to which they were obliged to wear a black chechia (and not red, like the Muslims), a black or dark blue turban (and not white) and black shoes and not of bright color. They could not live outside their assigned neighborhoods and could not access real estate. Finally, when they were victims of vexations or violence, they did not receive reparation for the harm they have suffered. Yet the relationship between Jews and Arabs changed dramatically from the middle of the century, due to the emergence of European colonial powers in Tunisia, and in France in particular. Indeed, they relied on the presence of Jews to promote their economic and commercial interests: the situation of these, often treated in an unfair way by the Tunisian courts, was used as a pretext for pressures on the bey. The Sfez affair in 1857 was an illustration of this new context and an opportunity for France and the United Kingdom to intervene on behalf of the defense of human rights and the struggle against absolutism and fanaticism in order to promote their interests. Batou Sfez was a Jewish coachman at the service of the qaid of his community, Nassim Shamama. Following a traffic incident and an altercation with a Muslim, he was accused by Muslim of having insulted Islam; witnesses subsequently confirmed before a notary that they witnessed the scene. He was charged and convicted, according to Maliki law and despite his protestations, was sentenced by the Charaa court to a death penalty for blasphemy and beheaded with a saber sword on June 24, 1857. The sovereign Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn sought by this gesture to appease the rancor born of the execution of a Muslim accused of having killed a Jew and to prove that his justice treats his subjects fairly. Nevertheless, the severity of the punishment aroused great emotion in the Jewish community and among the consuls of France and the United Kingdom, Léon Roches and Richard Wood. They then took advantage of it to exert pressure on the sovereign to embark on the path of liberal reforms similar to those promulgated in the Ottoman Empire in 1839. Moreover, the historian Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf refers to the Tunisian Jews as "brothers in the homeland" (Ikhwanoun fil watan), although he accuses some of them of exaggerating to seek the protection of foreign consuls. Mohammed Bey (1855–1881) During the long reign of