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.