THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS —

Tunisian Jewish Community Appears Stable,
Calm in Face of Pending Government Change

Friday, February' 25, 1977 53

Hospital Opens on West Bank

JERUSALEM
and raising the standard
Rafidiya government of public health there.
hospital, the most mod-
The number of physi-
ern and best-equipped in cians has increased from
feeling of persecution Judea and Samaria, (the 48 in 1967 to 130 in 1976.
among the Jews on Jerba, West Bank) was, inaugu- About 500 nurses are em-
the holiday island near, rated recently, in a cere- ployed in the West Bank.
the Libyan border, where mony attended by the The number of medical
legend says Ulysses met area commander, Brig. technicians increased
the lotus-eaters and was - Gen. David Hagoel, the from 88 to 170.
Minister of Health, Victor
held captive by Calypso.
Most government hos-
Shemtov; local notables, pitals were extended by
About 1,000 Jews of out the director-general of the addition of new de-
of the 4,000 who lived the Health Ministry, partments, and the intro-
there before Tunisia's in- , members of the medical duction of up-to-date
dependence still ply their profession, representa- equipment (artificial kid-
trades as jewellers, car- tives of the. military ad- neys, X-ray units, cardiac
penters, and tailors. They ministration and hun- surgery, neuro-surgery
date their arrival on Jerba dreds of invited guests.
etc.).
to the foundation of their --
Since the military gov-
Government outpa-
synagogue, the Ghriba, ernment took over the re- tients' clinics 89 in 1967
in 600 BCE, when they sponsibility for health — now number 133. The
fled Nebuchadnezzar's services in Judea and number of mother-and-
oppression after the de- Samaria in 1967, increas- child centers rose from 23
struction of the First Tem- ing amounts have been to 29 stations. The .out-
invested each year in im
ple.
patients' clinic' are serv-
/Rabbi Zion Cohen says proving those services ing also the p ulation.
he expects three jumbo
jets with American
tourists to arrive during
Passover on a pilgrimage
which is 'a yearly land-
mark in Jerba's calendar.
A wall of the syna-
gogue displays a tablet
recording Bourguiba's
idist visit two years ago
and calling on God to
"bless the President, pro-
tect, assist, lift up, glorify
and render sublime our
supreme combatant."
Rabbi Cohen says:
"When the last Jew
leaves Jerba, the holy Co-
hens are going to lock the
door of the Ghriba .and
throw the key up to
heaven."

.

.

At Home on the Range

The Jewish quarter of Tunis, capital of Tunisia.

TUNISIA- — Seventy-
four-year-old Habib
Bourguiba is ailing, and
Tunisia is thinking about
the succession in a mood
of anxiety mingled with
resignation, reports the
Jerusalem Post.
Prospects seem good for
a calm take-over by Hedi
Nouira, the financial and
economic technocrat who
has been prinie minister
since 1970. Under the
constitution, the premier
assumes the- presidency
upon the death of the
president, pending new
elections.
-

Tunisia's Jewish com-
munity, which today num-
bers only 4,000 — com-
pared with 100,000 when
French rule-ended in 1956
— seems to have no
grounds for alarm about
the imminent change of
the man at the helm.

The minority who have
chosen to stay here,
rather than migrate to
Israel or France, suffer
no persecution and rela-
tively little discrimina-
tion. Compared with
other Arab countries,
Tunisia offers Jews a
privileged status.
The early years after
end of the French pro-
orate witnessed the
first wave of Jewish
emigration from Tunisia,
a country where they had
been living for 2,500
years.
There was no panic, no
exodus atmpsphere. But
every time a crisis
exploded with France,
where many Tunisian
Jews had long-standing
family ties, or a politician
here made a speech hos-
tile to Israel, the airlines

*

and shipping Companies
had -to cope with lines of
passengers. Between
1956 and 1964, two Tuni-
sian Jews out of every
three left the country.

There is no blatant
anti-Semitism. A Jew
served as a minister in
Bourguiba's government,
and another sat in Parlia-
ment. Many Jews were ac-
tive in the Neo-Destour
Party.

.

Jews work side by side
with Arabs- in government
offices. But their chances
of prOmotion are limited
and they are admitt4d
neither to the army nor the,
Foreign Service. .Jewish"
students have greater dif-
ficulty in obtaining
scholarships than Mos-
lems.

Israel and Zionism are
denounced daily by the
Except for a brief- Tunisian media. But offi-
period, there have been cial 'antagonism towards
-,no restrictions on emig- Israel has counted less as
ration for anybody who an incentive to immigra-
had paid his taxes. --
tion than the economic
Practice of the Jewish difficulties which the
religion is not restricted, Jews, mostly small shop-
and Bourguiba's Chief of keepers, have encoun-
Protocol presents his re- tered under Tunisian
spects to Tunisia's Chief Socialism.
Rabbi every year on Yom
Bourguiba has always
Kippur.
been swift in cracking
But for the man-in- down on any displays of
the-street things are dif- violence against Jews.
ferent. On the one hand When vandals ransacked
there are the Jews, the and burned Jewish shops
"Judi," on the •other the on the eve of the Six Day
Arabs. This distinction is War, 180 looters were
manifested by hostility, brought to trial by a mili-
contempt, or indulgence, tary court.
bur rarely by indif-
There is certainly no

Army Retains Problem Youth

JERUSALEM — The
Israeli Army has been
making special efforts to
include problem youth
normally rejected by the
draft.

According to a reoent
Jerusalem Post report,
one out of 10 youths of
draft age are found un-
suitable for military serv-
ice. The Israel Defense
Forces have been retain-
ing 50 percent of those, in
special programs, and is
now hoping to increase
that percentage through

Fringed Fancy

ference.

special counseling and
treatment programs be-
fore and during military
service. -

The IDF records show
that 80 percent of the prob-
lem youth succeeded in ad-
justing to military life. But
of 100 soldiers drafted as a
group from Tel Mond
Prison, only 18 completed
full service (one was killed
in the Yom Kippur War).

The army has decided
to draft problem youth
"as individuals" and not
in groups as a result' of
that experience.

A flock of Bedouin sheep take up grazing in the
middle of Ramat Aviv, in Tel Aviv.

Anyone for Spaghetti?

Students at religious
Bar-Ilan University in Is-
rael wear the latest in
campus fashion — fringed
shirts which, according to
the manufacturers also
comply with halakha. A
variation of the arba kart=
fot, the shirt is not com-
pletely open in the front, is
slit halfway up the sides
and is worn over the trous-
ers' making it the proper
length.

Flower Show Due

HAIFA, Israel
"Floris '77", the 22nd In-
ternational Flower Show
to be held in Haifa, will
take place March 31
through April 9 in the
hilltop Cf rmel district of
Israel's :,.!enic Mediter-
ranean port city.

_
The chef at a central. military base kitchen is shown
demonstrating the proper way to drain spaghetti during
an inspection tour by Israel Army logistics chief, Arye
Levy.