Ghriba synagogue bombing

Ghriba synagogue bombing
Ghriba synagogue bombing
Part of the Maghreb insurgency
	Synagogue entrance through which the fuel tanker drove during attack
Location	Djerba, Tunisia
Date	April 11, 2002; 19 years ago
Target	El Ghriba synagogue
Attack type	Suicide bombing
Weapons	Natural gas truck bomb
Deaths	20 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	30+
Perpetrators	al-Qaeda
Motive	Antisemitism

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

Bombing[]

On April 11, 2002, a natural gas truck fitted with explosives drove past security barriers at the ancient El Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba.^[1] The truck detonated at the front of the synagogue, killing 14 German tourists, three Tunisians, and two French nationals.^[2] More than 30 others were wounded.^{[citation needed]}

Deaths by nationality
Country	Number
Germany	14
Tunisia	3
France	2
Total	19

Although the explosion was initially called an accident,^[3] 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.^[who?] Al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack,^[4] which was reportedly organized by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Saad bin Laden.^[5]^[6] However, Saad's family denied he was involved in the attack.^[7]^[8]

In March 2003, five people were arrested in Spain who were believed to have financed this attack.^{[citation needed]} In April 2003, a German man named Christian Ganczarski was arrested in Paris in connection with the bombing.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} In February 2009, Ganczarski was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the bombing.^[9]

Commemoration of the victims[]

10 years after the attack, thanks to freedom of expression and organization brought by the 2011 Tunisian revolution, a Djerbian citizens' initiative to break the silence was adopted by the Presidency of the Republic and concerned embassies to commemorate victims of this attack.

Silent march
Flowers laid for those killed in the attack

On April 11, 2012, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, professor Horst-Wolfram Kerll (de), the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Tunisia and Boris Boillon, Ambassador of the French Republic to Tunisia, marched silently in homage to the victims.^{[citation needed]} Moncef Marzouki met with present victims' families and delivered a memorial speech where he strongly condemned this attack and expressed on behalf of the people of Tunisia and the Tunisian government a deep compassion for victims and their families.^{[citation needed]}