THE UPROOTING OF JEWS FROM ARAB COUNTRIES IN

THE UPROOTING OF JEWS FROM ARAB COUNTRIES IN THE MID TWENTIETH CENTURY Presented by Prof. Ada Aharoni (20 January 2014) Galilee Institute Centre of Middle East & Religious Studies 1

The Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries n n n The world has mainly heard about the injustice caused to the Palestinians. Almost nothing about the plight of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries. A Comparison of the circumstances of the Palestinian and Jewish refugees, reveals important facts. 2

Ethnic Cleansing of Jews n n 1) Whereas the Palestinian refugees who fled from Israel on the recommendation by the Mufti of Jerusalem, numbered 650, 000 in 1948, the Jewish refugees from Arab countries were, 900, 000. (UNRWA Statistics). 2) The private and public property that the Jews were forced to leave behind in Arab countries, was a great deal vaster than that of the Palestinians (according to the International Court at The Hague). 3) There was a drastic "ethnic cleansing" of Jews in Arab countries, mainly in: Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The Jewish community in Egypt was more than 2000 years old. 4. After the declaration at the United Nations, in November 1947, on the establishment of the State of Israel, the Egyptian Foreign Minister declared that if Israel was created, the Jews from Arab countries would suffer most and they would all be expelled. 3

Conditions for Jews in Arab Countries Become Unbearable With the United Nations resolution on the partition of Palestine in November 1947, Arab riots broke out against the Jewish communities in Arab Lands. • • • Jewish shops, homes and synagogues were burned; Jews were murdered, thousands were imprisoned, and their property was looted. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Jews in Arab countries lost their trade and holdings; their bank accounts were frozen, and their property valued at millions of dollars, in each of the countries, was confiscated. Having lost their means of survival, consequently, the Jews were forced to leave the lands of their birth, and they were forced to leave all their property behind. The following table summarizes the dramatic diminishing (and eventual disappearance), of Jewish communities in Arab Countries between 1948 and 1976. 4

JEWISH POPULATION IN ARAB COUNTRIES 1948 1976 Morocco Algeria Tunisia Libya Egypt Iraq Syria Lebanon Yemen Total: 265, 000 140, 000 105, 000 40, 000 100, 000 140, 000 30, 000 15, 000 65, 000 17, 000 500 2, 000 20 200 4, 350 1, 000 900, 000 25, 620 5

It is crucially Important To Spread These Historical Facts n n n 1) The turning from bias to fairness, justice and veracity, may promote reconciliation. 2) Realizing that they were not the only ones who have suffered from the Arab- Israeli Conflict, Palestinians, regain their sense of “Honor, ” as a nation and as individuals. For Palestinians “honor” is more important than life. 3) In addition, realizing that their history and narrative are taken into account, the Jews from Arab Countries, who are today more than half the citizens of Israel, will be more inclined to make 6 concessions for peace.

The Destruction of the Egyptian Jewish Community 1. Out of Egyptian Jewry that numbered a 100, 000 in 1948, only 20 old Jews live in the whole of Egypt today. That is, there was literally a “Second Exodus” of Jews from Egypt in the midtwentieth century. 2. The historical “Second Exodus, ” as well as that of the other Jewish communities in Arab lands, mainly took place between 1948 to 1967. 3. The Jews of Egypt in the twentieth century, were not given Egyptian citizenship, though they were born there. Most of them were either “apatride, ” meaning with no citizenship at all, or they succeeded to retain a foreign citizenship from one of their ancestors. I wrote several books on the Jews of Egypt: 7

FROM THE PYRAMIDS TO MOUNT CARMEL My following poem, from the above book, entitled: “A Green Week, ” (in Arabic: “Gometek Khadra, ”) is a Jewish-Egyptian blessing. I wrote this poem after my father died of a heart attack, when he found out that all his property and assets had been sequestered by the Egyptian government. A GREEN WEEK A week like fresh mint a green week spreading its fragrance to the roots of being “Gometek Khadra!” Have a green week! 8

My father used to bless us on Saturday nights in Cairo when he came back from “Shaar Hashamayim, ” the Gates of Heaven the grand synagogue in Cairo in Adli Street. Have a green week he beamed brandishing a fragrant mint branch over our keen curly heads but don’t keep it merely for yourself that green week give it back to the world fully blossoming! Who will give me a green week now that he’s gone? Now that the “Gates of Heaven”are shut? Only peace, only a real fragrant mint peace. 9

The History and Culture of the Jews of Egypt My books: The Second Exodus (that coined this term historically), and From the Nile to the Jordan, are both based on my research on the Jews from Egypt, conducted at the Neeman Institute at the Technion in Haifa. They delineate the “Golden Age” of the Jews in Egypt, as well as some of the tragedies and sufferings they endured during their painful uprooting. The History and Culture of the Jews of Egypt was compiled after I organized and presided at the “First International Congress of the Jews of Egypt -WCJE”, at Haifa University, in 2006. To Alexandria, Jerusalem and Freedom, and its second edition: “Not In Vain: An Extraordinary Life, ” is the story of the Jewish Hospital in Alexandria, and its heroic nurse Thea Woolf. 10

