Dorn reads the information on the board outside the ablution room of Fadhloun Mosque.
THE island of Djerba — to me, at least — is one of those places that need some Googling to know where they are.
This, I did prior to joining the Senior Journalists Seminar (SJS), which gathered members of the media from the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Europe and the US for a month-long immersive programme run by the Honolulu-based East-West Centre (EWC).
A couple of references to ‘Djerba, Tunisia’ on Google that caught my attention were ‘Ben Kenobi’ and ‘Anakin Skywalker’, the characters that even some non-fans of the Star Wars prequels would know.
A SJS participant, Thomas Keane from Frontier Myanmar, takes the opportunity to do some landscape photography in Midoun.
Place of beauty
I was again engaged in the words-recognition game on landing at Tunis-Carthage International Airport.
Tunisia is the cradle of the Carthaginian Empire, which flourished between the Seventh and Third Century BC. This empire was founded around Ninth Century BC by the Phoenicians, who gave the world a comprehensive writing system from which many scripts had derived, including the modern alphabet and numerals.
My brain was still making the connotation between these names as I rushed my pace to keep up with the other participants — all 13 of us. We were walking briskly along the arrival hallway towards the lounge where we were supposed to wait for our flight to Djerba.
As it turned out, a storm was brewing in Tunis but it was already in full force over in Djerba — so strong that our 2.30pm flight had to be cancelled.
This left us with the option of travelling by bus — our programme coordinator from the EWC, Liz Dorn said the journey would take around four to five hours.
It was during the start of this trip that I had the chance to admire the beauty around the Tunisian capital, including its young city folk.
I observed that the majority of the young women, including the hijab-wearing ones, were very stylish — they could easily be mistaken for one of the Kardashian sisters.
The young men were just as good-looking, many of whom looked fit and muscular.
I pointed this out to one Shahad Hasan, from Iraqi Media Network, to which she responded: “You think this is sexy? Wait till you hear them speak — most of them are fluent in Arabic and French!” We laughed.
At closer observation, one can see the outlines of two fishes on this window grille.
As we departed Tunis, the storm, which I said was brewing earlier, was finally unleashed. The bad weather delayed our journey by another five hours.
On the positive side, I got to enjoy the sights when daylight was still around. It was delightful to see olive groves, dotting the land along the road and we got to board a ferry before arriving at our hotel way past midnight.
It was only at the start of the Tunisian programme the next day that I was able to appreciate the beauty of Djerba, an island on the southeast corner of this North African country. It was a lovely day — a stark contrast from what we had gone through the night before.
Our first stop was El Ghriba, Africa’s oldest synagogue, located about a few kilometres from Djerba’s main town, Houmet Souk.
Along the way, I noticed the prevalence of blue and white in both residential and non-residential architectures — the colours that I easily associated with the Mediterranean heritage.
And how could I not? There is the ‘Blue Mosque’ in Istanbul, the ‘blue-white’ buildings on the Greek islands of Santorini and Mykonos, and also ‘Sidi Bou Said’, the famous blue-and-white village in capital Tunis.
“Generally, they represent the colours of the sky and the sea. I believe it is also a Moorish or Andalusian influence,” said fellow SJS participant Naima Abdallah Jouini, a news producer from Télévision Tunisienne.
The journalists take a tour inside El Ghriba. On the wall at the back of the synagogue is a collection of Jewish relics — some believed to be more than 1,000 years old.
Jewish heartland in Tunisia
Many believe El Ghriba sits on a site of an ancient Jewish temple, which stood about 2,000 years ago. It is regarded as one of the sacred sites for the followers of Judaism — every year, the synagogue hosts the ‘Lag Ba’Omer’ that gathers thousands of Jews from around the world.
I have learnt that it is only for this religious holiday that the Tunisian government would allow Israeli passport-holders to enter the country.
Security was quite tight — armed security personnel were all around the compound and we were required to undergo inspection, including having our passports checked, before we could enter.
