JEWS IN SYRIA BEFORE 1948 and other Arab countries

JEWS IN SYRIA BEFORE 1948 and other Arab countries

JEWS IN SYRIA BEFORE 1948
The last Jews who wanted to leave Syria departed with the chief rabbi in October 1994. Prior to 1947, there were some 30,000 Jews made up of three distinct communities, each with its own traditions: the Kurdish-speaking Jews of Kamishli, the Jews of Aleppo with roots in Spain, and the original eastern Jews of Damascus, called Must'arab. Today only a tiny remnant of these communities remains.

The Jewish presence in Syria dates back to biblical times and is intertwined with the history of Jews in neighboring Eretz Israel. With the advent of Christianity, restrictions were imposed on the community. The Arab conquest in 636 A.D, however, greatly improved the lot of the Jews. Unrest in neighboring Iraq in the 10th century resulted in Jewish migration to Syria and brought about a boom in commerce, banking, and crafts. During the reign of the Fatimids, the Jew Menashe Ibrahim El-Kazzaz ran the Syrian administration, and he granted Jews positions in the government.

Syrian Jewry supported the aspirations of the Arab nationalists and Zionism, and Syrian Jews believed that the two parties could be reconciled and that the conflict in Palestine could be resolved. However, following Syrian independence from France in 1946, attacks against Jews and their property increased, culminating in the pogroms of 1947, which left all shops and synagogues in Aleppo in ruins. Thousands of Jews fled the country, and their homes and property were taken over by the local Muslims.

For the next decades, Syrian Jews were, in effect, hostages of a hostile regime. They could leave Syria only on the condition that they leave members of their family behind. Thus the community lived under siege, constantly under fearful surveillance of the secret police. This much was allowed due to an international effort to secure the human rights of the Jews

JEWS IN EGYPT PRIOR TO 1948

Jews have lived in Egypt since Biblical times, and the conditions of the community have constantly fluctuated with the political situation of the land. Israelite tribes first moved to the Land of Goshen (the northeastern edge of the Nile Delta) during the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IV (1375-1358 B.C).

During the reign of Ramses II (1298-1232 B.C), they were enslaved for the Pharaoh's building projects. His successor, Merneptah, continued the same anti-Jewish policies, and around the year 1220 B.C, the Jews revolted and escaped across the Sinai to Canaan. This is the biblical Exodus commemorated in the holiday of Passover. Over the years, many Jews in Eretz Israel who were not deported to Babylon sought shelter in Egypt, among them the prophet Jeremiah. By 1897 there were more than 25,000 Jews in Egypt, concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria. In 1937 the population reached a peak of 63,500.

Friedman wrote in "The Myth of Arab Tolerance", "One Caliph, Al-Hakem of the Fatimids devised particularly insidious humiliations for the Jews in his attempt to perform what he deemed his roll as "Redeemer of mankind", first the Jews were forced to wear miniature golden calf images around their necks, as though they still worshipped the golden calf, but the Jews refused to convert. Next they wore bells, and after that six pound wooden blocks were hung around their necks. In fury at his failure, the Caliph had the Cairo Jewish quarter destroyed, along with it's Jewish residence, in".

In 1945, with the rise of Egyptian nationalism and the cultivation of anti-Western and anti-Jewish sentiment, riots erupted. In the violence, 10 Jews were killed, 350 injured, and a synagogue, a Jewish hospital, and an old-age home were burned down. The establishment of the State of Israel led to still further anti-Jewish feeling: Between June and November 1948, bombs set off in the Jewish Quarter killed more than 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200. 2,000 Jews were arrested and many had their property confiscated. Rioting over the next few months resulted in many more Jewish deaths. Between June and November 1948, bombs set off in the Jewish Quarter killed more than 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200.

Jews In 1956, the Egyptian government used the Sinai Campaign as a pretext for expelling almost 25,000 Egyptian Jews and confiscating their property. Approximately 1,000 more Jews were sent to prisons and detention camps. On November 23, 1956, a proclamation signed by the Minister of Religious Affairs, and read aloud in mosques throughout Egypt, declared that "all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state," and promised that they would be soon expelled.

Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave the country. They were allowed to take only one suitcase and a small sum of cash, and forced to sign declarations "donating" their property to the Egyptian government. Foreign observers reported that members of Jewish families were taken hostage, apparently to insure that those forced to leave did not speak out against the Egyptian government. AP, (November 26 and 29th 1956); New York World Telegram).

By 1957 it had fallen to 15,000. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, there was a renewed wave of persecution, and the community dropped to 2,500. By the 1970s, after the remaining Jews were given permission to leave the country, the community dwindled to a few families. Nearly all the Jews in Egypt are elderly, and the community is on the verge of extinction.

JEWS IN IRAQ PRIOR TO 1948

The Iraqi Jews took pride in their distinguished Jewish community, with it's history of scholarship and dignity. Jews had prospered in what was then Babylonia for 1200 years before the Muslim conquest in AD 634; it was not until the 9th century that Dhimmi laws such as the yellow patch, heavy head tax, and residence restriction enforced. Capricious and extreme oppression under some Arab caliphs and Momlukes brought taxation amounting to expropriation in AD 1000, and 1333 the persecution culminated in pillage and destruction of the Bagdad Sanctuary. in 1776, there was a slaughter of Jews at Bosra, and in bitterness of anti Jewish measures taken Muslim rulers in the 18th century caused many Jews to flea.

