Difference between revisions 109683183 and 109683185 on dewiki

{{otheruses|Exodus (disambiguation)}}

{{Aliyah}}
The '''Jewish exodus from Arab lands''' refers to the 20th century expulsion or mass departure of Jews, primarily of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi]] and [[Mizrahi Jews|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 e(contracted; show full) 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.<ref> {{cite news |last=Bermani |first= Daphna|url=http://wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/law/jlsa/jews_arab_lands.htm|title= Sephardi Jewry at odds over reparations from Arab world |date= November 14, 2003|}}</ref>

===
 Morocco ===
{{main|History of the Jews in Morocco}}
[[Jew]]ish communities, in [[Islam]]ic times often (though not always[http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=6&reading_id=60&sequence=4]) living in [[ghetto]]s 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, Morocco|Fez]] in 1033, over 100,000 Jews in Fez and [[Marrakesh]] in 1146 and again in Marrakesh in 1232)<ref name="Morocco">For the events of Fez see Cohen, 1995, pp 180-182. On Marrekesh, see the ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' of 1906.</ref> 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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}  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 Morocco|French protectorate]] in 1912 alleviated much of the discrimination.  In Morocco the [[Vichy France|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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 127-128.</ref> [[Mohammed V of Morocco|King Muhammad V]] expressed a 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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, pp. 128-129.</ref>

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, [[Zionism|Zionist]] organizations encouraged emigration, particularly in the poorer south of the country, seeing Moroccan Jews as valuable contributors to the Jewish State:

{{quote|''...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'' <ref>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.[http://rickgold.home.mindspring.com/Emigration/emigration12.htm]</ref>}}

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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, pp. 172-173.</ref> 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".<ref name=Stillman173>Stillman, 2003, p. 173.</ref> 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.<ref name=Stillman173/> 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 [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammad V]] to again allow emigration, and over the three following years, more than 70,000 Moroccan Jews left the country.<ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 174.</ref> By 1967, only 50,000 Jews remained.<ref name=Stillman175>Stillman, 2003, p. 175.</ref>

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]].<ref name=Stillman175/>

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 [[2003 Casablanca bombings|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<ref name="Stearns"/>-265,000<ref name="Avneri"/> Jews lived in Morocco. By 2001 an estimated 5,230 remained.<ref name=Shields/Algeria===
{{main|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]].<ref>[http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=33 The Forgotten Refugees - Historical Timeline]</ref>

Following the brutal [[Algerian Civil War]] of 1990s there &ndash; in particular, the rebel [[Armed Islamic Group]]'s 1994 declaration of war on all non-Muslims in the country &ndash; most of the thousand-odd Jews previously there, living mainly in [[Algiers]] and to a lesser extent [[Blida]], [[Constantine, Algeria|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.

===Bahrain===
{{main|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 [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution|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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 147.</ref>

Over the next few decades, most left for other countries, especially [[England]]; as of 2006 only 36 remained.<ref name=Luxner>Larry Luxner, [http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17183&intcategoryid=1 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.</ref>

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.”<ref name=Luxner/>

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".<ref name=Luxner/>

In Bahrain's [[Elections in Bahrain|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."<ref>Sandeep Singh Grewal, [http://www.womengateway.com/enwg/News/Political+News/2006/October/Women+Empowerment.htm Dr Munira Fakhro hopes for better future], WomenGateway, October 2006. Accessed 25 October 2006.</ref>

=== Egypt===
{{main|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.
(contracted; show full)g concerns in the West.<ref name=USSD2002>[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/14834.htm Egypt: U.S. Concerns Regarding Proposed Antisemitic Mini-Series] Office of the Spokesman at the U.S. State Department</ref> Egypt's Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif announced that the series "contains no antisemitic material".<ref name=Ahram2002>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/611/eg7.htm Protocols, politics and Palestine] at ''al-Ahram Weekly''</ref>


=== Tunisia ===
{{main|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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

Tunisia, as the only Middle Eastern country under direct [[Nazism|Nazi]] control during World War II, was also the site of anti-Semitic activities such as prison camps, deportations, and other persecution.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

=== Yemen ===
{{main|Yemenite Jews}}
Including [[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 (Yemen)|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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}⏎
⏎
===Iraq===
{{main|History of the Jews in Iraq}}
⏎
⏎
In 1948, there were approximately 150,000 [[Jew]]s 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.

