Space Forum / Astronomy / July 2008

The yids have more than likely got pictures of Bush, Sarkozy, Merkelstein,
Brown et al, f.cking chooks.

...

Maybe Herzl was the messiah? I don't know. The ultraorthodox are still
waiting.

No one says it's "His kingdom." It's simply a state for the Jewish
people, just like most other peoples have states.

I can't talk about what percentage of Jews do or don't believe in God.
But science has demonstrated that about 50%, or more, of Jews have
Israelite DNA. That's more than I had ever expected after 2000 years
of dispersal.

That too is not true. About half of the 5.5 million Israeli Jews are
of from non-European countries of exile, such as Iraq, Morocco, Yemen,
Iran, Egypt, India, and many more. About a quarter of all Jews in the
world are either Sephardim or Mizrachim and not Ashkenazim.  And
Ethiopian too.

Totally false not at all supported by DNA analysis. A complety
disproved myth. The Khazar influence is less than 10%,  if that.

I have seen lost of light haired "ARabs." Especially from Libya. They
may be descendents of Carthaginians who themselves were descendants of
Canaanites. You confuse Arab with semite. They are not one and the
same. Remember that Ishmael in the bible had both Abraham as father,
but a black Nubian mother Hagar.

Okay, what are the islands of the sea? Britain is an island.

Yeah, in Israel I knew many, many Jews from India and Ethiopia and
even some from China. It's EXACTLY as Isaiah prophesied.

Okay, so the job is only half done. When the Arabs leave the rest of
our land, there'll be room for the rest of us.

It didn't say it would take a day. Ninety years isn't that long. I bet
in the next 90 years, pretty much every Jew will  live in Israel.

I don't know what the celestial almanac is, nor do I care. If you
quote one of our prophets, that's one thing. Once you start quoting
stuff outside the Old Testament bible, it's of no meaning to me
whatsoever.

Gee, what a STUPID STATEMENT, WartPiggy!  lmfjao!

Where did that figure come from?

Is it another one YOU MADE UP?

Saul Levy

Absolutely. The Jews who left the Arab countries left behind five (5)
times as much land as all of Palestine put together!
And yet the world media doesn't even mention one word about it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   See also: Antisemitism in the Arab world

For other uses, see Exodus (disambiguation).
Aliyah to Israel and settlement
Pre-Zionist Aliyah

   * The Return to Zion
   * The Old Yishuv

Prior to the founding of Israel

   * First Aliyah
   * Second Aliyah
   * During WWI
   * Third Aliyah
   * Fourth Aliyah
   * Fifth Aliyah
   * During and after WWII
   * Berihah

After the founding of Israel

   * Operation Magic Carpet
   * Operation Ezra and Nehemiah
   * Jewish exodus from Arab lands
   * Polish aliyah in 1968
   * Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1970s
   * Aliyah from Ethiopia
   * Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s
   * Aliyah from Latin America in the 2000s

The Jewish exodus from Arab lands refers to the 20th century expulsion
or mass departure of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi
background, from Arab and Islamic countries. The migration started in
the late 19th century, but accelerated after the 1948 Arab-Israeli
War. According to official Arab statistics, 856,000 Jews left their
homes in Arab countries from 1948 until the early 1970s. Some 680,000
resettled in Israel. Their descendants, and those of Iranian and
Turkish Jews, now number 3.06 million of Israel's 5.4 to 5.8 million
Jewish citizens. [1] They left behind property valued today at more
than $300 billion.[2][3] Jewish-owned real-estate left behind in Arab
lands has been estimated at 100,000 square kilometers (four times the
size of the State of Israel). [1][3]
Contents

   * 1 Reasons for emigration
   * 2 History of Jews in Arab lands (Pre-1948)
   * 3 Jews flee Arab states (1948-)
         o 3.1 Algeria
         o 3.2 Bahrain
         o 3.3 Egypt
         o 3.4 Iraq
         o 3.5 Lebanon
         o 3.6 Libya
         o 3.7 Morocco
         o 3.8 Syria
         o 3.9 Tunisia
         o 3.10 Yemen
   * 4 Absorbing Jewish refugees
         o 4.1 The International Community
   * 5 Jewish refugee advocacy groups
   * 6 See also
   * 7 References
   * 8 Bibliography
   * 9 External links

[edit] Reasons for emigration

While violence and discrimination against Jews in Arab countries
started to increase before 1948, it escalated significantly starting
in 1948 despite the fact that Jews were indigenous and for the most
part held Arab citizenship. Sometimes the process was state
sanctioned; at other times it was the consequence of anti-Jewish
resentment by non-Jews. Harassment, persecution and the confiscation
of property followed. Secondly and in response to mistreatment of Jews
in these countries, a Zionist drive for Jewish immigration from Arab
lands to Israel intensified. The great majority of Jews in Arab lands
eventually emigrated to the modern State of Israel.[4]

The process grew apace as Arab nations under French, British and
Italian colonial rule or protection gained independence. Further, anti-
Jewish sentiment within the Arab-majority states was exacerbated by
the Arab-Israeli wars. Within a few years after the Six Day War (1967)
there were only remnants of Jewish communities left in most Arab
lands. Jews in Arab lands were reduced from more than 800,000 in 1948
to perhaps 16,000 in 1991.[4]

Some claim that the Jewish exodus from Arab lands is a historical
parallel to the Palestinian exodus during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War,
while others reject this comparison as simplistic.[5] One Palestinian
sociologist has commented that the loss of Jewish property in Arab
lands fulfills the conditions of a sulha, or reconciliation, since
Jews as well as Palestinians have experienced a catastrophe, and that
publicizing this knowledge would pave the way to a true peace process.
[1]

[edit] History of Jews in Arab lands (Pre-1948) Antisemitism

   Further information: History of the Jews under Muslim rule

Jewish settlement all over the Fertile Crescent, which is now divided
into several Arab states, is well attested since the Babylonian
captivity. After the conquest of these lands by Arab Muslims in the
7th century, Jews, along with Christians and Zoroastrians, were
accorded the legal status of dhimmi. As such, they were entitled to
limited rights, tolerance, and protection, on the condition they pay a
special poll tax (the 'jizya'). In return for the tax, dhimmis were
exempted from military service. Dhimmi status brought with its several
restrictions, the application and severity of which varied by time and
place: residency in segregated quarters, obligation to wear
distinctive clothing, public subservience to Muslims, prohibitions
against proselytizing and marrying Muslim women (according to Islam, a
Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man), and limited access to the
legal systems. Notwithstanding these provisions, Jews could at times
attain high positions in government, notably as viziers and
physicians. Jewish communities, like Christian ones, were typically
constituted as semi-autonomous entities managed by their own laws and
leadership, who bore responsibility for the community towards the
Muslim rulers. Taxes and fines levied on them were collective in
nature. However, a level of political autonomy and civil courts for
resolving community disputes was not rare.