The Iraqi Jewish community is one of the oldest in the world and has a great history of learning and scholarship. Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, was born in Ur of the Chaldees, in southern Mesopotamia, now Iraq, around 2,000 A.D. The community traces its history back to 6th century A.D, when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judea and sent most of the population into exile in Babylonia.

The community also maintained strong ties with the Land of Israel and, with the aid of rabbis from Israel, succeeded in establishing many prominent rabbinical academies. By the 3rd century, Babylonia became the center of Jewish scholarship, as is attested to by the community's most influential creation, the Babylonian Talmud.

Under Muslim rule, beginning in the 7th century, the situation of the community fluctuated. Many Jews held high positions in government or prospered in commerce and trade. At the same time, Jews were subjected to special taxes, restrictions on their professional activity, and anti-Jewish incitement among the masses.

Under British rule, which began in 1917, Jews fared well economically, and many were elected to government posts. This traditionally observant community was also allowed to found Zionist organizations and to pursue Hebrew studies. All of this progress ended when Iraq gained independence in 1932.

In June 1941, the Mufti-inspired, pro-Nazi coup of Rashid Ali sparked rioting and a pogrom in Baghdad. Armed Iraqi mobs, with the complicity of the police and the army, murdered 180 Jews and wounded almost 1,000.

Although emigration was prohibited, many Jews made their way to Israel during this period with the aid of an underground movement. In 1950 the Iraqi parliament finally legalized emigration to Israel, and between May 1950 and August 1951, the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government succeeded in airlifting approximately 110,000 Jews to Israel in Operations Ezra and Nehemiah. This figure includes 18,000 Kurdish Jews, who have many distinct traditions. Thus a community that had reached a peak of 150,000 in 1947 dwindled to a mere 6,000 after 1951.

Additional outbreaks of anti-Jewish rioting occurred between 1946-49. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, Zionism became a capital crime.

JEWS IN IRAQ AFTER 1948

In 1950, Iraqi Jews were permitted to leave the country within a year provided they forfeited their citizenship. A year later, however, the property of Jews who emigrated was frozen and economic restrictions were placed on Jews who chose to remain in the country. From 1949 to 1951, 104,000 Jews were evacuated from Iraq in Operations Ezra and Nehemiah; another 20,000 were smuggled out through Iran. In 1952, Iraq's government barred Jews from emigrating and publicly hanged two Jews after falsely charging them with hurling a bomb at the Baghdad office of the U.S. Information Agency.

With the rise of competing Ba'ath factions in 1963, additional restrictions were placed on the remaining Iraqi Jews. The sale of property was forbidden and all Jews were forced to carry yellow identity cards. After the Six-Day War, more repressive measures were imposed: Jewish property was expropriated; Jewish bank accounts were frozen; Jews were dismissed from public posts; businesses were shut; trading permits were cancelled; telephones were disconnected. Jews were placed under house arrest for long periods of time or restricted to the cities.

Persecution was at its worst at the end of 1968. Scores were jailed upon the discovery of a local "spy ring" composed of Jewish businessmen. Fourteen men-eleven of them Jews-were sentenced to death in staged trials and hanged in the public squares of Baghdad; others died of torture. On January 27, 1969, Baghdad Radio called upon Iraqis to "come and enjoy the feast." Some 500,000 men, women and children paraded and danced past the scaffolds where the bodies of the hanged Jews swung; the mob rhythmically chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to all traitors." This display brought a world-wide public outcry that Radio Baghdad dismissed by declaring: "We hanged spies, but the Jews crucified Christ." (Judith Miller and Laurie Mylroie, Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf, p. 34).

Jews remained under constant surveillance by the Iraqi government. Max Sawadayee, in "All Waiting to be Hanged" writes a testimony of an Iraqi Jew (who later escaped): "The dehumanization of the Jewish personality resulting from continuous humiliation and torment...have dragged us down to the lowest level of our physical and mental faculties, and deprived us of the power to recover.".

In response to international pressure, the Baghdad government quietly allowed most of the remaining Jews to emigrate in the early 1970's, even while leaving other restrictions in force. Most of Iraq's remaining Jews are now too old to leave. They have been pressured by the government to turn over title, without compensation, to more than $200 million worth of Jewish community property. (New York Times, February 18, 1973).

Only one synagogue continues to function in Iraq, "a crumbling buff-colored building tucked away in an alleyway" in Baghdad. According to the synagogue's administrator, "there are few children to be bar-mitzvahed, or couples to be married. Jews can practice their religion but are not allowed to hold jobs in state enterprises or join the army." (New York Times Magazine, February 3, 1985).

In 1991, prior to the Gulf War, the State Department said "there is no recent evidence of overt persecution of Jews, but the regime restricts travel, (particularly to Israel) and contacts with Jewish groups abroad.".

Persecutions continued, especially after the Six-Day War in 1967, when many of the remaining 3,000 Jews were arrested and dismissed from their jobs. Finally In Iraq all the Jews were forced to leave between 1948 and 1952 and leave everything behind. Jews were publicly hanged in the center of Baghdad with enthusiastic mob as audience.

