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THE FORCED
MIGRATION OF JEWS FROM
ARAB
COUNTRIES AND PEACE
Prof. Ada Aharoni
Introduction
The
various efforts for peace between Israelis and Palestinians have overlooked
an important factor concerning the Arab - Israeli Conflict. The displacement
of 850.000 Jews from Arab countries, the loss of all their assets and
property, and the hardships accompanying their migration and emigration to
Israel, constitute an aspect of the Middle East conflict and refugee problem
which has been neglected. As almost half of the Jewish citizens of Israel
(together with their descendants), are from Arab countries, scientific
research as well as present and
future peace efforts should take this important aspect of the history
of the conflict into account, and to address it in all its complex
aspects.
To
be able to reach a peaceful solution to the Conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians, this neglected part of history should be amply researched and
duly addressed. The uprooted
Jews from Arab countries in Israel feel that although the displacement of
Palestinians is well documented and relatively well known, their own forced
migration from Arab countries has been overlooked and this fact makes them
rather intransigent toward a possible solution of the conflict that does not
include their own heritage and history. Taking into account the forced
migration of the Jews from the Arab countries as part of the tragedies
incurred during this long and painful conflict, would give a better chance to
peace.
These refugees from Arab countries, that constitute together with
their descendants, almost half of the Jewish population in Israel
(approximately 5 millions are Jews, and 1 million are Arab/ Palestinians),
are still angry and hurt that whereas the plight of the Palestinian
immigrants is so well known and researched, their own tragic history has almost disappeared from history. They are therefore prone to hold
rightist ideologies, and are more intransigent of a peaceful arrangement with
their Palestinian neighbors, and the establishment of a Palestinian State.
The
major motivation therefore behind this research and article is to placate
both the Palestinians and the Jewish refugees from the Arab countries, by
pointing out that their sufferings, problems and feelings of victimization
have many common points, and that both sides share them. The article is also meant to inform
the general public of a forgotten historical and moral aspect of the Israeli
- Palestinian Conflict that has almost disappeared from history. It is
suggested that to take into consideration the story of the Jewish immigration
from Arab countries, and the various points and facts raised below, can
facilitate the peace process, as it shows that there was forced migrations on
both sides, and the claims of restitution of assets are on both sides, and
should be both addressed.
The
fact that a part of the Jews
from Arab countries dreamt of Zion, prayed to Zion and wanted to come
there, does not give the host
countries where they were born and lived all their lives, the right to kick
them out with nothing but their shirts on their backs. Most Jews from the
Arab countries did not leave on their own volition, they were banished at
short notice, and they were forced to leave all their possessions behind,
which made them paupers overnight.
To this day, many of them suffer from this cruel and unjust uprooting
and loss of all their assets.
In Israel for instance, most of them
were sent to the poor and backward border towns and villages, such as
Yeroham, near Beer Sheba, where the standard of living is lower than in the
rest of Israel. The ignoring of their history as part and consequence of the
Israeli Arab Conflict makes them opt for rightist positions, and reinforce
intransigent and extremist views.
If their history and claims of restitution were taken into account (as
those of the Palestinians), they would become more moderate and capable of
identifying with the other side.
After all, the Jews from the Arab countries, who constitute almost
half of Israel, have the experience of living in relative harmony and
well-being with the Arabs,
before 1948, and if their own history were taken into account, they could
again become an element of peace.
Despite all their sufferings in their new land, none of them wants to
return to their former homes in Arab countries.
The
story of the Palestinian refugees is indeed different. The Arab countries did
not integrate them, as Israel integrated the Jewish refugees from Arab
countries, but kept them in refugee camps, most of them in Lebanon, to this
day. All of them want to leave the refugee camps and return to their original
homes, unfortunately in Israel. It is impossible for Israel to absorb 3
million Palestinian refugees, as Israel cannot be expected to commit suicide.
