From Hafsia to Bizerte: Tunisia's nationalist struggle and Tunisian Jewry, 1952–61

Abstract

The focal points of this study are: the impact of the Tunisian national struggle on a Jewish Maghribi community in transition; its effect on the position taken by the State of Israel, the Jewish Agency, and international Jewish organizations, particularly with regard to the status of Tunisian Jewry; and an evaluation of the situation of the Jews during the immediate post-independence era.1 This article covers new ground, and is based on primary sources which only now have become accessible. It aims to provide both a narrative account and an analysis of the position of Tunisian Jewry. The dilemma faced by that community is examined in a wider North African context, with implications which may apply to other minorities, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in the Mediterranean region