TUNIS - Tunisia will continue to be a country open to the coexistence of religions, Tunisian prime minister Youssef Chahed said in a visit to the island of Djerba.



The visit was undertaken alongside Interior Minister Hédi Majdoub and Tourism Minister Selma Elloumi Rekik during celebrations and traditions connected with the traditional pilgrimage by Jews to the ancient Ghriba synagogue. Organized every year on the 33 days after the Jewish Passover, the ritual is at the heart of traditions of Tunisia's Jewish community. One of the legends claims that the Ghriba synagogue dates back to the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, when some Jews fleeing Palestine took refuge in Djerba in 586 BC. Every year Djerba welcomes thousands of Jews, most of whom from Israel and Europe, as well as thousands of tourists. In addition to over 2,500 Jews, about 12,000 visitors go to the island for the pilgrimage, according to Tourism Minister Sella Elloumi Rekik.(ANSAmed).