(contracted; show full)t Israel did not want such a rapid registration rate and that bomb throwing at Jewish targets was common before 1950, making the Istiqlal Party 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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

===
Syria===
Rioters in Aleppo in 1947 burned the city's Jewish quarter and killed 75 people.<ref name="Pipes"> Daniel Pipes, Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990) p. 57, records 75 victims of the Aleppo massacre.</ref> 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]],<ref name="levin">Levin, 2001, pp. 200-201.</ref> 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 12 Syrian-Jews visited Syria. <ref>[http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/10/jews-of-syria-by-robert-tuttle.htm SyriaComment.com: "The Jews of Syria," By Robert Tuttle<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===Algeria===
{{main|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]].<ref>[http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=33 The Forgotten Refugees - Historical Timeline]</ref>

Following the brutal [[Algerian Civil War]] of 1990s there &ndash; in particular, the rebel [[Armed Islamic Group]]'s 1994 declaration of war on all non-Muslims in the country &ndash; most of the thousand-odd Jews previously there, living mainly in [[Algiers]] and to a lesser extent [[Blida]], [[Constantine, Algeria|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.

===Lebanon===Lebanon===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Lebanon}}⏎

In 1948, there were approximately 5,000 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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}  

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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

===Libya===
{{Main|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.<ref name="Avneri"/><ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 155-156.</ref>  

(contracted; show full)

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 40,000 Jews of Libyan descent, who maintain unique traditions.[http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/JewsofLibya/LibyanJews/thejews.html] [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/libyajews.html]

===
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 [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution|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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 147.</ref>

Over the next few decades, most left for other countries, especially [[England]]; as of 2006 only 36 remained.<ref name=Luxner>Larry Luxner, [http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17183&intcategoryid=1 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.</ref>

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.”<ref name=Luxner/>

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".<ref name=Luxner/>

In Bahrain's [[Elections in Bahrain|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."<ref>Sandeep Singh Grewal, [http://www.womengateway.com/enwg/News/Political+News/2006/October/Women+Empowerment.htm Dr Munira Fakhro hopes for better future], WomenGateway, October 2006. Accessed 25 October 2006.</ref> Morocco ===
{{main|History of the Jews in Morocco}}

[[Jew]]ish communities, in [[Islam]]ic times often (though not always[http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=6&reading_id=60&sequence=4]) living in [[ghetto]]s 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, Morocco|Fez]] in 1033, over 100,000 Jews in Fez and [[Marrakesh]] in 1146 and again in Marrakesh in 1232)<ref name="Morocco">For the events of Fez see Cohen, 1995, pp 180-182. On Marrekesh, see the ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' of 1906.</ref> 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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}  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 Morocco|French protectorate]] in 1912 alleviated much of the discrimination.  In Morocco the [[Vichy France|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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 127-128.</ref> [[Mohammed V of Morocco|King Muhammad V]] expressed a 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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, pp. 128-129.</ref>

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, [[Zionism|Zionist]] organizations encouraged emigration, particularly in the poorer south of the country, seeing Moroccan Jews as valuable contributors to the Jewish State:

{{quote|''...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'' <ref>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.[http://rickgold.home.mindspring.com/Emigration/emigration12.htm]</ref>}}

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.<ref>Stillman, 2003, pp. 172-173.</ref> 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".<ref name=Stillman173>Stillman, 2003, p. 173.</ref> 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.<ref name=Stillman173/> 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 [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammad V]] to again allow emigration, and over the three following years, more than 70,000 Moroccan Jews left the country.<ref>Stillman, 2003, p. 174.</ref> By 1967, only 50,000 Jews remained.<ref name=Stillman175>Stillman, 2003, p. 175.</ref>

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]].<ref name=Stillman175/>

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 [[2003 Casablanca bombings|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<ref name="Stearns"/>-265,000<ref name="Avneri"/> Jews lived in Morocco. By 2001 an estimated 5,230 remained.<ref name=Shields/>

===Syria===
{{main|History of the Jews in Syria}}

Rioters in Aleppo in 1947 burned the city's Jewish quarter and killed 75 people.<ref name="Pipes"> Daniel Pipes, Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990) p. 57, records 75 victims of the Aleppo massacre.</ref> 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]],<ref name="levin">Levin, 2001, pp. 200-201.</ref> 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 12 Syrian-Jews visited Syria. <ref>[http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/10/jews-of-syria-by-robert-tuttle.htm SyriaComment.com: "The Jews of Syria," By Robert Tuttle<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

=== Tunisia ===
{{main|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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

Tunisia, as the only Middle Eastern country under direct [[Nazism|Nazi]] control during World War II, was also the site of anti-Semitic activities such as prison camps, deportations, and other persecution.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

=== Yemen ===
{{main|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 (Yemen)|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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

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.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

== Absorbing Jewish refugees ==

[[Image:Maabarah children.jpg|thumb|250px|Vast transit camps called ma'abarot were established in Israel to cope with the 1948-1955 immigration to Israel.]]
(contracted; show full)[[Category:Jewish history]]
[[Category:Judeo-Islamic topics]]
[[Category:Refugees]]
[[Category:Jewish political status]]

[[es:Éxodo judío de países árabes]]
[[fr:Réfugiés juifs des pays arabes]]
[[he:העלייה ההמונית]]