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:
- Jews’’ right to emigrate is completely forbidden. This applies even to Jews in Syria who hold foreign passports.
- 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.
- Identity cards issued to Jews are stamped in red with the word “Mussawi” (Jew).
- Jews are normally subject to a 10 p.m. curfew
- Jews allowed 6 years elementary schooling only
- Jewish houses in Kamishliye are marked in red
- Jews barred from jobs in the public service, in public institutions or in banks
- Government and military personnel are forbidden to purchase from Jewish shops
- Foreigners may not visit the Jewish quarter unescorted
- Jews forbidden to own radios or telephones, or to maintain postal contact with outside world
- No telephones are installed in Jewish homes
- 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
- 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.
The Jews Of Libya. Their Story Is My Story - Part 1
ReplyDeletePosted by Gina Waldman
I left Libya over 42 years ago when the mobs were roaming the streets. They were not chanting for democracy or yearning for freedom they were looking for Jews. I am a Libyan Jew. I have now lived in the Bay Area for forty years. The upheavals sweeping Libya open old wounds. Violent political culture has often been part of Libyan society, especially towards its Jews.
There was a Jewish presence in the region since the 3rd century BCE – one millennium prior to the advent of Islam. We were "tolerated" to varying degrees by successive rulers and continued to be part of a rich and ongoing thread in the fabric of Libyan society.
During WWII, when the Germans invaded North Africa, there were 36,000 Jews living in Libya, mostly residing in Tripoli and Benghazi.
In 1942, over 2,000 Jews were deported to Nazi labor camps. More than 500 perished. Members of my family died in the Giado Labor Camp in Libya.
After WWII, Arab nationalism spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, leading to riots which often turned into violence directed at the Jewish communities. In 1945, over 140 Jews were killed and many injured in a pogrom in Tripoli called the “Mora’ot”. The film “The Forgotten Refugees highlights these events”.
My mother Laura escaped by jumping from rooftop to rooftop until she was rescued by a Christian woman. After the riots my father helped bury the severed bodies of his friends; an experience which traumatized him for the rest of his life.
When Israel became a state in 1948, anti-Jewish riots escalated, synagogues were torched, and Jewish homes were destroyed. This resulted in the mass emigration of 30,000 Jews to Israel. By 1950, only 6,000 Jews were left from what was once a thriving Jewish community. I was one of those Jews.
We were not allowed to leave the country, have citizenship, travel, hold government jobs or attend government schools. We were tripped of our basic human rights and treated as “Dhimmi” subjugated second class citizens. Although I was raised in an orthodox Jewish home, I had no other choice but to attend Catholic school. I could recite prayers in Latin, but I was not allowed to learn Hebrew.
In 1967 during the six-day-war between Israel and its five Arab neighbors, mob took to the streets burning Jewish homes. I became separated from my family and was hidden in the home of a Christian family.
By order of the Libyan Government, we were expelled; all of our assets were confiscated. We were allowed one suitcase and the equivalent of $20. Fleeing the country, we narrowly escaped death when the bus driver attempted to burn the bus taking us to the airport. We were rescued by Christians.
Today, there are no Jews left in Libya. Their story is my story. Some went back to try to retrieve lost assets and were thrown in jail for several years by Muammar Khaddafi.
Forty years later, “el-rais" – “the leader” Khaddafi promised the Libyan Jewish community in Rome to discuss compensation of their lost property, but he never did. Recently, he invited a few exiled Jews to return. He played host, exploiting the opportunity for his own political reasons.
On the basis of race and religion, Arab regimes subjected Jews to arbitrary arrests, confiscation of property and expulsion. Almost all Arab countries and especially Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Egypt and Libya have consistently discriminated against their Jewish populations. As a result nearly one million Jews from the Middle East and North Africa were forced to flee since 1948.
The Jews Of Libya. Their Story Is My Story - Part 2
ReplyDeleteThe Jews of Libya were victimized as the Libyan people today are victims of their regime. Both should seek justice.
Today also, the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya are struggling to change the regimes which oppressed them and stripped them of their dignity. Hopefully, Libya will establish a new government, and when they do, an opportunity will present itself to acknowledge the historical injustice which forced their Jewish communities to flee. As in South Africa, only the acknowledgment of the inconvenient truth will lead to reconciliation, because without the truth, there can be no reconciliation. This is the first step in healing a damaged society.
Gina Bublil Waldman was born in Tripoli, Libya. She is the President of JIMENA - Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa
Jewish "Naqba"
ReplyDeleteAll too often, the media completely ignores—or, perhaps worse, whitewashes—the struggles of Jewish refugees from the Arab and Muslim countries.
But in a story by Boston Globe correspondent Matthew Kalman about Ada Aharoni, the founder of an Israeli grassroots movement that had opposed Israel's 18-year presence in its southern Lebanon "security zone," who says that Israel's current military campaign is justified, Aharoni reminds readers of these forgotten refugees:
Aharoni was born in Egypt and was forced to leave with her family when Israel was founded in 1948.
"It was our 'naqba,'" she said, using the Arabic word for `disaster' with which Palestinians describe the creation of the state of Israel. "We lost everything, but I have never had any hatred for anybody. This is what I tell my Palestinian and Egyptian sisters. I never took a gun and tried to kill anyone. We just started over again."
Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria is Jewish territory - No annexation is required
ReplyDeleteIf anything it may need to be re-incorporated or re-patriated.
Let me pose an interesting scenario. If you had a country and it was conquered by foreign powers over a period of time. After many years you have taken back you country and land in various defensive wars. Do you have to officially annex those territories. It was always your territory and by retaking control and possession of your territory it is again your original property and there is no need to annex it. The title to your property is valid today as it was many years before.
Annexation only applies when you are taking over territory that was never yours to begin with, just like some European countries annexed territories of other countries.
YJ Draiman
Jews hold title to the Land of Greater Israel even if outnumbered a million to one.
The fact that more foreigners than Jews occupied the Land of Israel during certain periods of time does not diminish true ownership. If my house is invaded by a family ten times larger that mine does that obviate my true ownership?
Do you know the Rothschild family purchased about 20,000 acres of land in the Golan Heights and Syria. The deed are in the hands of the Israeli government. There are more and similar purchases that have not been disclosed to the public.
Israel must rebuild all 58 Synagogues destroyed by the Jordanians and the Arabs in the old city of Jerusalem as soon as possible.
YJ Draiman
Any Israeli leader promoting the uprooting of Jewish Towns, Villages or Settlements is a traitor to the people of Israel. Any Jewish leader authorizing the uprooting Jews from their homes in Greater Israel should be prosecuted for crimes against the Jewish people and ejected from office permanently.
Under all the Treaties and agreements after WWI and the 1920's. It states: Jewish people have the right to settle and live anywhere in the Mandate for Palestine.
Throughout history, Jewish people have been persecuted and uprooted from their homes and lands in the world at large.
Now that the Jewish people have returned to their ancestral lands and are resettling it. Thus it is the ultimate crime against the Jewish people to uproot them from their own homes in the Jewish homeland by a Jewish government.
YJ Draiman.