• Tunisian authorities are investigating to elucidate the circumstances of an attack by a gendarme who killed two of his colleagues outside a synagogue on the island of Djerba during the annual Jewish pilgrimage. The man was shot.
  • Two worshippers, a Tunisian and a Franco-Tunisian, were also killed by the assailant's gunfire. Four other people were injured and evacuated to a hospital, authorities said.
  • The two pilgrims who died are two cousins: Benjamin and Aviel Haddad. The first, aged 42, lived in Marseille where he was a shopkeeper.

"'Ben,' that's what he was called, was killed because he's Jewish. He was always a benevolent, kind, sincere and modest boy," recalls Michel Cohen-Tenoudji, president of the Jewish consistory of Marseille. "Ben" is Benjamin Haddad, killed Tuesday night in the attack in Djerba (Tunisia). The forty-year-old was a baker in Marseille. He used to run a grocery store. This Wednesday, the curtains of his business, located rue Edmond-Rostand (8th), remained down.

Djamel, whose grocery store is opposite, learned the news on Wednesday from one of Benjamin Haddad's employees: "I did not know him much, just as a neighbor. He bought that bakery two or three years ago. But what I can say is that it was a sugar. "It is not in Marseille that it would happen. Here, especially in this neighborhood, we live in mixity, "adds the grocer of Muslim faith.

A man with a big heart who helped the less fortunate

"Ben" was killed by an assailant outside the synagogue in Djerba, where he had gone for an annual pilgrimage. 1,000 kilometers away, in the neighborhood where the shopkeeper lived, the pain is immense. The man, known for his generosity, leaves behind a wife and four young children.

"It was he who provided the hallots (bread that Jews eat on Shabbat days) that are given to the poor. I was like, 'You know, it must be expensive.' And he replied: 'Don't worry, I'm doing my business,'" recalls Michel Cohen-Tenoudji.

Benjamin was a man "with a big heart", from "a very pious family", evokes in turn Roland Elbez, political advisor to Michel Cohen-Tenoudji. A family established on the island of Djerba. The baker returned regularly to visit them. The annual pilgrimage of the Ghriba was almost never missed. On the evening of the tragedy, he was accompanied by his cousin Aviel, also killed by the assailant.


[Attack on #Djerba]

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry said the two civilian victims were "a 30-year-old Tunisian and a 42-year-old Frenchman".

The two victims are Aviel Haddad and Benjamin Haddad. They were cousins. pic.twitter.com/38aRNTJdJ0

— RCJ RADIO (@RCJRADIO) May 10, 2023

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According to information received by representatives of the Jewish community in Marseille, the toll could have been higher. "Pilgrims arrive and leave by bus. They were a little ahead that night. Otherwise, it could have been a bigger disaster," says Roland Elbez.

Pending the repatriation of Benjamin Haddad, a first tribute should be paid to him Thursday evening by the Jewish community of Marseille.

  • Miscellaneous facts
  • Jew
  • Attack
  • Tunisia
  • Marseille
  • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
  • PACA
  • Synagogue