There is indeed a serious problem to be solved, and this problem has to be
solved in the framework of the Two States Solution, which would enable the
Palestinian refugees to settle in Palestine. The promotion of the
establishment of a Palestinian State can be enhanced by putting the claims of
the Jewish refugees from Arab countries in the balance. This could placate
and encourage both sides to favor the Two States Solution, and to the
electing of Peace leaders on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. It is
not a question of polemics, it is a historical, moral, and real politics
question that deserves to be given immediate and serious attention, as well
as further thorough research.
Forced
Emigration of the Jews from Arab Countries
Starting in 1948, 856.000 Jewish
refugees were uprooted in their hundreds of thousands from the lands of their
birth in which they had dwelled for centuries prior to the Muslim conquest,
that is, before the Arabs came from the Arabian desert to these regions in
the 7th century A.D. Until the 10th century A.D., 90
percent of world Jewry lived in regions now known as the Arab countries.
In
1948 there were over 856.,000 Jews living in the Arab countries of the Middle
East and North Africa. By 1976, most of the Jewish communities in these
countries had disappeared, leaving behind a few thousand Jews, scattered over
a number of cities in the region. These historic facts could be used to
advance the Peace Process in the Middle East today, if they are presented and
used in a positive way.
This
sad and relatively abrupt end to some of the oldest Jewish settlements in the
world, is in great part due to a chain of intolerance, discrimination,
degrading civil codes and often cruel persecutions which were meted out to
members of the Jewish faith by their host countries, after the rise of the
State of Israel in 1948. However, there were times when Jews enjoyed
well-being and a degree of
tolerance and protection under the law and in some instances even rose to
prominence under Arab rule.
The
declaration of the State of Israel in 1948 as an independent Jewish state, on
the one hand marked the intensification of anti-Jewish measures in Arab
countries, and on the other, as an opportunity to get rid of the Jews who
wanted to flee, by permitting them to emigrate. Several Arab countries have
in some instances indirectly encouraged this trend by closing an eye to the
clandestine Zionist activities and operations in their countries. Later, however,
this trend was reversed, so that Jews in some Arab countries such as Syria
and Yemen, are held as hostages to this day.
Conditions for Jews become
unbearable
With
the United Nations resolution on the partition of Palestine in November 1947,
Arab riots broke out against numerous Jewish communities throughout the Arab
world. Jewish shops, homes and synagogues were burned and looted; hundreds of
Jews were murdered, thousands were imprisoned, their movement was restricted,
emigration to Israel banned and many Jews were deprived of their citizenship.
Jews who at one time were influential in commerce suddenly lost their
holdings; bank accounts belonging to Jews were frozen, and property valued at
millions of dollars was confiscated. As in previous centuries, Jews were
further removed from government agencies and their admission to public office
was severely restricted. They lost their means of survival and became
hostages in their own countries of birth and origin. Consequently, they could
no longer remain there. Where once Jewish communities flourished and thrived,
as in Iraq, Egypt and Syria, their traces have been erased, as Jews in large
numbers were compelled to uproot and to emigrate, and they were forced to leave all their
property behind.
The
following table summarizes the dramatic disappearance of Jewish communities
in the Arab world between 1948 and 19761.
ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN ARAB COUNTRIES
1948
AND 1976
___________________________________________________ญญญญญญญญญญญญญ____
1948
1976
______________________________________________________
Morocco
265,000
17,000
Algeria 140,000
500
Tunisia
105,000
2,000
Libya
38,000
20
Egypt
100,000
200
Iraq
135,000
400
Syria
30,000
4,350
Lebanon
5,000
150
Yemen
55,000 1,000
Aden
8,000
0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
881,000
25,620
===================================================
The
Second Exodus
The vast immigration of Jews from the Arab countries has been termed
"The Second Exodus"2. The State of Israel served as a
natural refuge for the majority of Jews from Arab countries. Some departed
independently, others were involved in massive rescue organized by the local
communities and the Israeli authorities. Outstanding examples are the Jews of
Yemen and Iraq, who were airlifted en masse to Israel between 1948 and 1951. Similarly,
the Jewish community of Libya was almost entirely relocated to Israel. A
total of 586,269 Jews from Arab countries arrived in Israel3 with
at least 200,000 emigrating to France, England and the Americas. Including
their offspring, the total number of Jews who were displaced from their homes
in Arab countries and who live in Israel today is 1,136,436, about 41% of the
total population. At least another 500,000 currently reside in France, Canada,
the United States, Latin America and Australia.
