Djerba attack: Brotherhood impeding stability in Tunisia

Ahmed Adel

The attack on a synagogue in the city of Djerba, Tunisia, brings up obsession with lone-wolf attacks inside the Muslim Brotherhood.

These attacks aim to disrupt the stability and calm enjoyed by Tunisia under President Kais Saied.

Muslim Brothers

The Tunisian parliament pointed accusing fingers at Ennahda Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, in relation to the attack in Djerba. President Saied condemned the attack as well.

The attack, he said, aimed to destabilize Tunisia.

“Nobody can deprive Tunisia of the stability it enjoys,” President Saied said.

“Tunisia is a country of strong institutions,” he added, noting that the Tunisian people know who the criminals are,” he added.

The attack left six people dead, including three policemen. The dead victims also included two Jewish visitors of the synagogue: a Tunisian national and a French tourist. The perpetrator of the attack was also killed.

Several policemen were also injured in the attack. They are now receiving treatment.

Largest ever

The attack in Djerba comes at a time when Tunisia is witnessing a severe financial crisis.

The Tunisian government wages a necessary war against the Brotherhood’s breaches of state institutions.

This war followed President Saied’s decision to remove the Islamist group from the political scene in the country.

President Saied also dissolved the Ennahda cabinet and froze the Tunisian parliament. The president also embarked on an aspiring reform process of the Tunisian judiciary and economy.

In 2002 Djerba witnessed another synagogue attack, the largest of its kind on a house of worship in the North African country.

Search for the Brotherhood

Islamism specialist, Hesham al-Naggar, said the Brotherhood is the first beneficiary of the latest attack, if it had not been behind it.

“The Brotherhood is the biggest loser from Tunisia’s stability and security,” al-Naggar told The Reference.

He referred to the current arrest of the leaders of Ennahda movement by the Tunisian government.

The leaders of the movement, he added, are also being prosecuted for various crimes and excesses.