Jews living in France typically use French as their first language, while the few still left in Tunisia tend to use either French or Judeo-Tunisian Arabic in their everyday lives. The history of

27258-468: The study of Judaism in Tunisia has grown rapidly during the progressive dissolution of the Jewish community in the context of decolonization and the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict while Habib Kazdaghli believes that the departure of the Jewish community is the cause of the low number of studies related to the topic. Kazdaghli, however, points out that their production increases since the 1990s, due to

27435-491: The study of the Law, many Rabbis were originally from Carthage. From an economic point of view, they worked in agriculture, livestock and trade. Their situation is modified from the edict of Milan (313) which legalized Christianity. Jews were gradually excluded from most public functions and proselytism was severely punished. The construction of new synagogues was forbidden towards the end of the fourth century and their maintenance without

27612-459: The suburbs. The city spilled outside the area of the earlier town and the banks of the lake, and the new districts were modernized with running water (1860), lighting gas (1872), roads, waste collection (1873), and communication with adjacent suburbs and the city center. The crafts and traditional trades declined somewhat, as the newcomers increased trade with Europe, introducing the first modern industries and new forms of urban life. The creation of

27789-664: The tears coming from his eyes. This went on for a while until one of the pilgrims realized he was upset, he went up and greeted and talked to Ibn Battuta until he entered the city. At the time, the Sultan of Tunis was Abu Yahya and during Ibn Battuta's stay, the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast was taking place. The people in the city assembled in large numbers to celebrate the festival, in extravagant and most luxurious outfits. Abu Yahya arrived on horseback, where all of his relatives joined him. After

27966-419: The triumph of Sunnism and the end of the Babylonian gaonate , these events marked the end of the Kairouan community and reversed the migratory flow of the Jewish populations towards the Levant , with the elites having already accompanied the Fatimid court in Cairo . Jews have migrated to the coastal cities of Gabes, Sfax, Mahdia, Sousse and Tunis, but also to Béjaïa , Tlemcen and Beni Hammad Fort . Under

28143-432: The two groups keep the same rites and uses with only a few variants and, outside Tunis, the same community institutions continue to serve all the faithful. Moreover, all the Jews remain under the authority of a single qaid chosen from the Tuansa, presumably to avoid interference with foreigners. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Jews were still subjected to harassing and discriminatory measures, particularly on

28320-514: The winter. Frosts are rare. The lowest temperature of −2.0 °C (28.4 °F) was recorded on 18 January 1979. In spring, rainfall declines by half. The sunshine becomes dominant in May when it reaches 10 hours a day on average. In March temperatures may vary between 8 and 18 °C (46 and 64 °F), and between 13 and 24 °C (55 and 75 °F) in May. However, it is common for temperatures to soar even as early as April with record temperatures reaching 40 °C (104 °F). In summer, rain

28497-413: The work of memory of the community exists, with the testimonies of Robert Borgel and Paul Ghez, the novels "The Statue of Salt" by Albert Memmi and Villa Jasmin by Serge Moati as well as the works of some historians. Presently, the earliest verifiable record of the presence in Jews in Tunisia is from the second century. However, there are other, mostly speculative, ideas about when Jews first arrived to

28674-530: Was added in 1907, a second floor was added to accommodate it. In 1910, when the French and Tunisian sections began to sit separately, the Tunisians sat on the first floor, and the French on the second. On 24 March 1906, Béchir Sfar first demanded that the Resident General make provision for the representation of native Tunisians. Faced with the wrath of the colonial landowners, he was made caid of Sousse to get him out of Tunis, but his claim could not be ignored. A decree of Naceur Bey on 2 February 1907 extended

28851-422: Was also eventually Christianized and became the seat of a bishop . However, it remained modestly sized compared to Carthage during this time. In the late 7th century, the Arab Muslims conquered the region, and in 698 a commune and a mosque were established at the outskirts of the ancient ruins, founded by Hassan ibn al-Nu'man , which would become the city of Tunis and the Zaytuna Mosque . The Medina of Tunis ,

29028-415: Was closer to the Jewish religion than the Catholicism of the Church Fathers . The Jews probably thrived economically, backing the Vandal kings against the armies of Emperor Justinian , who had set out to conquer North Africa. After the reconquest of Tunisia by Belisarius in 534, the region became part of the Exarchate of Africa . Under the Code of Justinian , Jews were classed with the Arians and

29205-471: Was composed of representatives of chambers of commerce and agriculture, and the French deputy mayors of towns that had been incorporated as communes. On 22 February 1896, representatives of French people who were neither farmers nor businessmen were admitted, thus including workers, civil servants, and the liberal professions for the first time. The number of delegates rose to 37 (sixteen representing farmers and businessmen, two representing vine growers, four from