Mass murders of Jews and deaths due to political instability did
however occur in North Africa throughout the centuries and especially
in Morocco, Libya and Algeria where eventually Jews were forced to
live in ghettos.[6] Decrees ordering the destruction of synagogues
were enacted at various times in the Middle Ages in Egypt, Syria, Iraq
and Yemen. Instances exist of Jews being forced to convert to Islam or
face death in Yemen, Morocco and Baghdad.[7]

This situation, wherein Jews both enjoyed cultural and economical
prosperity at times, but were then widely persecuted at other times
was summarised by G.E. von Grunebaum as follows:

   It would not be difficult to put together the names of a very
sizeable number of Jewish subjects or citizens of the Islamic area who
have attained to high rank, to power, to great financial influence, to
significant and recognized intellectual attainment; and the same could
be done for Christians. But it would again not be difficult to compile
a lengthy list of persecutions, arbitrary confiscations, attempted
forced conversions, or pogroms.[8]

In 1945, there were between 758,000 and 866,000 Jews (see table below)
living in communities throughout the Arab world. Today, there are
fewer than 7,000. In some Arab states, such as Libya (which was once
around 3% Jewish), the Jewish community no longer exists; in other
Arab countries, only a few hundred Jews remain.
Jewish Populations of Arab Countries: 1948 and 2001/2008 Country or
territory     1948 Jewish
population     Jewish % of total
population, 1948     Estimated Jewish
population 2001[9]     Estimated Jewish
population 2008
Aden     8,000[10]         ~0
Algeria     140,000[10][11]     1.6%     ~0
Bahrain     550-600[12]     0.5%     36     around 30 people. See [13].
Egypt     75,000[10]-80,000[11]     0.4%     ~100     Less than a hundred remain.
See[14]
Iraq     135,000[10]-140,000[11]     2.6%     ~200     20 in Baghdad and fewer
than 100 remain. See [15].
Lebanon     5,000[10]-100,000[16]     0.4-2%     < 100     around 40 in Beirut.
See [17]
Libya     35,000[11]-38,000[10]     3.6%     0
Morocco     250,000[11]-265,000[10]     2.8%     5,230     less than 7,000. See
[18]
Qatar     ?     ?     ?     a few Jews are reported. See [19]
Syria     15,000[11]-30,000[10]     0.4-0.9%     ~100     fewer than 30 remain.
See [20]
Tunisia     50,000[11]-105,000[10]     1.4-3.0%     ~1,000     in 2004 estimated
1,500 remain. See [21]
Yemen     45,000[11]-55,000[10]     1.0%     ~200     a few hundred remain. See
[22]
Total     758,000 - 881,000         <6,500     <8,600+
Jewish Populations of non-Arab Muslim Countries: 1948 and 2001 Country
or territory     1948 Jewish
population     Estimated Jewish
population 2001     Estimated Jewish
population 2008
Afghanistan     5,000     1[23]
Iran     70,000-120,000,[24] 100,000, 140,000–150,000     11,000-40,000
less than 40,000 remain. See [25].
Pakistan     2,000     N/A
Turkey     80,000[26]     18,000-30,000[27]

[edit] Jews flee Arab states (1948-)

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the exodus of approximately 711,000
(UN estimate) Arab refugees (see the Palestinian Exodus), the creation
of the state of Israel, and the independence of Arab countries from
European control, conditions for Jews in the Arab world deteriorated.
Over the next few decades, most would leave the Arab world. Their
departure and its motivations are covered country by country below.

Soon after the declaration of the establishment of Israel in 1948,
over 45,000 Jews had emigrated from Arab countries to mandatory
Palestine. Although some of the Jews emigrated because of the
influence of Zionism that proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to
return to their homeland, most Jews came to Israel as a result of
persecution by Arab countries. Gilbert (1999) maintains that Israeli
officials were instrumental in facilitating population transfers from
Muslim countries, known in Israel as the gathering of the exiles,
because there was a shortage of manpower in Israel after 1948.

There are controversial claims about the methods employed by Israeli
officials. Gilbert (1999) and Hirst (1977) write that Israeli agents
planted bombs in synagogues and Jewish businesses in an attempt to
stimulate emigration to Israel, but that view is rejected by others.
Historian Moshe Gat contends that, in the most famous case in Iraq,
the claim that the bombings were carried out by Zionists is contrary
to the evidence, and in any event the impetus for the Jewish-Iraqi
exodus was the imminent expiration of the denaturalisation law, not
the bombing.[28] According to Norman Stillman, "[n]either side,
however, has provided truly convincing evidence, and for any detached
observer the point must remain moot."[29]

The United Nations Resolution on the partition of Palestine in
November 1947 and the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948 led
to anti-Jewish actions in Arab countries. At the same time, several
Arab countries began to take a severe attitude against Jews who
operated Zionist activities within Arab borders, further encouraging
Jewish emigration to Israel.[30][31] Arab pogroms against Jews
appeared to spread throughout the Arab world, and there were
intensified riots in Yemen and Syria in particular. In Libya, Jews
were deprived citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. As
a result, a large number of Jews were forced to emigrate and they were
not allowed to take all their property. Between 1948 and 1951, tens of
thousands of Jews from Iraq and Yemen arrived in Israel by the airlift
operation arranged by the Israeli authorities and local communities.
[32].