The Jews were persecuted throughout the centuries in all the Arabic speaking countries. One time, Baghdad was one-fifth Jewish and other communities had first been established 2,500 years ago. Today, approximately 61 Jews are left in Baghdad and another 200 or so are in Kurdish areas in the north. Only one synagogue remains in Bataween, - once Baghdad's main Jewish neighborhood.- The rabbi died in 1996 and none of the remaining Jews can perform the liturgy and only a couple know Hebrew. (Associated Press, March 28, 1998).JEWS IN MOROCCO PRIOR TO 1948

The Jewish community of present-day Morocco dates back more than 2,000 years. There were Jewish people in the country before it became a Roman province. in 1032 AD, 6000 Jews were murdered. Indeed the greatest persecution by the Arabs towards the Jews was in Fez, Morocco, nothing was worse than the slaughter of 120,000 Jews in 1146. In 1391 a wave of Jewish refugees expelled from Spain brought new life to the community, as did new arrivals from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497. From 1438, the Jews of Fez were forced to live in special quarters called mellahs, a name derived from the Arabic word for salt because the Jews in Morocco were forced to carry out the job of salting the heads of executed prisoners prior to their public display. Chouraqui sums it up when he wrote: "such restriction and humiliation as to exceed anything in Europe". Charles de Foucauld in 1883 who was not generally sympathetic to Jews writes of the Jews: "They are the most unfortunate of men, every Jew belongs body and soul to his seigneur, the sid [Arab master]". Similarly, in 1465, Arab mobs in Fez slaughtered thousands of Jews, leaving only 11 alive, after a Jewish deputy vizier treated a Muslim woman in "an offensive manner." The killings touched off a wave of similar massacres throughout Morocco.

JEWS IN MOROCCO AFTER 1948.

In June 1948, bloody riots in Oujda and Djerada killed 44 Jews and wounded scores more. That same year, an unofficial economic boycott was instigated against Moroccan Jews. In 1956, Morocco declared its independence, In 1963, more then 100,000 Moroccan Jews were forced out and went to Israel.

JEWS IN YEMEN PRIOR TO 1948

In Yemen from the seventh century on the Jewish populations suffered the severest possible interpretation of the Charter of Omar. For about 4 centuries, the Jews suffered under the fierce fanatical edict of the most intolerant Islamic sects. The Yemen Epistle by Rambam in which he commiserated with Yemen's Jewry and besought them to keep the faith, and in 1724 fanatical rulers ordered synagogues destroyed, and Jewish public prayers were forbidden. The Jews were exiled, many died from starvation and the survivors were ordered to settle in Mausa, but later, this order was annulled by a decree in 1781 due to the need of their skilled craftsmen. Jacob Sappir a Jerusalem writer describes Yemeni Jews in Yemen in 1886: "The Arab natives have always considered the Jew unclean, but his blood for them was not considered unclean. They lay claims to all his belongings, and if he is unwilling, they employ force...The Jews live outside the town in dark dwellings like prison cells or caves out of fear...for the least offense, he is sentenced to outrageous fines, which he is quite unable to pay. In case of non-payment, he is put in chains and cruelly beaten every day. Before the punishment is inflicted, the Cadi[judge] addresses him in gentle tones and urges him to change his faith and obtain a share of all the glory of this world and of the world beyond. His refusal is again regarded as penal obstinacy. On the other hand, it is not open to the Jew to prosecute a Muslim, as the Muslim by right of law can dispose of the life and the property of the Jew, and it is only to be regarded as an act of magnanimity if the Jews are allowed to live. The Jew is not admissible as a witness, nor has his oath any validity.". Danish-German explorer Garsten Neibuhr visited Yemen in 1762 described Jewish life in Yemen: "By day they work in their shops in San'a, but by night they must withdraw to their isolated dwellings, shortly before my arrival, 12 of the 14 synagogues of the Jews were torn down, and all their beautiful houses wrecked". The Jews did not improve until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912, when they were given equality and religious autonomy. In 1922, the government of Yemen reintroduced an ancient Islamic law that decreed that Jewish orphans under age 12 were to be forcibly converted to Islam. In 1947, after the partition vote, Muslim rioters, joined by the local police force, engaged in a bloody pogrom in Aden that killed 82 Jews and destroyed hundreds of Jewish homes. Aden's Jewish community was economically paralyzed, as most of the Jewish stores and businesses were destroyed. Early in 1948, looting occurred after six Jews were falsely accused of the ritual murder of two Arab girls. (Howard Sachar, A History of Israel). 50,000 Jews were kicked out of Yemen in 1948.

JEWS IN TUNISIA PRIOR TO 1948

The first documented evidence of Jews in this area dates back to 200 A.D and demonstrates the existence of a community in Latin Carthage under Roman rule. Latin Carthage contained a significant Jewish presence, and several sages mentioned in the Talmud lived in this area from the 2nd to the 4th centuries. During the Byzantine period, the condition of the community took a turn for the worse. An edict issued by Justinian in 535 excluded Jews from public office, prohibited Jewish practice, and resulted in the transformation of synagogues into churches. Many fled to the Berber communities in the mountains and in the desert. After the Arab conquest of Tunisia in the 7th century, Jews lived under satisfactory conditions, despite discriminatory measures such as a poll tax. From 7th century Arab conquest down through the Almahdiyeen atrocities, Tunisia fared little better than its neighbors. The complete expulsion of Jews from Kairouan near Tunis occurred after years of hardship, in the 13 century when Kairouan was anointed as a holy city of Islam. In the 16th century, the "hated and despised" Jews of Tunis were periodically attacked by violence and they were subjected to "vehement anti-Jewish policy" during the various political struggles of the period. In 1869 Muslims butchered many Jews in the defenseless ghetto. Conditions worsened during the Spanish invasions of 1535-1574, resulting in the flight of Jews from the coastal areas. The situation of the community improved once more under Ottoman rule. During this period, the community also split due to strong cultural differences between the Touransa (native Tunisians) and the Grana (those adhering to Spanish or Italian customs). Jews suffered once more in 1956, when the country achieved independence. The rabbinical tribunal was abolished in 1957, and a year later, Jewish community councils were dissolved. In addition, the Jewish quarter of Tunis was destroyed by the government. Anti-Jewish rioting followed the outbreak of the Six-Day War; Muslims burned down the Great Synagogue of Tunis. These events increased the steady stream of emigration.

