Jewish Identity and Tunisian Independence

In this autobiographical essay, Albert Memmi, a prominent intellectual and anti-imperialist writer, describes his life from his early days near the Jewish ghetto in Tunisia through his political awakening during the Spanish Civil War and the decolonization of North Africa. Memmi recounts his struggle between his support for Tunisian independence and his Jewish, Zionist identity which were at odds and could not be reconciled. Under the new regime in Tunisia, Jews and Judaism were excluded from both constitution and culture. Memmi concludes by reiterating his support despite feeling a lack of belonging within his national home; he sees the exclusion as a regression, locating North African Jews in the same space that European Jews had long occupied.