Ghriba synagogue bombing

The Ghriba synagogue bombing was carried out by Niser bin Muhammad Nasr Nawar on the El Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia in 2002.

History

The El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba is the oldest synagogue in Africa.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bombing

On 11 April 2002, a natural gas truck fitted with explosives drove past security barriers at the ancient El Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The truck detonated at the front of the synagogue, killing 14 German tourists, three Tunisians, and two French nationals.<ref name="proces"> Official Procès-Verbal, 20 July 2002 in Tunis, El Fadel El Malki, Central Directorate of the Judicial police, The Criminal Affairs Bureau </ref> More than 30 others were wounded.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Deaths by nationality

Country	Number
Template:Flagu	14
Template:Flagu	3
Template:Flagu	2
Total	19

Although the explosion was initially called an accident,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as Tunisia, France, and Germany investigated, it became clear that it was a deliberate attack. A 24-year-old man named Niser bin Muhammad Nasr Nawar was the suicide bomber, who carried out the attack with the aid of a relative.Template:WhoTemplate:Verification needed

Al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack.<ref name="Al-Qaeda claim" >Template:Cite news</ref> which was reportedly organized by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Saad bin Laden.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, Saad's family denied he was involved in the attack.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2003, five people were arrested in Spain in connection with the attack.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 10, 2006, two of them, Spanish businessman Enrique Cerda and Pakistani national Ahmed Rukhsar, were sentenced to five years in prison for collaborating with a terrorist group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2003, a German man named Christian Ganczarski was arrested at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in connection with the bombing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was arrested by a joint intelligence operation, in the frame of Alliance Base, which is located in Paris, and transferred to Fresnes Prison in Paris.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2009, Ganczarski was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the bombing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Commemoration of the victims

On 11 April 2012, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Tunisian Grand Rabbi Haim Bitan, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Tunisia, and Boris Boillon, Ambassador of the French Republic to Tunisia, visited Djerba to pay their respects to the victims on the attack's 10th anniversary. Marzouki met with victims' families and delivered a speech where he strongly condemned this attack and reassured Tunisian Jews of their place in Tunisian society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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  Silent march
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  Flowers laid for those killed in the attack
• File:Blumen 11 April.jpg
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See also

• Antisemitism in Islam
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• History of the Jews in Tunisia
• List of terrorist incidents in Tunisia
• Second Intifada (2000–2005) in Palestine and Israel