JEWS IN LIBYA PRIOR TO 1948.

The Jewish community of Libya traces its origin back to the 3rd century B.C Under Roman rule, Jews prospered. In 73 A.D, a zealot from Israel, Jonathan the Weaver, incited the poor of the community in Cyrene to revolt. The Romans reacted with swift vengeance, murdering him and his followers and executing other wealthy Jews in the community. This revolt foreshadowed that of 115 A.D, which broke out not only in Cyrene, but in Egypt and Cyprus as well. In 1785, where Ali Burzi Pasha murdered hundreds of Jews.With the Italian occupation of Libya in 1911, the situation remained good and the Jews made great strides in education. At that time, there were about 21,000 Jews in the country, the majority in Tripoli. In the late 1930s, Fascist anti-Jewish laws were gradually enforced, and Jews were subject to terrible repression. Still, by 1941, the Jews accounted for a quarter of the population of Tripoli and maintained 44 synagogues. In 1942 the Germans occupied the Jewish quarter of Benghazi, plundered shops, and deported more than 2,000 Jews across the desert, where more than one-fifth of them perished. Many Jews from Tripoli were also sent to forced labor camps. Conditions did not greatly improve following the liberation. During the British occupation, there was a series of pogroms, the worst of which, in 1945, resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Jews in Tripoli and other towns and the destruction of five synagogues. The establishment of the State of Israel, led many Jews to leave the country. A savage pogrom in Tripoli on November 5, 1945 were more than 140 Jews were massacred and almost every synagogue looted. (Howard Sachar, A History of Israel).In June 1948, rioters murdered another 12 Jews and destroyed 280 Jewish homes. Thousands of Jews fled the country after Libya was granted independence and membership in the Arab League in 1951. (Norman Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times). After the Six-Day War, the Jewish population of 7,000 was again subjected to pogroms in which 18 were killed, and many more injured, sparking a near-total exodus that left fewer than 100 Jews in Libya. When Col. Qaddafi came to power in 1969, all Jewish property was confiscated and all debts to Jews cancelled. Today, no Jews are believed to live in Libya. Although emigration was illegal, more than 3,000 Jews succeeded to leave to Israel. When the British legalized emigration in 1949, more than 30,000 Jews fled Libya. At the time of Colonel Qaddafi's coup in 1969, some 500 Jews remained in Libya. Qaddafi subsequently confiscated all Jewish property and cancelled all debts owed to Jews. By 1974 there were no more than 20 Jews, and it is believed that the Jewish presence has passed out of existence. JEWS IN ALGERIA PRIOR TO 1948

Jewish settlement in present-day Algeria can be traced back to the first centuries of the Common Era. In the 14th century, with the deterioration of conditions in Spain, many Spanish Jews moved to Algeria. Among them were a number of outstanding scholars, including the Ribash and the Rashbatz. After the French occupation of the country in 1830, Jews gradually adopted French culture and were granted French citizenship. On the eve of the civil war that gripped the country in the late 1950s, there were some 130,000 Jews in Algeria, approximately 30,000 of whom lived in the capital. Nearly all Algerian Jews fled the country shortly after it gained independence from France in 1962. Most of the remaining Jews live in Algiers, but there are individual Jews in Oran and Blida. A single synagogue functions in Algiers, although there is no resident rabbi. All other synagogues have been taken over for use as mosques. In 1934, a Nazi-incited pogrom in Constantine left 25 Jews dead and scores injured. After being granted independence in 1962, the Algerian government harassed the Jewish community and deprived Jews of their principle economic rights. 150,000 Jews were forced out of Algeria when France left Algeria.

Jewish Refugees from Arab States

The Jews of the Eastern Mediterranean before and after the Arab Conquest
Excerpted from: Martin Gilbert. “The Routledge Atlas of Jewish History.” 7th edition