The
high influx of Jews from Arab countries into Israel shortly after its
establishment as a state had a significant influence on the demographic
make-up of its population. In 1931, only 1 out of every 4 Jews living in the
Land of Israel came from Asia and Africa. By 1948 there were still only
70,000 of the latter in Israel, as compared to 253,661 Israeli-born Jews and
393,013 Jews from Europe and America, out of a total population of 716,678
Jews3.
In
the early 50's the picture changed dramatically. By 1951, Jews from Arab
countries made up nearly 30% of the entire population 4. This
unusually rapid change in the demographic make-up of the population was due
to the thousands of Jews that were pouring into Israel as a result of
persecutions in Arab countries. During the years 1948 and 1951, nearly 50% of
all immigrants, totaling 387,000 came from Asia and Africa, with a similar
number coming, at that time, from Europe and America. During the two-year period
from 1955 to 1957, the percentage of Jews from Arab countries arriving in
Israel rose to 69%5. In 1955 this group represented 92% of all
immigrants. Approximately 100,000 came during those years from Morocco,
Algeria and Tunisia6.
The
majority of Jewish refugees from Arab lands arrived in Israel during the
first three years of statehood. Of the total 586,070 that arrived to date,
nearly 400,000 entered the country between 1948 and 1951. The effects of this
mass immigration in such a short period of time can also be observed in the
total population increase for those years. Before May 15, 1948, there were
little more than 700,000 Jews living in Israel, by 1951 the population figure
doubled to 1,404,400.
Immigration
of Jews from Arab countries to Israel was not an entirely new phenomenon in
1948. Jews had arrived in Israel from Arab countries as early as 1881, when a
group of more than 2,000 Yemenite Jews succeeded in completing the long trek
to Palestine a year before the first Eastern European settlers (Bilu)
arrived. By 1948, over 45,000 Jews from Arab countries had immigrated to the
Land of Israel. The motivation of these early settlers was primarily Zionist
and spiritual.
Jews
arriving in Israel after 1948 were similarly inspired by the Zionist ideal of
returning to their homeland. However, for the most part, they were forced to
become refugees overnight, to flee from their homes and to abandon centuries
of established culture and tradition as a result of persecutions which made
life for Jews in Arab countries increasingly unbearable.
The
following table shows the number of Jews who emigrated from Arab countries
between 1948 and 1972:
IMMIGRATION OF JEWS FROM ARAB LANDS
TO ISRAEL
FROM MAY 15, 1948 TO MAY 22, 1972
_____________________________________________
Country
Number
_____________________________________________
Morocco )
Tunisia )*
330,833
Algeria )
Libya
35,666
Egypt
29,325
Syria
)*
10,402
Lebanon )
Yemen )*
50,552
Aden
)
Iraq
129,292
__________________________________________________
Total
586,070
ท
Individual
statistics for these countries were not recorded before 1950.
Jewish and
Palestinian immigration
It
is not generally known that the number of Palestinians who fled the newly formed State of Israel was
surpassed by the number of Jews who were forced to emigrate from Arab
countries. During the 1947 United Nations debates, the head of the Egyptian
delegation warned that "the lives of a million
Jews in Moslem countries will be jeopardized by the establishment of the
Jewish State". Haj Amin el-Husseini, chairman of the Palestine Arab
Higher Executive, told that body, "If a Jewish State were established in
Palestine, the position of the Jews in the Arab countries would become very
precarious". "Governments", he added ominously, "have
always been unable to prevent mob excitement and violence". When the
State of Israel was established, the Jews in the Arab countries became hated
outcasts in their own lands, terrorized, imprisoned and often banished. This
led to mass immigration of Jews who sadly realized there was no future for
them in the land of their birth.