By 1951, about 30 percent of the population in Israel was accounted
for by Jews from Arab countries and about 850,000 Jews emigrated from
Arab countries between 1948 and 1952. During this time 586,269 Jews
came to Israel from Arab countries, and 3,136,436 people live in
Israel today including their offspring, which account for about 41 per
cent of the total population.[33]

[edit] Algeria

   Main article: History of the Jews in Algeria

Almost all Jews in Algeria left upon independence in 1962. Algeria's
140,000 Jews had French citizenship since 1870 (briefly revoked by
Vichy France in 1940), and they mainly went to France, with some going
to Israel.[34]

Following the brutal Algerian Civil War of 1990s there – in
particular, the rebel Armed Islamic Group's 1994 declaration of war on
all non-Muslims in the country – most of the thousand-odd Jews
previously there, living mainly in Algiers and to a lesser extent
Blida, Constantine, and Oran, emigrated. The Algiers synagogue was
abandoned after 1994. These Jews themselves represented the remainder
of only about 10,000 who had chosen to stay there in 1962

Only a small number of Algerian origin Jews moved from France to
Israel.

[edit] Bahrain

   Main article: History of the Jews in Bahrain

Bahrain's tiny Jewish community, mostly the descendants of immigrants
who entered the country in the early 1900s from Iraq, numbered 600 in
1948.

In the wake of the November 29, 1947 U.N. Partition vote,
demonstrations against the vote in the Arab world were called for
December 2-5. The first two days of demonstrations in Bahrain saw rock
throwing against Jews, but on December 5 mobs in the capital of Manama
looted Jewish homes and shops, destroyed the synagogue, and beat any
Jews they could find, and murdered one elderly woman.[35]

Over the next few decades, most left for other countries, especially
England; as of 2006 only 36 remained.[36]

Relations between Jews and Muslims are generally considered good, with
Bahrain being the only state on the Arabian Peninsula where there is a
specific Jewish community and the only Gulf state with a synagogue.
One member of the community, Rouben Rouben, who sells electronics and
appliances from his downtown showroom, said “95 percent of my
customers are Bahrainis, and the government is our No. 1 corporate
customer. I’ve never felt any kind of discrimination.”[36]

Members play a prominent role in civil society: Ebrahim Nono was
appointed in 2002 a member of Bahrain's upper house of parliament, the
Consultative Council, while a Jewish woman heads a human rights group,
the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society. According to the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, the active Jewish community is "a source of pride
for Bahraini officials".[36]

In Bahrain's 2006 parliamentary election, some candidates have
specifically sought out the Jewish vote; writer Munira Fakhro, Vice
President of the Leftist National Democratic Action, standing in Isa
Town told the local press: "There are 20- 30 Jews in my area and I
would be working for their benefit and raise their standard of
living."[37]

[edit] Egypt

   Main article: History of the Jews in Egypt

Egypt was once home to one of the most dynamic Jewish communities in
the Diaspora. Caliphs in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries CE
exercised various repressive policies, culminating in the murder of
Jews and the destruction of the Jewish quarter in Cairo in 1012.
Jewish life was subject to ups and downs until the rise of the Ottoman
Empire in 1517, when it deteriorated again. Six recorded blood libels
took place between 1870 and 1892. In 1948, approximately 75,000 Jews
lived in Egypt. About 100 remain today, mostly in Cairo. In June 1948,
a bomb exploded in Cairo's Karaite quarter, killing 22 Jews. In July
1948, Jewish shops and the Cairo Synagogue was attacked, killing 19
Jews.[1] Hundreds of Jews were arrested and had their property
confiscated. The 1954, the Lavon Affair served as a pretext for
further persecution of Egyptian Jews. In October 1956, when the Suez
Crisis erupted, 1,000 Jews were arrested and 500 Jewish businesses
were seized by the government. A statement branding the Jews "enemies
of the state" was read out in the mosques of Cairo and Alexandria.
Jewish bank accounts were confiscated and many Jews lost their jobs.
Lawyers, engineers, doctors and teachers were not allowed to work in
their professions. In 1967, Jews were detained and tortured, and
Jewish homes were confiscated.[1]

In 1951, the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion was translated
into Arabic and promoted as an authentic historical document, fueling
anti-Semitic sentiments in Egypt.[38] In 1960, the Protocols were the
subject of an article by Salah Dasuqi, military governor of Cairo, in
al-Majallaaa, the official cultural journal.[39] In 1965, the Egyptian
government released an English-language pamphlet titled Israel, the
Enemy of Africa and distributed it throughout the English-speaking
countries of Africa. The pamphlet used the Protocols and The
International Jew as its sources and concluded that all the Jews were
cheats, thieves, and murderers.[40]

In October 2002, a private Egyptian television company Dream TV
produced a 41-part "historical drama" A Knight Without a Horse (Fars
Bela Gewad), largely based on the Protocols,[41] which ran on 17
Arabic-language satellite televsion channels, including government-
owned Egypt Television (ETV), for a month, causing concerns in the
West.[42] Egypt's Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif announced that
the series "contains no antisemitic material".[43]

[edit] Iraq

   Main article: History of the Jews in Iraq

In 1948, there were approximately 150,000 Jews in Iraq. The community
was concentrated in Baghdad, was well established and felt no urge to
leave. However by 2003, there were only approximately 100 left of this
previously thriving community.

