Lone Struggle To Keep Tunisian Cemetery Alive

Image by nate lavey
After years of decay and neglect, the Jewish cemetery in Tunis is overgrown, unkempt and could be declared ‘abandoned’ by the Tunisian government a status that could result in its redevelopment. The fate of the cemetery rests on a few caretakers like Joseph Krief, a native-born Tunisian Jew, who has tried for years without success to organize a campaign to clean and restore the cemetery. In April, the Forward met with Krief to hear about the history of the cemetery and the threat that it could be destroyed.
Read Nate Lavey’s account of Tunisia’s Jewish community’s effort to find its place in the country’s new democratic order.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