“… 6,000 Jews massacred in Fez in 1033; hundreds of Jews slaughtered in Muslim Cordoba between 1010 and 1015; 4,000 Jews killed in Muslim riots in Grenada in 1066, wiping out the entire community; the Berber Muslim Almohad depredations of Jews (and Christians) in Spain and North Africa between 1130 and 1232, which killed tens of thousands, while forcibly converting thousands more, and subjecting the forced Jewish converts to Islam to a Muslim Inquisition; the 1291 pogroms in Baghdad and its environs, which killed (at least) hundreds of Jews; the 1465 pogrom against the Jews of Fez; the late 15th century pogrom against the Jews of the Southern Moroccan oasis town of Touat; the 1679 pogroms against, and then expulsion of 10,000 Jews from Sanaa, Yemen to the unlivable, hot and dry Plain of Tihama, from which only 1,000 returned alive, in 1680, 90% having died from exposure; recurring Muslim anti-Jewish violence-including pogroms and forced conversions-throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which rendered areas of Iran (for example, Tabriz) Judenrein; the 1834 pogrom in Safed where raging Muslim mobs killed and grievously wounded hundreds of Jews; the 1888 massacres of Jews in Isfahan and Shiraz, Iran; the 1910 pogrom in Shiraz; the pillage and destruction of the Casablanca, Morocco ghetto in 1907; the pillage of the ghetto of Fez Morocco in 1912; the government sanctioned anti-Jewish pogroms by Muslims in Turkish Eastern Thrace during June-July, 1934 which ethnically cleansed at least 3000 Jews; and the series of pogroms, expropriations, and finally mass expulsions of some 900,000 Jews from Arab Muslim nations, beginning in 1941 in Baghdad (the murderous "Farhud," during which 600 Jews were murdered, and at least 12,000 pillaged )-eventually involving cities and towns in Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Syria, Aden, Bahrain, and culminating in 1967 in Tunisia-that accompanied the planning and creation of a Jewish state, Israel, on a portion of the Jews' ancestral home.” Andrew Bostom. “Antisemitism in Islam’s Foundation Texts.” Jewcy. November 18, 2008.

Excerpted from Martin Gilbert, “The Routledge Atlas of Jewish History”/ 7th ed.

For more than 3,000 years Jews lived in the principal towns of the Eastern Mediterranean. The longest single overlordship of the area was that of Rome (677 years). Jewish rule in Judaea and Samaria in ancient times lasted a total of 641 years. Other rulers of the area included the Arabs (447 years), the Ottoman Turks (401 years) and the Crusaders (192 years).

Antioch: In Roman times, a centre of Jewish settlement whose Jews were granted equal citizenship rights with Greeks. In 600 AD after attempts to forcible conversion, the Jews rebelled, and many were killed; in 1171 only 10 Jewish families still remained; in 1750 about 40; in 1894 about 80 an din 1928 about 10.

Tripoli: At the time of the Arab conquest, the Arab Governor established a garrison of Jewish troops to guard the town against Byzantine attack. Early in the 11th century, Jews were persecuted, their synagogue turned into a mosque, and several houses destroyed. In the 16th century Jewish refugees from Spain settled and prospered. Early in the 17th century there were further persecutions and many Jews fled. In 1939 there were only four Jewish families left.

Beirut: In 500 AD there was a flourishing Jewish community, but in 1173 Benjamin of Tudela found only 50 Jews. In 1889 there w ere 1,500 Jews out of a total population of 20,000, in 1913 there were 5,000 out of 150,000.

Gaza: Some Jews settled here in Talmudic times. In 1481 AD Meshullam of Volterra found 60 Jewish householders. From 1600-1799 the Jewish community flourished, but in 1799 it fled the city on the eve of Napoleon’s arrival. Resettled in the 1880’s some 90 Jews were recorded in 1903.

Rafah: A flourishing Jewish community lived here both before and after the Arab conquest, but in 1080 AD the Jews were driven out after nearly a thousand years of continuous settlement.

Aleppo: Jews lived here from biblical times. In 1172 AD there were 1,500 Jews; in 1900 more than 10,000 forced to pay an annual poll tax.

Damascus: Contained some 10,000 Jewish inhabitants in Roman times, and over 3,000 when visited by Benjamin of Tudela in 1173 AD. In 1840 a ritual murder charge was brought against the Jews and in 1880 they were falsely accused of taking part in a massacre of Christians. In 1901 there were eight synagogues, and as many as 20,000 Jews.

THE JEWISH CONDITION UNDER MUSLIM RULE 750 AD – 1900 AD

Despite many decades of prosperity, influence, trade and toleration, the Jews living in t he Arab and Muslim world faced the continual danger of anti-Jewish discrimination, violence and persecution, sometimes over brief, but sometimes over long periods. From Spain to Saudi Arabia, this took the form of confinement to ghettoes, punitive taxation, enforced wearing of special clothes and other humiliations, as well as repeated looting and killing.

Algiers: 1805 – 40 Jews murdered.

Granada: 1066 – More than 5,000 Jews murdered during Arab riots

Morocco: 1864 – 18880 – More than 500Jews murdered in 16 years, often in broad daylight in the main streets.

Tripolitania: 1897 – Synagogues plundered throughout . Several Jews murdered.

Fez: 1033 – More than 6,000 Jews massacred.

Sefrou: - 1880 – Jewish quarter pillaged by Muslims, after a flood in which 54 Jews died.

Demnat: - 1875 – 20 Jews murdered; 1884 – Several Jews murdered amid much persecution

Marakesh: 1232 – The Jews massacred. Anti-Jewish persecutions throughout Morocco.

Tunis: 800 AD – Jews forced to pay an annual tax which constituted a substantial income for the State; 1145 k- Jews forced to convert or to leave; 1250 – Jews forced to wear distinguishing marks on cloths; 1869 – 18 Jews murdered by Muslims within a few months.

Kairawan: 1016 – the Jews of the city persecuted and forced to leave. Returning later they were again expelled.

Tunisia: 1150’s & 1270’s: Fierce anti-Jewish persecutions.

Jerba: 1864 – Arab bands pillage the Jewish communities, burn and loot synagogues, and rape the women.

Libya: 1588 – Forcible conversion of many Jews to Islam; 1785 – Ali Gurzi, Pasha persecutes Jews. Many hundred murdered; 1860 – Harsh anti-Jewish measures. All Jews leaving forced to pay a heavy exit fine (except those going to Palestine).