In 1941, following Rashid Ali's pro-Axis coup, riots known as the
Farhud broke out in Baghdad in which approximately As a result of
Farhud, about 180 Jews were killed and about 240 were wounded, 586
Jewish-owned businesses were looted and 99 Jewish houses were
destroyed.[44]

Like most Arab League states, Iraq initially forbade the emigration of
its Jews after the 1948 war on the grounds that allowing them to go to
Israel would strengthen that state. However, intense diplomatic
pressure brought about a change of mind. At the same time, increasing
government oppression of the Jews fueled by anti-Israeli sentiment,
together with public expressions of anti-semitism, created an
atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.[citation needed]

In March 1950, Iraq passed a law of one year duration allowing Jews to
emigrate on condition of relinquishing their Iraqi citizenship. Iraq
apparently believed it would rid itself of those Jews it regarded as
the most troublesome, especially the Zionists, but retain the wealthy
minority who played an important part in the Iraqi economy. Israel
mounted an operation called "Ezra and Nehemiah" to bring as many of
the Iraqi Jews as possible to Israel, and sent agents to Iraq to urge
the Jews to register for immigration as soon as possible.[citation
needed]

At first, the zionist movement tried to regulate the amount of
registrants, until several issues relating to their legal status were
clarified. Later on it gave up on that position and allowed everyone
to register. Two weeks after the law went into force, the iraqi
interior minister demaned a CID investigation as to why the jews were
not registering. A mere few hours after the movement allowed
registrations, a bomb attack injured four Jews at a café on Abu-Nawas
street in baghdad.

In 21.8.1950, the Iraqi minister of interior threatened the company
flying the jews to have its license revoked if it does not fulfil the
quota of 500 jews per day. Later on, on 18.9.1950, Nuri As-said
summoned a representative of the jewish community and told him that he
knows that israel is behind the delay in the departure of the Jews,
and threatened to "take them to the borders". On 12.10.1950, Nuri as-
said summoned a senior official of the company and made similar
threats again, equating the expulsion of jews with the expulsion of
palestinians.

Two months before the expiry of the law, by which time about 85,000
Jews had registered, a bomb at the Masuda Shemtov Synagogue killed 3
or 5 Jews and injured many. The law expired in March 1951, but was
later extended after the Iraqi government froze and later appropriated
the assets of departing Jews (including those already left).In 1951
the Iraqi Government passed legislation that made affiliation with
Zionism a felony and ordered, "the expulsion of Jews who refused to
sign a statement of anti-Zionism." [45] During the next few months,
all but a few thousand of the remaining Jews registered for
emigration, spurred on by a sequence of bombings that caused few
casualties but had great psychological impact. However, four more
bombing attack occured after jews were not allowed to register
anymore. In total, about 120,000 Jews left Iraq.

In May and June 1951, the arms caches of the Zionist underground in
Iraq, which had been supplied from Palestine/Israel since the Farhud
of 1941, were discovered. Many Jews were arrested and two Zionist
activists, Yusuf Basri and Ibrahim Salih, were tried and hanged for
three of the bombings, all of which happened after the expiration of
the law. A secret Israeli inquiry in 1960 reported that most of the
witnesses believed that Jews had been responsible for the bombings,
but found no evidence that they were ordered by Israel.[46] The issue
remains unresolved: some Iraqi activists in Israel still regularly
charge that Israel used violence to engineer the exodus, while Israeli
officials of the time vehemently deny it. According to historian Moshe
Gatt, few historians believe that Israel was actually behind the
bombing campaign -- based on factors such as records indicating that
Israel did not want such a rapid registration rate and that bomb
throwing at Jewish targets was common before 1950, making the Istiqlal
Party or the CID a more likely culprit than the Zionist underground.
In any case, the remainder of Iraq's Jews left over the next few
decades. and had mostly gone by 1970. In 1969 eleven Jews were hanged,
nine of them on January 27 in the public squares of Baghdad and Basra.
The 2,500 remnant of the community almost entirely fled shortly
thereafter.[citation needed]

[edit] Lebanon

   Main article: History of the Jews in Lebanon

In 1948, there were approximately 5,000-10,000 Jews in Lebanon, with
communities in Beirut, and in villages near Mount Lebanon, Deir al
Qamar, Barouk, and Hasbayah. While the French mandate saw a general
improvement in conditions for Jews, the Vichy regime placed
restrictions on them. The Jewish community actively supported Lebanese
independence after World War II and had mixed attitudes toward Zionism.
[citation needed]

Negative attitudes toward Jews increased after 1948, and, by 1967,
most Lebanese Jews had emigrated - to the United States, Canada,
France, and Israel. The remaining Jewish community was particularly
hard hit by the civil wars in Lebanon, and, by 1967, most Jews had
emigrated. In 1971, Albert Elia, the 69-year-old Secretary-General of
the Lebanese Jewish community was kidnapped in Beirut by Syrian agents
and imprisoned under torture in Damascus along with Syrian Jews who
had attempted to flee the country. A personal appeal by the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees, Prince Sadruddin Agha Khan to the late
President Hafez al-Assad failed to secure Elia's release. In the
1980s, Hizballah kidnapped several Lebanese Jewish businessmen, and in
the 2004 elections, only one Jew voted in the municipal elections. By
all accounts, there are fewer than 100 Jews left in Lebanon.[citation
needed]

[edit] Libya

   Main article: History of the Jews in Libya

The area now known as Libya was the home of one of the oldest Jewish
communities in the world, dating back to at least 300 BCE. In 1948,
about 38,000 Jews lived there.[10][47]

A series of pogroms started in Tripoli in November 1945; over a period
of several days more than 130 Jews (including 36 children) were
killed, hundreds were injured, 4,000 were left homeless, and 2,400
were reduced to poverty. Five synagogues in Tripoli and four in
provincial towns were destroyed, and over 1,000 Jewish residences and
commercial buildings were plundered in Tripoli alone.[48] The pogroms
continued in June 1948, when 15 Jews were killed and 280 Jewish homes
destroyed.[49]

Between the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and Libyan
independence in December 1951 over 30,000 Libyan Jews emigrated to
Israel. In 1967, during the Six-Day War, the Jewish population of
4,000 was again subjected to pogroms in which 18 were killed, and many
more injured. The Libyan government "urged the Jews to leave the
country temporarily", permitting them each to take one suitcase and
the equivalent of $50. In June and July over 4,000 traveled to Italy,
where they were assisted by the Jewish Agency. 1,300 went on to
Israel, 2,200 remained in Italy, and most of the rest went to the
United Stated. A few scores remained in Libya.[50][51]

