Jews from Arab Countries: The Forgotten Refugees

The exodus of nearly 856,000 Jews from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, and Libya began after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. This event occurred at the same time that a similar number of Palestinians left Israel. Like the Palestinians, some left of their own free will and others were forced out, their properties and businesses confiscated.

After 1948, Jews from Arab countries were stripped of their citizenship, denied employment in these countries by government decree and had their property confiscated (except in Morocco), despite a continuous presence in these countries for thousands of years (over a thousand years before the advent of Islam).

While the history of the Jews in Arab countries has been comparatively peaceful to the history of the Jews in Europe, since the seventh century, special laws of "the Dhimmi" (the "protected") had subjected (and, in some cases, still subjects) the Jews of Arab lands to prohibitions, restrictions, and discrimination. It is estimated that there are only 5,000 Jews remaining in Arab lands, most in Morocco, a comparatively tolerant country.

Today, Jews from Arab countries make up close to half of Israel's population. It's only been a recent development that some Arab countries have begun to discuss the right of return for these refugees and/or reparations for property seized. For example, the late King Hassan II of Morocco had invited his country's Jews to return. And Libya's leader Moamar Kadaffi, after his recent personal transformation from warmonger to peacemaker, has not only invited Libyan Jews to return, but he's given them permission to seek reparations for property loss in Libyan courts. Also, the newly formed post-Saddam Hussein Iraqi government has begun to make some overtures toward the many Iraqi Jewish exiles abroad. Of course, the ultimate survival of this government may be questionable at best.