Djerba, Perejil

The Tunisian island of Djerba just played host to hundreds of Jews on a pilgrimage to an old synagogue. Between this and some recent reading on Morocco, I get the feeling the Jewish component of Maghrebi culture runs a lot deeper than most people realize. Fez, where I will be this summer, has an important Jewish Quarter in the New City. As usual, I won't make absolute guarantees about what might interest me when I get over there, but expect to hear more about this.

Meanwhile, Colin Powell is in trouble for calling the Perejil Island, subject of a crisis a couple of years ago between Spain and Morocco, a "stupid little island." This probably isn't diplomatically smart, but I can see where he is coming from =)