In 1970 the Libyan government issued new laws which confiscated all
the assets of Libya's Jews, issuing in their stead 15 year bonds.
However, when the bonds matured no compensation was paid. Libyan
leader Muammar al-Gaddafi justified this on the grounds that "the
alignment of the Jews with Israel, the Arab nations' enemy, has
forfeited their right to compensation."[52]

Although the main synagogue in Tripoli was renovated in 1999, it has
not reopened for services. The last Jew in Libya, Esmeralda Meghnagi
died in February, 2002. Israel is home to about 140,000 Jews of Libyan
descent, who maintain unique traditions.[3] [4]

[edit] Morocco

   Main article: History of the Jews in Morocco

Jewish communities, in Islamic times often (though not always[5])
living in ghettos known as mellah, have existed in Morocco for at
least 2,000 years. Intermittent large scale massacres (such as that of
6,000 Jews in Fez in 1033, over 10,000 Jews in Fez and Marrakesh in
1146 and again in Marrakesh in 1232)[53] were accompanied by
systematic discrimination through the years. During the 13th through
the 15th centuries Jews were appointed to a few prominent positions
within the government, typically to implement decisions.[citation
needed] A number of Jews, fleeing the expulsion from Spain and
Portugal, settled in Morocco in the 15th century and afterwards, many
moving on to the Ottoman Empire.

The imposition of a French protectorate in 1912 alleviated much of the
discrimination. In Morocco the Vichy regime during World War II passed
discriminatory laws against Jews; for example, Jews were no longer
able to get any form of credit, Jews who had homes or businesses in
European neighborhoods were expelled, and quotas were imposed limiting
the percentage of Jews allowed to practice professions such as law and
medicine to two percent.[54] King Muhammad V expressed his personal
distaste for these laws, and assured Moroccan Jewish leaders that he
would never lay a hand "upon either their persons or property". While
there is no concrete evidence of him actually taking any actions to
defend Morocco's Jews, it has been argued that he may have worked
behind the scenes on their behalf.[55]

In June 1948, soon after Israel was established and in the midst of
the first Arab-Israeli war, riots against Jews broke out in Oujda and
Djerada, killing 44 Jews. In 1948-9, 18,000 Jews left the country for
Israel. After this, Jewish emigration continued (to Israel and
elsewhere), but slowed to a few thousand a year. Through the early
fifties, Zionist organizations encouraged emigration, particularly in
the poorer south of the country, seeing Moroccan Jews as valuable
contributors to the Jewish State:

   ...These Jews constitute the best and most suitable human element
for settlement in Israel's absorption centers. There were many
positive aspects which I found among them: first and foremost, they
all know (their agricultural) tasks, and their transfer to
agricultural work in Israel will not involve physical and mental
difficulties. They are satisfied with few (material needs), which will
enable them to confront their early economic problems.
   —Yehuda Grinker, The Emigration of Atlas Jews to Israel [56]

In 1956, Morocco attained independence. Jews occupied several
political positions, including three parliamentary seats and the
cabinet position of Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. However, that
minister, Leon Benzaquen, did not survive the first cabinet
reshuffling, and no Jews was appointed again to a cabinet position.
[57] Although the relations with the Jewish community at the highest
levels of government were cordial, these attitudes were not shared by
the lower ranks of officialsdom, which exhibited attitudes that ranged
from traditional contempt to outright hostility".[58] Morocco's
increasing identification with the Arab world, and pressure on Jewish
educational institutions to arabize and conform culturally added to
the fears of Moroccan Jews.[58] Emigration to Israel jumped from 8,171
in 1954 to 24,994 in 1955, increasing further in 1956. Beginning in
1956, emigration to Israel was prohibited until 1961; during that
time, however, clandestine emigration continued, and a further 18,000
Jews left Morocco. On January 10, 1961, a boat carrying Jews
attempting to flee the country sank off the northern coast of the
country; the negative publicity associated with this prompted King
Muhammad V to again allow emigration, and over the three following
years, more than 70,000 Moroccan Jews left the country.[59] By 1967,
only 50,000 Jews remained.[60]

The Six-Day War in 1967 led to increased Arab-Jewish tensions
worldwide, including Morocco, and Jewish emigration continued. By the
early 1970s the Jewish population was reduced to 25,000; however, most
of this wave of emigration went to France, Belgium, Spain, and Canada,
rather than Israel.[60]

Despite their current small numbers, Jews continue to play a notable
role in Morocco; the king retains a Jewish senior adviser, André
Azoulay, and Jewish schools and synagogues receive government
subsidies. However, Jewish targets have sometimes been attacked
(notably in Al-Qaeda's bombing of a Jewish community center in
Casablanca, see Casablanca Attacks), and there is sporadic anti-
Semitic rhetoric from radical Islamist groups. The late King Hassan
II's invitations for Jews to return have not been taken up by the
people who emigrated; in 1948, over 250,000[11]-265,000[10] Jews lived
in Morocco. By 2001 an estimated 5,230 remained.[9]

According to Esther Benbassa, the migration of Jews from the Maghreb
countries was prompted by uncertainty about the future. [61]

[edit] Syria

   Main article: History of the Jews in Syria

Rioters in Aleppo in 1947 burned the city's Jewish quarter and killed
75 people.[62] In 1948, there were approximately 30,000 Jews in Syria.
The Syrian government placed severe restrictions on the Jewish
community, including on emigration. Over the next decades, many Jews
managed to escape, and the work of supporters, particularly Judy Feld
Carr,[63] in smuggling Jews out of Syria, and bringing their plight to
the attention of the world, raised awareness of their situation.
Following the Madrid Conference of 1991 the United States put pressure
on the Syrian government to ease its restrictions on Jews, and on
Passover in 1992, the government of Syria began granting exit visas to
Jews on condition that they do not emigrate to Israel. At that time,
the country had several thousand Jews; today, under a hundred remain.
The rest of the Jewish community have emigrated, mostly to the United
States and Israel. There is a large and vibrant Syrian Jewish
community in South Brooklyn, New York. In 2004, the Syrian government
attempted to establish better relations with the emigrants, and a
delegation of a dozen Jews of Syrian origin visited Syria in the
spring of that year. [64]