THE JEWS OF IRAQ; 600 BC – 1900 AD

The Jews of Iraq formed large communities from biblical times and were settled in hundreds of towns and villages for more than 1,200 years before the Muslim conquest of 634 AD. After that conquest they continued to proper despite spasmodic and at times severe persecution. In 800 AD and again in 850 AD they were subjected to heavy taxation, restrictions of their residence and forced to wear a yellow patch on their clothing. In 1000 AD they were subjected to severe oppression, including punitive taxation. In 1333 the synagogues of Baghdad were destroyed and much property looted. From 1750 to 1830, under Turkish rule, anti-Jewish measures were so severe that many fled to Persia and India. By 1900 the Jews of Iraq, after 2,500 years of continued settlement number more than 120,000.

500 AD: The scholars of the Sura and Pumbeditha academies compiled the Babylonian Talmud and served as spiritual guides for all diaspora Jewry for over 1,000 years. By 600 AD there were about 806,000 Jews living in Mesopotamia.

THE JEWS OF IRAQ IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

1933: 20 Jews murdered in Mosul.

1935: Jews removed from Government Service. Many Jews forbidden to travel to Palestine

1936: 10 Jews killed by Arab riots in Baghdad and Basra. Teaching of Hebrew prohibited.

July 1937: Violent anti-Jewish demonstrations in Baghdad. Jewish property destroyed.

June 1941: Baghdad - During riots following collapse of pro-Nazi Government of Rashid Ali, 175 Jews killed and 1,000 injured. Much looting of Jewish property. 900 Jewish houses destroyed. Many Jews tortured.

July 1946: Baghdad – Anti-Jewish riots. Hundreds of Jews wounded and much property destroyed.

1947: No Jewish children accepted in Government schools

May 1947: Following destruction of much Jewish property by mob attack, Jews were forced to move from Faluja to Baghdad. A Jeew murderered by a mob in Baghdad which accused him of giving poisoned sweets to an Arab child.

December 1947: A Jew accused of trying to inject cholera germs in water drunk by Arab children.

August 1948: Zionism declared a crime (with Nazism, Communism, Atheism and Anarchism). Many Jews imprisoned, some hanged.

September – October 1948: Basra – Many wealthy Jews arrested. One millionaire hanged and his fortune seized. His cousin died after 4 months in prison. All were accused of allegedly supplying arms to Zionists.

October 1948: President of the local Jewish Community in Sulaimaniya arrested on charge of maintaining contact with his sons in Israel.

December 1949: Baghdad – Anti-Jewish riots, many injured.

March 10, 1950: Official decree confiscates all property of Jews leaving for Israel, and appoints a special custodian to sell it by public auction. All emigrants’ bank accounts seized by the State.

February 25, 1958: Abolition to Jewish Community Status. All community property, including schools and hospital, transferred to Government.

March 3, 1968: Law No. 10 forbids Jews to receive more than 100 Iraqi dinars per month for sale of immovable property (in 1948 the Jewish community had been made to pay 250,000 dinars towards the Iraqi war effort against Israel and towards the Palestinian Arab refugees).

1969: 9 Jews hanged for “Zionist” activities in January; 2 hanged for “spying for Israel and the CIA”; in August 2 killed in September; 4 killed in November.

October 1972: Many Jews arrested. 16 disappear without trace. More than 20 murdered.

April 1973: A family of 5 Jews murdered in their home.

Jewish Population: 1948: 135,000; 1971: 2,500; 1974: 400

THE JEWS OF SYRIA 1936 –1975

1936 -9: Damascus - Headquarters of anti-Jewish propaganda, intensified after visit of Nazi officers from Germany.

1938: Damascus - Jews frequently stabbed on streets

June 1945: Damascus - A Jewish educationalist murdered.

November 18, 1945: Aleppo – Great Synagogue looted. Prayerbooks burnt in the street

December 2, 1947: Aleppo – Anti-Jewish riots. Many Jews killed; 140 Jewish homes, 50 shops, 18 synagogues and 5 schools burned.

April 1948: Aleppo – Further anti-Jewish riots. Many Jews in hiding, in fear of their lives.

August 5, 1949: Damascus – Bomb thrown in synagogue on Sabbath eve. 12 killed, 26 injured.

December 1949: Damascus – Jewish Community Council dissolved.

November 1950: Haifa – 30 Syrian Jews murdered at sea by Arab seamen paid to take them by boat to Israel. 20 bodies washed ashore at Haifa.

February 8, 1967: Damascus – Ministry of Defense Circular lists 47 Jewish merchants and forbids army personnel to trade with them.

June 1967: Kamishliye – 57 Jews killed by the mob during anti-Jewish riots

February 8, 1967: Ministry of Defense Circular lists 47 Jewish merchants and forbids army personnel to trade with them

March 1974: 4 young Jewesses murdered while attempting to leave Syria. Since 1971 at least 50 Jews (men, women and children) arrested. Many tortured. Beatings in streets commonplace.