“It’s a precaution — we had been attacked before,” said Kudhir Haniya, the synagogue’s caretaker.
Again, I could see the blue-white elements inside El Ghriba — from the walkway to inside the hall.
Having done some reading beforehand, I learned that in April 2002, a truck full of explosives was detonated close to the synagogue, killing 14 German tourists, five Tunisians and two French nationals.
“El Ghriba has always been a tourism site. Following the bombing, it took us many years to not only rebuild the temple but also restore the people’s faith — to have tourists come back again,” said Haniya as he showed us some of the relics they managed to salvage after the attack.
This artwork on a wall of a coffeeshop in Hara Seghira seems to express the literal representation of the ‘Eye of Fatima’.
Djerbahood
Our next stop was the village of Hara Seghira in Erriadh where a different kind of artistic expression awaited us.
Alighting the shuttle, I could see almost every wall of the public properties in the village were adorned with beautiful graffitis — some displaying political and social expressions, some depicting the everyday life of the locals while a few were whimsical in that they featured pop-culture references, including some famous cartoon characters.
Every year, the village hosts ‘Djerbahood’, a street-art project established in 2014. It was sanctioned by the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism, and after gaining approval from the Mayor of Djerba and also the authorisation from the property owners, 150 artists and muralists from 30 countries came down and literally ‘painted this town red’ — and blue, white, green, yellow and all the other colours on the palette.
Shahad takes the opportunity to have a photo-call with Trabelsi — who is now the Minister of Tourism in Tunisia.
It is said that project organiser and French gallerist Ben Chaikh chose this unusual site due to its multi-cultural community and prominence as a Jewish hub in Tunisia. Djerba is home to over 67 per cent of some 1,500 Jews in Tunisia.
At the village, we met Rene Trabelsi, the key spokesman of the Jewish community in Djerba who also leads the tourism and pilgrimage tours on the island.
“Tunisia used to have more Jews back in the late 1940s. I believe the population then could have reached 200,000. The reason behind the dwindling numbers was more than just the political factor, though that seemed to have triggered it,” he said.
The Arab region, generally North Africa and the Middle East, used to be home to nearly one million Jews before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. After that, the population plummeted to only about 5,000 — more than one-fifth are living in Tunisia today.
“Many have gone to seek better prospects elsewhere. I think the future of the Jews in Tunisia depends on the politics of the region.
“Still, we are optimistic. Our population is growing again, with 30 to 40 newborns registered every year. The most important thing is our good relations with other communities in Tunisia — the Muslims and the Christians. We respect and observe the Muslim holidays and festivals as they respect and observe ours,” Trabelsi said.
Speaking of politics, we met Trabelsi in September back when he was still the key spokesman of the Jewish community in Djerba. Now, the man is Tunisia’s Minister of Tourism, a portfolio that is right up his alley.
A busy day at Bitten’s bijouterie — look closely and you can see “Eye of Fatima” and fish symbols just above the top shelf.
Islamic heritage
The next day, we were brought to visit the Fadhloun Mosque in Midoun where I thought the landscape captured the exact representation of Djerba’s blue-white charm. The off-white terrain really stood out against the backdrop of the cloudless azure sky over the horizon.
“It looks like Planet Tattoine’ (of Star Wars movies) here,” said fellow SJS mate Steven Viney from ABC Australia, who speaks Arabic quite fluently — courtesy of his Egyptian roots.
I could not agree more. Many houses were simple blockish structures with half-globes on the rooftops.
The mosque, built in the 14th Century, bore the same characteristics although at certain angles, it did look more like a fortress than a house of worship.
Speaking of fortresses, I noticed the presence of several armed security personnel around the area. By then, I understood the need for tight security, given that Tunisia had gone through so much over the past seven decades, especially the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in 2011 that led to Arab Spring.
Next in the programme was the Borj El Ghaz Mustapha, which I was excited about only because this museum bore the same name as mine.
Built in 1298 by the Aragonese over the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Girba, this former castle-fort was captured by the Ottomans in 1560 and the French in 1881.