[edit] Tunisia

   Main article: History of the Jews in Tunisia

Jews have lived in Tunisia for at least 2300 years. In the 13th
century, Jews were expelled from their homes in Kairouan and were
ultimately restricted to ghettos, known as hara. Forced to wear
distinctive clothing, several Jews earned high positions in the
Tunisian government. Several prominent international traders were
Tunisian Jews. From 1855 to 1864, Muhammad Bey relaxed dhimmi laws,
but reinstated them in the face of anti-Jewish riots that continued at
least until 1869.[citation needed]

Tunisia, as the only Middle Eastern country under direct Nazi control
during World War II, was also the site of anti-Semitic activities such
as prison camps, deportations, and other persecution.[citation needed]

In 1948, approximately 105,000 Jews lived in Tunisia. About 1,500
remain today, mostly in Djerba, Tunis, and Zarzis. Following Tunisia's
independence from France in 1956, a number of anti-Jewish policies led
to emigration, of which half went to Israel and the other half to
France. After attacks in 1967, Jewish emigration both to Israel and
France accelerated. There were also attacks in 1982, 1985, and most
recently in 2002 when a bomb in Djerba took 21 lives (most of them
German tourists) near the local synagogue, in a terrorist attack
claimed by Al-Qaeda. (See Ghriba synagogue bombing).

The Tunisian government makes an active effort to protect its Jewish
minority now and visibly supports its institutions.[citation needed]

[edit] Yemen

   Main article: Yemenite Jews

If one includes Aden, there were about 63,000 Jews in Yemen in 1948.
Today, there are about 200 left. In 1947, riots killed at least 80
Jews in Aden. Increasingly hostile conditions led to the Israeli
government's Operation Magic Carpet, the evacuation of 50,000 Jews
from Yemen to Israel in 1949 and 1950. Emigration continued until
1962, when the civil war in Yemen broke out. A small community
remained unknown until 1976, but it appears that all infrastructure is
lost now.[citation needed]

Jews in Yemen were long subject to a number of restrictions, ranging
from attire, hairstyle, home ownership, marriage, etc. Under the
"Orphan's Decree", many Jewish orphans below puberty were raised as
Muslims. This practice began in the late 18th century, was suspended
under Ottoman rule, then was revived in 1918. Most cases occurred in
the 1920s, but sporadic cases occurred until the 1940s. In later
years, the Yemenite government has taken some steps to protect the
Jewish community in their country.[citation needed]

[edit] Absorbing Jewish refugees
Vast transit camps called ma'abarot were established in Israel to cope
with the 1948-1955 immigration to Israel.

Of the nearly 900,000 Jewish refugees, approximately 680,000 were
absorbed by Israel; the remainder went to Europe and the Americas.[65]
[66]

Hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees were temporarily settled in
the numerous tent cities called ma'abarot (transit camps) in Hebrew.
The ma'abarot existed until 1963. Their population was gradually
absorbed and integrated into the Israeli society, a substantial
logistical achievement, without help from the United Nations' various
refugee organizations.

The pace and direction of this absorption was directed by three main
factors:

[edit] The International Community

UN Resolution 194 passed in 1948 resolves that "the refugees wishing
to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours
should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and
that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing
not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under
principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by
the Governments or authorities responsible." The Israeli government's
support of the mass immigration and resettlement of Arab Jews allowed
it to argue in the international arena that this, provided "natural
justice" [67] via a population exchange — Arab immigrants for
Palestinian refugees. On April 1, 2008, the U.S. Congress unanimously
supported House Resolution 185, calling for the recognition of Jewish,
Christian, and other refugees from Arab lands[68]. The resolution
continued to say that any agreement reached between Israelis and
Palestinians, must include recognition of the Jewish refugees as well.
The House also made it clear that the subject should be brought before
the U.N. General Assembly again, to have them recognize the plight of
the Arabic Jews.

There are a number of advocacy groups acting on behalf of Jewish
refugees from Arab countries. Some examples include:

   * Justice for Jews from Arab Countries seeks to secure rights and
redress for Jews from Arab countries who suffered as a result of the
1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.[69]
   * Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA)
publicizes the history and plight of the 900,000 Jews indigenous to
the Middle East and North Africa who were forced to leave their homes
and abandon their property, who were stripped of their citizenship.
[70]
   * Historical Society of the Jews from Egypt[71] and International
Association of Jews from Egypt[72]
   * Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center[73]

In March 2008, "[f]or the first time ever, ... a Jewish refugee from
an Arab country" appeared before the United Nations Human Rights
Council. Regina Bublil-Waldman, a Jewish Libyan refugee and founder of
JIMENA, "appeared before the UN Human Rights Council wearing her
grandmother's Libyan wedding dress."[74] Justice for Jews from Arab
Countries presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council about
oppression Jews faced in Arab countries that forced them to find
amnesty elsewhere.

[edit] See also

   * Aliyah
   * Arab-Israeli conflict
   * Anti-Semitism
   * Arab anti-Semitism
   * Islam and anti-Semitism
   * Jewish history
   * Jewish population
         o Historical Jewish population comparisons
   * Jewish refugees
   * Jews by country
   * Jews outside Europe under Nazi occupation
   * Maghen Abraham Synagogue
   * Jews of the Bilad el-Sudan (West Africa)
   * Arab Jews
   * Mizrahi Jews