Restrictions in force since 1967:

1. Jews’’ right to emigrate is completely forbidden. This applies even to Jews in Syria who hold foreign passports.
2. Jews are forbidden to move more than 3 kilometres from their place of residence. Those wishing to travel further must apply for a special permit.
3. Identity cards issued to Jews are stamped in red with the word “Mussawi” (Jew).
4. Jews are normally subject to a 10 p.m. curfew
5. Jews allowed 6 years elementary schooling only
6. Jewish houses in Kamishliye are marked in red
7. Jews barred from jobs in the public service, in public institutions or in banks
8. Government and military personnel are forbidden to purchase from Jewish shops
9. Foreigners may not visit the Jewish quarter unescorted
10. Jews forbidden to own radios or telephones, or to maintain postal contact with outside world
11. No telephones are installed in Jewish homes
12. The possessions of deceased Jews are confiscated by the Government. Their heirs must then pay for the use of the property. If they cannot, it is handed over to the Palestinian Arabs
13. Only two Jewish schools open in Damascus. Their directors and most of their teachers are Muslims. Exams usually ordered to be held on the Sabbath

Jewish Population: 1943 – 29,770; 1946: 18,000; 1974: 4,000

THE JEWS OF YEMEN AND ADEN

1900: By 1900 Jews had lived in Yemen for over 2,000 years.

1905: Reintroduction of earlier laws forbids all Jews to build higher houses than Muslims, to raise their voices in front of Muslims, or to engage in religious discussion or in any traditional Muslim trade or occupation.

1920’s: Jews ousted from textile and soap trades, and forced to train Muslims to take thseir place.

1922: Anti-Zionist propaganda spread by Palestinian Arabs. A special law orders forcible conversion to Islam of all Jewish orphans under 13, even when the mother was still alive; another common Muslim law reimposed.

1929: Jews forbidden to emigrate to Palestine. Some managed to flee to Aden.

1948: Anti-Jewish violence following rumour that 6 Jews had been arrested in Sana for murdering 2 Arab girls for ritual purposes.

1949: Jews, allowed to go to Aden, seek refuge there en route to Israel.

1933: Anti-Jewish attacks. Many Jews stoned and stabbed by Arab rioters.

November 1947: Broadcasts from Egypt relayed in the cafes, inciting anti-Jewish feeling.

December 1947: 3 days of anti-Jewish rioting leave 82 Jewish dead, 106 shops looted (out of 170), 220 Jewish houses destroyed and 4 synagogues burnt to the ground.

1965: Synagogue looted and burnt

June 1967: Some Jews murdered, 3 synagogues destroyed and Jewish property looted. Britain supervises evacuation of remaining 132 Jews to Israel.

Jewish Population in Yemen: 1948: 55,000; 1974: 500

Jewish Population in Aden: 1948: 8,000; 1974: nil

THE JEWS OF EGYPT

1882, 1919, 1921, 1924: Alexandria - Jews attacked in anti-foreigner riots.

1938 – 39: Towns in which there were serious anti-Jewish riots and violent protests against Jewish immigration from Nazi Germany to Palestine

November 2, 1945: “Balfour Day” riots throughout Egypt. 10 Jews killed, 350 injured. Shops looted and synagogues wrecked. Scrolls of the Law burnt in the streets.

May 15, 1948: 2,000 Jews arrested. Two weeks later a Law was passed confiscating the property of those arrested.

June i6, 1948: New York Times reports large Jewish financial contributions to the anti-Israeli War Chest and to Arab refugee relief.

June – July 1948: Over 50 Jews killed, some after savage mutilations. Many Jewish homes destroyed.

September 22, 1948: 20 Jews killed and 61 injured after an explosion in the Jewish quarter of Cairo, followed by Arab looting of Jewish houses, and seizure of Jewish property by the Government.

1956: 4,000 Jews expelled. Some allowed to take only a single suitcase out of Egypt. Those expelled were forced to renounce all property rights and financial claims.

1957: All Jews not in “continuous residence” since 1900 deprived of citizenship.

1960: Many synagogues closed down. Jewish orphanages, schools and old peoples’ homes forced to close. The Jewish hospital confiscated; its medical staff arrested

May-June 1967: All Jews in official employ dismissed. 500 Jews, including rabbis, arrested. Some brutally tortured, some released only in 19970, others expelled with only meager personal belongings.

Jewish Population: 1948 – 75,000; 1974 – 350

THE JEWS OF LIBYA: 1942- 1975

1942: During German occupation Jewish quarter sacked and looted; 2,000 Jews deported across the desert; as many as a fifth died.

November 4 – 7, 1945: Zavia; Zansur: Tripoli; Amrus: Kussabat; Tawarga; Benghazi – Towns in which more than 100 Jews were murdered (some tortured first, some burnt alive) during the anti-Jewish riots.

June 1948: Tripoli - 12 Jews and 4 Arabs killed in anti-Jewish riots. 280 Jewish houses destroyed.

1951: With Libya’s independence, all Jewish ties cut with Israel and Jewish organizations abroad.

1963: Jewish right to vote rescinded. Mass arrests. Jews forbidden to hold public office.

June 1967: Tripoli - Jewish shops ransacked and burned. 18 Jews killed. Those wishing to leave for Israel allowed only a single suitcase and 20 lbs. sterling.

1967: Six day war marked by wide-spread destruction of Jewish property. Synagogues, shops and homes looted and burned. 100 Jews killed.

Jewish Population: 1948: 38,000; 1974: 20

THE JEWS OF TUNISIA 1880 – 1975

1880: Nabel - 7 Jews killed

1881: French protectorate, condition of Jews improved. With Tunisian independence in 1956, the treatment of Jews rapidly worsened.

August 1917: Bizerta; Tunis; Susa; Mehdia; Sfax – Towns, whose Jewish quarters were looted by Tunisian troops during rebellion

July 1932: Sfax – Jews attacked by an Arab mob protesting at the Jews of Europe going to Palestine.

