AFP | May 09,2012 | 22:43 JORDAN TIMES
DJERBA, Tunisia — A Jewish pilgrimage to the oldest synagogue in Africa on Tunisia’s Djerba Island began Wednesday under tight security after it was cancelled last year following the revolution.
About 500 Jews from Europe and 1,000 Jewish Tunisians started gathering on the Mediterranean island before heading to the 2,500-year-old 
, said Perez Trabelsi, head of the Tunisian Jewish community.
“Everything is going properly. I am satisfied,” Trabelsi said of the heavy police and military deployment on the island.
There were an estimated 100,000 Jews living in Tunisia when the north African country gained independence in 1956, but the vast majority quickly relocated to France, the former colonial power.
But, with roughly 1,500 members, Tunisia still has one of the largest Jewish communities in the Arab world.