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Schwartz, Adi. "All I wanted was justice" Haaretz.
10 January 2008.
  2. ^ Group seeks justice for 'forgotten' Jews - International
Herald Tribune
  3. ^ a b Lefkovits, Etgar. "Expelled Jews hold deeds on Arab lands.
Jerusalem Post. 16 November 2007. 18 December 2007.
  4. ^ a b Stillman, 2003, p. xxi.
  5. ^ Mendes, Philip. THE FORGOTTEN REFUGEES: the causes of the
post-1948 Jewish Exodus from Arab Countries, Presented at the 14
Jewish Studies Conference Melbourne March 2002. Retrieved June 12,
2007.
  6. ^ Maurice Roumani, The Case of the Jews from Arab Countries: A
Neglected Issue, 1977, pp. 26-27.
  7. ^ Bat Ye'or, The Dhimmi, 1985, page 61
  8. ^ . G.E. Von Grunebaum, 'Eastern Jewry Under Islam,' 1971, page
369.
  9. ^ a b Shields, Jacqueline. Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries.
Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved on 2006-05-22.
 10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Avneri, 1984, p. 276.
 11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Stearns, 2001, p. 966.
 12. ^ The Virtual Jewish History Tour - Bahrain
 13. ^ History of the Jews in Bahrain
 14. ^ History of the Jews in Egypt
 15. ^ History of the Jews in Iraq
 16. ^ Jews of Lebanon
 17. ^ History of the Jews in Lebanon
 18. ^ History_of_the_Jews_in_Morocco
 19. ^ History of the Jews in Qatar
 20. ^ History of the Jews in Syria
 21. ^ History of the Jews in Tunisia
 22. ^ Yemenite Jews
 23. ^ BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | 'Only one Jew' now in
Afghanistan
 24. ^ j. - Iranian Jews in U.S. recall their own difficult exodus as
they cling to heritage, building new communities
 25. ^ History of the Jews in Iran
 26. ^ http://ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1950_7_WJP.pdf
 27. ^ The Jewish Community of Turkey
 28. ^ "Historian Moshe Gat argues that there was little direct
connection between the bombings and exodus. He demonstrates that the
frantic and massive Jewish registration for denaturalisation and
departure was driven by knowledge that the denaturalisation law was
due to expire in March 1951. He also notes the influence of further
pressures including the property-freezing law, and continued anti-
Jewish disturbances which raised the fear of large-scale pogroms. In
addition, it is highly unlikely the Israelis would have taken such
measures to accelerate the Jewish evacuation given that they were
already struggling to cope with the existing level of Jewish
immigration. Gat also raises serious doubts about the guilt of the
alleged Jewish bombthrowers. Firstly, a Christian officer in the Iraqi
army known for his anti-Jewish views, was arrested, but apparently not
charged, with the offences. A number of explosive devices similar to
those used in the attack on the Jewish synagogue were found in his
home. In addition, there was a long history of anti-Jewish bomb-
throwing incidents in Iraq. Secondly, the prosecution was not able to
produce even one eyewitness who had seen the bombs thrown. Thirdly,
the Jewish defendant Shalom Salah indicated in court that he had been
severely tortured in order to procure a confession. It therefore
remains an open question as to who was responsible for the bombings,
although Gat suggests that the most likely perpetrators were members
of the anti-Jewish Istiqlal Party. Certainly memories and
interpretations of the events have further been influenced and
distorted by the unfortunate discrimination which many Iraqi Jews
experienced on their arrival in Israel." Mendes, Philip. The Forgotten
Refugees: the causes of the post-1948 Jewish Exodus from Arab
Countries, Presented at the 14th Jewish Studies Conference Melbourne
March 2002. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
 29. ^ Stillman, 2003, p. 162.
 30. ^ Why Jews Fled the Arab Countries by Ya'akov Meron. Middle East
Quarterly, September 1995
 31. ^ Jews in Grave Danger in All Moslem Lands, The New York Times,
May 16, 1948, quoted in Was there any coordination between Arab
governments in the expulsions of the Middle Eastern and North African
Jews? (JIMENA)
 32. ^ Aharoni, Ada. "The Forced Migration of Jews from Arab
Countries", Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group, Volume 15,
Number 1/March 2003.
 33. ^ Bermani, Daphna. "Sephardi Jewry at odds over reparations from
Arab world", November 14, 2003.
 34. ^ The Forgotten Refugees - Historical Timeline
 35. ^ Stillman, 2003, p. 147.
 36. ^ a b c Larry Luxner, Life’s good for Jews of Bahrain — as long
as they don’t visit Israel, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 18,
2006. Accessed 25 October 2006.
 37. ^ Sandeep Singh Grewal, Dr Munira Fakhro hopes for better
future, WomenGateway, October 2006. Accessed 25 October 2006.
 38. ^ Lewis, 1986, p. 199.
 39. ^ Lewis, 1986, pp. 211, 271.
 40. ^ Lewis, 1986, p. 210.
 41. ^ Plot summary at the Anti-Defamation League
 42. ^ Egypt: U.S. Concerns Regarding Proposed Antisemitic Mini-
Series Office of the Spokesman at the U.S. State Department
 43. ^ Protocols, politics and Palestine at al-Ahram Weekly
 44. ^ Levin, Itamar (2001). Locked Doors: The Seizure of Jewish
Property in Arab Countries. (Praeger/Greenwood) ISBN 0-275-97134-1, p.
6.
 45. ^ Pappe, 2004, p177
 46. ^ B. Morris and I. Black, Israel's Secret Wars (Grove Press,
1992), p93.
 47. ^ Stillman, 2003, p. 155-156.
 48. ^ Stillman, 2003, p. 145.
 49. ^ Harris, 2001, pp. 149-150.
 50. ^ Harris, 2001, pp. 155-156.
 51. ^ Simon, 1999, pp. 3-4.
 52. ^ Harris, 2001, p. 157.
 53. ^ For the events of Fez see Cohen, 1995, pp 180-182. On
Marrekesh, see the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906.
 54. ^ Stillman, 2003, p. 127-128.
 55. ^ Stillman, 2003, pp. 128-129.
 56. ^ Yehuda Grinker (an organizer of Jewish emigration from the
Atlas), The Emigration of Atlas Jews to Israel, Tel Aviv, The
Association of Moroccan Immigrants in Israel, 1973.[1]
 57. ^ Stillman, 2003, pp. 172-173.
 58. ^ a b Stillman, 2003, p. 173.
 59. ^ Stillman, 2003, p. 174.
 60. ^ a b Stillman, 2003, p. 175.
 61. ^ Esther Benbassa, The Jews of France: A History from Antiquity
to the Present
 62. ^ Daniel Pipes, Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1990) p. 57, records 75 victims of the
Aleppo massacre.
 63. ^ Levin, 2001, pp. 200-201.
 64. ^ SyriaComment.com: "The Jews of Syria," By Robert Tuttle
 65. ^ Congress mulls Jewish refugee cause by Michal Lando. The
Jerusalem Post. July 25, 2007
 66. ^ Historical documents. 1947-1974 VI - THE ARAB REFUGEES -
INTRODUCTION MFA Israel
 67. ^ Pappe, 2004, p. 146
 68. ^ [2] H.Res.185
 69. ^ Justice for Jews from Arab countries (JJAC)
 70. ^ Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA)
 71. ^ Historical Society of the Jews from Egypt
 72. ^ International Association of Jews from Egypt
 73. ^ Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
 74. ^ "JJAC at 2008 United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva."
Justice for Jews from Arab Countries. 19 March 2008. 30 March 2008.