A
review of the behavior of the various Arab countries toward their Jewish
minorities reveals some difference.
Conclusion
The intensification of anti-Jewish
measures resulting from a combination of factors such as rising Arab
nationalism, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the general
political climate of the time, which also witnessed the transfer and movement
of other populations from other countries, on an unprecedented scale, made
the displacement of Jews from Arab countries an inevitable consequence, and
caused their forced migration.
Out
of 856,000 Jews living in Arab countries in 1948, the majority found refuge
from Arab persecution in Israel. The remaining Jews - just like the
Palestinians, who were 650.000 in number when they fled from Israel or were
ousted - were dispersed throughout the world. In the various countries that
they inhabited previously, many had been wealthy and prestigious members of
their prosperous and well-organized local Jewish communities. However,
confronted with a political and social climate of intensified and unbearable
hostility, they were forcibly uprooted, and they were compelled to leave
behind their public and private property. Consequently, the majority arrived
in Israel without any means of their own.
After these tragic circumstances
compelled them to leave, the Arab states did not hesitate to proclaim
appropriate decrees designed to strip the Jews of their possessions.
The Jewish
assets, both individual and communal, amount to millions of dollars, and they
are worth more than the assets the Palestinians left behind when they fled
from Israel. The Jewish assets were all sequestered, and are still held in
the banks in various Arab countries, and their Jewish owners have been incapable
to retrieve them to this day.
In
spite of being forced out, many of these Jews are among the greatest
advocates of peace-justice-forgiveness, and for a Two State solution. They can be the best contributor to
reconciliation because they speak the same language as their Arab/
Palestinian neighbors, and are politically, neither extreme right or extreme
left .
A more objective approach to both
tragedies: of the Jews from Arab countries, as well
as that of the Palestinians, and to the commonalities between them, can have
a beneficial effect on the two populations. The Jews from Arab countries in Israel (the
Sephardi), who will have their
history and heritage restored to them and taken into account in the Israeli -
Palestinian Conflict, would become more lenient and open to a peaceful
arrangement. And the
Palestinians would realize that they are not the only ones who have suffered,
as in all conflicts both sides suffer, and this could make them more moderate
and more prone to a reconciliation.
This conciliatory effect on both sides could lead to a
beneficial promotion of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as
well as in the whole of the
Middle East.
Biographical Note
Professor Ada Aharoni is a researcher and a cultural sociologist. She has conducted this research at the Technion: Israel
Institute of Technology, Haifa.
She has published 24 books, and more than 120 articles.
Prof.
Ada Aharoni
POB 9934, Haifa, Israel, 34343
August, 2002.
NOTES
1
- Based on: Official census of each country; yearbooks of the Jewish
communities: The Jewish case before the Anglo-
American Committee of Inquiry, 1946; Hayim Chohen, 1952 and 1973;
David Sitton, 1974; Andre Chouraqui 1952; Joseph B. Shechtman, 1961; David Littman, 1975.
2 - From
the Nile to the Jordan (Lachmann, Haifa, 1995).
3 -
Government of Israel Central Bureau of Statistics 1975.
4.
Government of Israel, Statistical Abstract, 1974 (Jerusalem, Central
Bureau of Statistics, 1974).
5.
Government of Israel, Immigration to Israel 1948-1972 (Jerusalem,
Bureau of Statistics 1974).
6.
Government of Israel, Statistical Abstract, 1974, op. cit.
7.
Schechtman, J. B. Population Transfers in Asia. New York: Hallsby
Press, 1949,
On Wings
of Eagles: The Exodus and Homecoming of Oriental Jewry, N.Y. Yosseloff, 1961.
8. Central
Bureau of Statistics, 1974.
9. Joseph B.
Schechtman, On Wings of Eagles, p. 273.
10.American
Jewish Congress, Jewish Communities in the World, p. 48 (Hebrew).
11. Ada
Aharoni, Not In Vain: An Extraordinary Life (Ladybug, CA., 1998).
12.
Ada Aharoni, Du Nil Au
Jourdain (Stavit, Paris, 2002).
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