29382-442: Was dispatched in 1535, and the city was recaptured. The victory against the corsairs is recorded in a tapestry at the Royal Palace of Madrid . The Spanish governor of La Goulette , Luys Peres Varga, fortified the island of Chikly in the lake of Tunis to strengthen the city's defenses between 1546 and 1550. The Ottoman Uluç Ali Reis , at the head of an army of janissaries and Kabyles , retook Tunis in 1569. However, following

29559-673: Was estimated at 105,000 individuals in 1948. These Jews lived mainly in Tunis, with communities present in Djerba . The 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom by the U.S Department of State stated that "according to members of the Jewish community, there are approximately 1,500 Jewish citizens in the country". The Jewish diaspora of Tunisia is divided between Israel and France, where it has preserved its community identity through its traditions, mostly dependent on Sephardic law and customs , but retaining its own specific characteristics. Djerbian Judaism in particular, considered to be more faithful to tradition because it remained outside

29736-404: Was from the Granas. Moreover, the Granas – a richer community, although only 8% of the total population – then accounted for one third of the payment of the jizya against two-thirds for the Tuansa. This last point indicated that the Livornese community, previously protected by the European consuls, has sufficiently integrated into Tunisia so that its members were considered dhimmis and taxed like

29913-400: Was hampered in late antiquity by anti-Jewish measures in the Byzantine Empire . After the Muslim conquest of Tunisia , Tunisian Judaism went through periods of relative freedom or even cultural apogee to times of more marked discrimination, with Jews being treated as second-class citizens ( dhimmi ). The community formerly used its own dialect of Arabic . The arrival of Jews expelled from

30090-432: Was held by Axis forces from November 1942 to May 1943. It was their last base in Africa, as they retreated towards Sicily after being surrounded by Allied forces from Algeria to the west and from Libya to the east. On 7 May 1943, at about 15:30 in the afternoon, Tunis fell to troops of British 1st Army and the U.S. 1st Army , which had defeated the German 5th Panzer Army guarding the city. At midday on 20 May 1943,

30267-408: Was not however always achieved. In one early case, El Hadj Saïd Ben Abdelattif was appointed as a delegate, but a few years later, in 1915, died in the South of the country fighting the French army. Among the first Tunisian delegates appointed was Abdeljelil Zaouche , and his selection prompted the first dissent in the ranks of the Young Tunisian movement. Ali Bach Hamba felt that participation in

30444-431: Was one of the major commentators of the Talmud in the Middle Ages. After his death, his work was continued by another disciple of his father whom Ignác Goldziher calls Jewish mutazilite: Nissim ben Jacob, the only one among the sages of Kairouan to bear the title of Gaon , also wrote an important commentary on the Talmud and the Hibbour Yafe Mehayeshoua, which is perhaps the first tales collection in Jewish literature. On

30621-426: Was renewed in 1920. That year, some of the French delegates began protesting against the fact that a third of the seats in their section of the conference were reserved for farmers, although they were a declining proportion of the French population. Four of them resigned in November over this issue and, at the last session in December, twenty more of their colleagues (out of 45) walked out of the session because they felt

30798-413: Was represented however; the Fraichiche, Majeur, Jlass, Ouled Ayar, and Ouled Aoun tribes were unrepresented, as were Téboursouk and Djerba . This process of choosing Tunisian delegates was intended to ensure that they were accommodating towards the Protectorate government, and the conference quickly developed a reputation as being an institution for "béni oui-oui" (colonial yes-men). The intended effect

30975-417: Was the author (or final editor) wrote, along other works, a philosophical commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah , where he developed conceptions close to his master's thought. Another disciple, Ishaq ibn Imran is considered the founder of the philosophical and medical school of Ifriqiya . Jacob ben Nissim ibn Shahin, rector of the Center of Studies at the end of the tenth century, is the official representative of

31152-476: Was the last reform before the War – on 21 November 1940 the Grand Council was suspended and its powers were exercised by the Resident General assisted by a consultative committee comprising five French members and five Tunisians (Chenik, Ben Ammar, Albert Bessis , Ahmed Acacha and Abderrahmane El Louze). The Grand Council was restored on 3 June 1943 and then completely reconstituted on 15 September 1945. The French and Tunisian sections now had 53 delegates each, but

31329-409: Was this Council's role to come to decisions in cases where the two sections of the conference were irreconcilably opposed. In 1911, the term of service for French delegates was extended from four to six years. In 1912, a number of Tunisian delegates (Zaouche, Élie Fitoussi, Mohamed Ben Mabrouk and Brahim Ben Zouari) demanded that Tunisians be allowed in future to elect their representatives. This demand

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