November 23, 1942: Germans arrest over 4,000 Jews, confiscate Jewish money, and deport some Jews to European concentration camps.

September 27, 1957: Rabbinical tribunal abolished. All matters of personal status to be judged by lay courts.

1958: Tunis – Ancient synagogue and cemetery destroyed for urban renewal.

July 22, 1958: The Jewish councils of Tunis and Sfax dissolved, and community work restricted to religious and charitable activity.

1964: Severe limitations imposed on Jewish economic activity

June 5, 1967: Anti-Jewish riots. Great Synagogue burned. Scrolls of the Law destroyed. One Jew killed. President Bourguiba publicly condemned the riot, apologized to the Chief Rabbi, and ensured that the rioters were punished, compensation paid, and the synagogue rebuilt.

Jewish Population: 1948 – 110,000; 1974 – 2,000

“We should have liked to be Arab Jews. If we abandoned the idea, it is because over the centuries the Muslim Arabs systematically prevented its realization by their contempt and cruelty…Not only were the homes of Jews in Germany and Poland torn down, and scattered to the four winds, demolished, but our homes as well.” Albert Memmi (a Jew born in Tunis), in “Who is an Arab Jew”, 1975.

THE JEWS OF ALGERIA

May 18, 1887: Mostaganem - Sacking of synagogue marks beginning of widespread anti-Jewish violence throughout Algeria.

1933: Algiers - French pro-Nazi elements lead anti-Semitic demonstrations.

August 5, 1934: Constantine – 25 Jews killed and much property destroyed during Muslim attacks on Jews.

1936: Algiers - A Jewish soldier killed in the street for tearing down anti-Semitic poster

1956: Jews were slowly forced to abandon their shops and professional jobs as a result of Arab boycott and their replacement by Arabs.

1956: Oran – Jewish shops sacked. Mobs march on Grand Synagogue.

1960: Algiers - During anti-French riots, the Great Synagogue desecrated and destroyed.

1960: Oran – Jewish cemetery desecrated.

1961: Algerian Provisional Government opposes Jewish emigration to Israel.

1962: With independence the Algerians deprive the Jews of their principal economic rights

1965: Algerian Supreme Court declares that Jews are no longer under the protection of the law. All Jewish commerce boycotted.

1966: A Jew executed on the Jewish New Year for “economic crimes”.

May 1967: Constantine – Grenade thrown at Jewish owned café. 13 injured.

1967: Synagogues desecrated, following Six Day War.

Jewish Population: 1948 – 140,000; 1974 – 500

THE JEWS OF MOROCCO

1875: Debdou – 20 Jews killed.

1903: Taza – 40 Jews killed by Muslims during anti-Jewish riots.

1903 – Azemmour – Many Jews killed in Muslim attacks.

1907: Mazagan - 30 Jews killed; 200 women, girls and boys abducted, raped, and then ransomed.

1907: Azemmour – Many Jews killed in Muslim attacks.

April 28, 1912: Fez – At start of French rule, Muslims riot, killing 60 Jews and sacking the Jewish quarter of the city.

1942: Casablanca – Synagogue desecrated in anti-Jewish riots.

June 1948: Djerada – 43 Jews killed during Muslim riots. Over 150 wounded.

1952: Following internal political strife, much anti-Jewish mob violence by Muslims.

Summer 1954: Much pillaging of Jewish property and destruction of Jewish schools

1955: Mazagan – Anti-Jewish violence. Much Jewish property destroyed. Several Jews killed also in Safi and Oued Zem.

February 1957: Exit visas for Jews abolished.

1958: Number of Jewish officials in Government deliberately decreased. All Zionist activity forbidden.

Summer 1960: Many Jewish schools nationalized.

1965: Publication of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.

Jewish Population: 1948 – 285,000; 1974 – 20,000

JEWISH REFUGEES TO ISRAEL FROM ARAB LANDS MAY 1948 – MAY 1972

In 1945 there were more than 870,000 Jews living in the Arab world. Many of their communities dated back 2,500 years. Throughout 1947 and 1948 these Jews were subjected to continual pressure and persecution. There were anti-Jewish riots in Aden (where 82 Jews were killed), in Egypt (where 150 Jews were killed), in Syria (where Jewish emigration was forbidden), and in Iraq (where “Zionism” was made a capital crime). Many Jews of the Arab world were thus driven to seek a refuge in the new State of Israel. Arriving in Israel destitute, they were absorbed into the society, and became an integral part of the State. A further 260,000 found refuge in Europe and the Americas.

Morocco: 260,000; Algeria: 14,000; Libya: 35,666; Tunisia: 56,000; Egypt: 29,525; Iraq: 129,290; Lebanon: 6,000; Syria: 4,500; Yemen and Aden: 50,552

The transfer of populations on a massive scale, whether as a result of war or statecraft, has been a constant feature of twentieth century history, in almost every case; those uprooted from one land were absorbed into the life and society of their new home. The movement of more than 580,000 Jewish refugees from the Arab lands to Israel, and of a similar number of Palestinian Arabs to Gaza, the West Banks, Jordan, Syria and the Lebanon, was typical of such movements, although actually on a smaller scale than most of them. But whereas the uprooted Jews strove to become an integral part of Israeli life, the Palestinian Arabs remained, often as a deliberate act of policy by their host countries, isolated, neglected and aggrieved.