THE SECOND EXODUS of The JEWS FROM EGYPT 11

FROM THE NILE TO THE JORDAN 12

HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE JEWS OF EGYPT IN MODERN TIMES 13

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The Jewish Hospital in Alexandria 15

The Jewish Emigration from Iraq 1. The Jewish community in Iraq was one of the oldest and largest in the Arab world, and in 1948 it numbered 135, 000. 2. Over 77, 000 lived in Baghdad alone, comprising a fourth of the capital's population. The community was wealthy and prestigious, and Jews held a dominant place in the import trades and occupied high government positions. 3. After Israeli Independence was established in 1948, repressive measures were taken against the Jews, and thousands of Jews were imprisoned on charges of "Zionism“, though many of them were not Zionists at the time. 4. Biased Legislation was passed freezing Jewish bank accounts and forbidding Jews to dispose of their property. Jewish emigrants who after many difficulties, succeeded in obtaining exit visas, were allowed to take only one luggage person, and they were forced to leave all their property. 16

n n 1. Derogatory decrees were issued against the remaining Iraqi Jews, and all their property was blocked. By leaving the country, they "relinquished their nationality" and all Jewish property was not only confiscated but was also publically sold. 2. More discriminatory laws were passed, restricting the movements of Jews and barring their children from schools. They were not allowed into hospitals and other public institutions, and their working licenses were taken away, so that they could not carry on their businesses. 3. Hundreds were killed and imprisoned during several anti-Jewish riots, and Zionism - the wish to return to the Land of Zion became a capital crime. 4. Jews were thus forced to flee and to leave all of their belongings behind. Between 1949 and 1952, more than 125, 000 Iraqi Jews were airlifted directly to Israel in what became to be known as "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah". The more than 2000 years flourishing Jewish community in Iraq, has been completely destroyed, and no Jews are left in Iraq today. 17

Fleeing of Jews from Syria 1. Like the Iraqi and Egyptian Jews, the Jews of Syria had a prosperous and rich community with assets in millions of dollars. When their community was destroyed and they were forced to uproot themselves, they lost everything. 2 In 1948, the Jewish community of Syria had 30, 000 members. This population was mainly distributed between Aleppo, where 17, 000 Jews lived and Damascus which had a Jewish population of 11, 000. And there were about 2000 Jews in the Kamishli Ghetto. 3 Anti-Jewish riots, which broke out in 1947, prompted the denial of basic rights to Jews. The government restricted emigration, and Jewish property was burned and looted. In 1949, banks were instructed to freeze all the accounts of the Jews and all their assets were expropriated by the Syrian Government. 18

Uprooting of the Syrian Jews This tragic situation caused 15, 000 Jews to leave Syria by 1948. 10, 000 emigrated to the U. S. A. and another 5, 000 to Israel. By 1976, only about 4, 000 Jews remained in Syria. 1. Today there are very few Jews left in Syria, and they are held as hostages in dire conditions in the Damascus Ghetto. 2. The remaining Jews in Syria are denied free movement or any contact with the outside world. 3. Those who have family in Israel are always in danger of persecution by local officials, and several Jewish leaders and youths who tried to escape from the Syrian Ghettos, were tortured and hanged over the years. 4. The other Arab countries too, treated their Jews in much the same manner. It can be concluded that there was an ethnic cleansing of Jews in the Arab countries in the mid -twentieth century. 19

Reconciliation of Israelis and Palestinians n n n 1) The knowledge and spreading of the historical facts of the “Second Exodus, ” of the Jews from Arab Countries, can help to promote a reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. It would help both sides to discover their common history. 2) “The intercultural approach” as at IFLAC: The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace (1999 – 2014), can help to build up understanding and trust, as well as ideological and psychological motivation. 3) It can increase awareness and knowledge, on both sides, that can help toward the “Sulha” - the full reconciliation, not only between the leaders, but also between the two people: Jews and Arabs, and Israelis and Palestinians. 20

CONCLUSION The various efforts for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, have overlooked an important factor in the Arab- Israeli Conflict: 1. The uprooting and displacement of Jews from Arab countries in the mid-twentieth century, the loss of all their assets and property, and the hardships accompanying their emigration to Israel or elsewhere. 2. To reach a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians, this neglected part of history must be addressed and spread. 3. Taking into account the forced migration of Jews from Arab countries - as part of the tragedies incurred during this long and painful conflict – would promote peace between Israelis 21 and Palestinians.

Notes 1) Ada Aharoni, The Forced Migration of Jews from Arab Countries, Peace Review 15: 1 (2003), Taylor & Francis Ltd. , London, Great Britain. 2) Ada Aharoni, The Second Exodus, and From the Nile to the Jordan, Lachman, Haifa, 1994. 3) Michael Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, 1920 - 1970: In the Midst of Zionism, Anti. Semitism, and the Middle East Conflict, New York University Press, NY, 1992. 4) Ada Aharoni, Memoirs from Alexandria, and Not in Vain: An Extraordinary Life, California, 1990. 5) Shimon Shamir, ed. The Jews of Egypt , Ada Aharoni, “The Image of Jewish Life in Egypt in the Writings of Egyptian Jewish Authors, ” Westview Press, Boulder and London, 1987. 6) Rare Flower – Dignity Press, Or, USA, 2011. 22