9 May 2012
Nearly 1,500 Jews are expected Wednesday (May 9th) at Tunisia's Ghriba synagogue, chief event organiser Rene Trabelsi told AFP. Hundreds of Tunisian Jews were also expected to participate in the two-day Djerba pilgrimage.

Festivities around the annual pilgrimage were cut back last year as Tunisia struggled to stabilise after the ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Trabelsi said a successful 2012 pilgrimage would "show the world that Tunisians accept difference and that the new Tunisia is not as Islamist and radical as some think".

"It's a country that respects religious minorities as always," he added.

© Magharebia.com 2012