[edit] Bibliography

   * Avneri, Arieh (1984). Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land-
Settlement and the Arabs, 1878-1948. Transaction Publishers. ISBN
0-87855-964-7
   * Cohen, Hayyim J. (1973). The Jews of the Middle East, 1860-1972
Jerusalem, Israel Universities Press. ISBN 0-470-16424-7
   * Cohen, Mark (1995) Under Crescent and Cross, Princeton,
Princeton University Press.
   * De Felice, Renzo (1985). Jews in an Arab Land: Libya, 1835-1970.
Austin, University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-74016-6
   * Gat, Moshe (1997), The Jewish Exodus from Iraq, 1948-1951 Frank
Cass.
   * Gilbert, Sir Martin (1976). The Jews of Arab lands: Their
history in maps. London. World Organisation of Jews from Arab
Countries : Board of Deputies of British Jews. ISBN 0-9501329-5-0
   * Gruen, George E. (1983) Tunisia's Troubled Jewish Community (New
York: American Jewish Committee, 1983). (ASIN B0006YCZQM)
   * Harris, David A. (2001). In the Trenches: Selected Speeches and
Writings of an American Jewish Activist, 1979-1999. KTAV Publishing
House, Inc. ISBN 0-88125-693-5
   * Levin, Itamar (2001). Locked Doors: The Seizure of Jewish
Property in Arab Countries. Praeger/Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-97134-1
   * Lewis, Bernard (1984). The Jews of Islam. Princeton. Princeton
University Press. ISBN 0-691-00807-8
   * Lewis, Bernard (1986). Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into
Conflict and Prejudice, W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-02314-1
   * Nini, Yehuda (1992), The Jews of the Yemen 1800-1914. Harwood
Academic Publishers. ISBN 3-7186-5041-X
   * Pappe, Ilan (2004), A History of Modern Palestine One Land Two
Peoples, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 55632 5
   * Rejwan, Nissim (1985) The Jews of Iraq: 3000 Years of History
and Culture London. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-78713-6
   * Roumani, Maurice (1977). The Case of the Jews from Arab
Countries: A Neglected Issue, Tel Aviv, World Organization of Jews
from Arab Countries, 1977 and 1983 (ASIN B0006EGL5I)
   * Schulewitz, Malka Hillel. (2001). The Forgotten Millions: The
Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands. London. ISBN 0-8264-4764-3
   * Schulze, Kristen (2001) The Jews of Lebanon: Between Coexistence
and Conflict. Sussex. ISBN 1-902210-64-6
   * Simon, Rachel (1992). Change Within Tradition Among Jewish Women
in Libya, University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295971673
   * Stearns, Peter N. Citation from The Encyclopedia of World
History Sixth Edition, Peter N. Stearns (general editor), © 2001 The
Houghton Mifflin Company, at Bartleby.com.
   * Stillman, Norman (1975). Jews of Arab Lands a History and Source
Book. Jewish Publication Society
   * Stillman, Norman (2003). Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times.
Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia. ISBN 0-8276-0370-3
   * Zargari, Joseph (2005). The Forgotten Story of the Mizrachi
Jews. Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal (Volume 23, 2004-2005).

[edit] External links

   * The Palestinian Refugee Issue: Rhetoric vs. Reality by Sidney
ZabludoffThis article compares the losses of Jewish refugees to
Palestinians.
   * The Silent Exodus - A film by Pierre Rehov [6]
   * The impact of the Six Day War on Jews in Arab lands
   * Resources >Modern Period>20th Cent.>History of Israel>State of
Israel The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center
for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
   * JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa
   * Justice for Jews from Arab Countries
   * Founding of WOJAC, which closed in 1999.
   * The Middle East's Forgotten Refugees by Semha Alwaya
   * The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries by Mitchell G.
Bard
   * Are Jews Who Fled Arab Lands to Israel Refugees, Too? by Samuel
Freedman
   * The Other Refugees: Jews of the Arab World by George E. Gruen
   * Why Jews fled Arab countries by Ya'akov Meron
   * Baghdadi Jews who fled from Iraq in the 1960's and 1970's
   * Jews from Arab countries left behind $30B in assets The Scribe:
Journal of Babylonian Jewry.
   * The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
   * Jewish and Arab Palestinian Refugees from Middle-East-Info.org.
Partisan link that argues that the world unequally supports
Palestinian refugees over Jewish refugees.
   * The Forgotten Refugees a film produced by The David Project and
IsraTV
   * The Forgotten Refugees: the causes of the post-1948 Jewish
Exodus from Arab Countries (focuses on Iraq)
   * Why Jews Fled the Arab Countries
   * In the Islamic Mideast, Scant Place for Jews
   * "The Last Jews of Cairo" in Guernica Magazine (guernicamag.com)
   * [7]
   * Exodus Time magazine
   * The forgotten refugees Ynetnews - article about Jewish refugees
from Arab states just as important as Palestinian refugees
   * [8] Israelis from Iraq remember Babylon