In 1903, it was turned into a museum after the Tunisian authorities made it a national property and considered it as among Tunisia’s historical monuments.
Like other structures across the island, the ‘borj’ was blockish. Inside, it felt like we were venturing through a maze but the best view was on top of any of the square towers. Again, I savoured the blue-white splendour of the beach and the sea.
Almost all the shops at Houmet Souk have the blue-white theme.
Bazaar like no other
The next day’s programme also got me excited — we got to go to Houmet Souk.
In my understanding, a ‘souk’ is Arabic for a ‘bazaar’ or ‘marketplace’, and I was proved correct on stepping down the bus, parked right in front of the main square of the ‘souk’.
According to Dorn, we were scheduled to meet a couple of Jewish traders there. As we walked past the shops, I imagined this must be what it felt like walking through the famous ‘souks’ in Marrakech, Dubai and Istanbul.
I also noticed some repeating patterns in the artworks that adorned the buildings — the eye, the fish and the hand. I could see at least one of these patterns on or above the door of every shop and at times, the hand would have ‘an eye’.
“That is the ‘Eye of Fatima’ and I’ve seen this symbol in Morocco and Egypt. I believe it is a symbol used in amulets,” Dorn said.
A blue door of a house in Hara Seghira that has the fish symbol.
On the fish symbol, our Djerba guide Montassar Letaief told me the shape symbolised the ‘Eye of God’.
“I think it’s a local belief — to have God watching over your business. It also symbolises fortune as a fish usually spawns thousands or even millions of eggs at one time,” he said during a stop at one of many ‘bijouterie’ (jewellery and fine ornaments) shops at Houmet Souk.
Business owner Nessim Bitten concurred as he proceeded to show us some of his jewellery items.
The 55-year-old Jew originally hailed from Spain but eventually made Djerba his home.
His bijouterie is now family-run — his sons Mehir, 22, and Adir, 19, are helping him out.
“This is the ‘Eye of Fatima’, which is very popular among the local womenfolk,” Bitten said as he dangled in front of us a fine silver chain with a very beautiful pendant shaped like a hand, with an ‘eye’ carved into the palm.
I saw the hand was not realistically proportioned — the thumb and pinkie were the same length but much shorter than the index, middle and ring fingers.
I got to wander around the shop where I saw more of these symbols adorning the walls.
It was quite a busy day at this bijouterie — apparently Bitten’s business was thriving.
We didn’t stay long at the “souk” as the next stop was the Djerba Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions and after that, we were scheduled to leave for Tunis in the late afternoon.
(From right) The writer enjoys the cool honeydew drink with DJ, Koh, Chowdhury and Shahad at the ‘souk’.
Irresistible charm
It turned out that the museum was just a few minutes’ walk from the ‘souk’.
So Shahad and I, together with three other SJS participants — Jeremy Koh from Channel News Asia, DJ Yap from Philippine Daily Enquirer, and Shahidul Islam Chowdhury from New Age (Dhaka) — made a plan of expediting the self-guided museum tour, then sneaking out to Houmet Souk before returning to the shuttle.
Bitten and his sons — Mehir (right) and Adir.
This rather mischievous arrangement gave us about an-hour-and-a-half extra time before our trip back to Tunis. Naturally, Shahad was group’s leader as she was the only one who spoke Arabic.
“Hey guys, let’s go to that café and have some honeydew juice,” she said.
It was a scorching hot day and her suggestion was beyond inviting.
Other than the juice, I also drank in the sights around me — a Jewish shopkeeper and the next-door Muslim shoe-seller playing checkers, the friendly young waiter hailing ‘ya lah, ya lah’ (coming up, coming up) while taking and sending orders almost simultaneously, and traders competing for attention from a group of European tourists.
Still, the view that really held my attention was the sky that day — the clouds looked like cotton balls dotting a canvass of light cobalt-blue.
Djerba, to me, is indeed a splendour of blue and white.