Arab Jews (Arabic: يهود العرب, Hebrew: יהודים ערבים) refers to Jews of Arab ancestry or those who speak Arabic.^[1] The term was in wide use prior to the introduction of Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel, when the Arab World contained a Jewish population of around 1 million, most of which has since moved to Israel and Western Europe, and to a much smaller degree the United States. They were typically Arabic-speaking, having one of many varieties of Arabic (see also Judæo-Arabic languages) as their primary community language, with Hebrew reserved as a liturgical language. These Jews and their descendants span a range of religious observances, from the ultra religious to the large segment of Jews that are entirely secular. “Arabic” redirects here. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Languages Arabic and other minority languages Religions Islam, Christianity, Druzism and Judaism Arab woman from Ramallah wearing traditional dress in 1915. ... This article is about Zionism as a movement, not the History of Israel. ... “Arab States” redirects here. ... The borders of Western Europe were largely defined by the Cold War. ... “Arabic” redirects here. ... Arabic is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Judeo-Arabic languages are a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in Arabic-speaking countries; the term also refers to more or less classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in the Middle Ages. ... The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... A sacred language is a language, frequently a dead language, that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life. ...

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the term has largely fallen out of use and been replaced by the terms Sephardic Jew and Mizrahi Jew. In recent times, some scholars - like Ella Shohat, a Middle East scholar at New York University, David Shasha, Director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage, and Amiel Alcalay, a professor at Queen's College in New York - have been emphasizing the importance of their identity as Arab Jews.^[2] In contrast, many Mizrahi Jews strictly oppose the term for various reasons. In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the... This article deals with those Jewish communities indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. ... Ella Habiba Shohat is an Israeli author, activist, orator and Professor of Cultural Studies and Womens Studies at the New York University, of Iraqi Jewish heritage. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... New York University (NYU) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in New York City. ... Queens College, Queens College or Queens College is the name of more than one institution, see: Schools known as Queens College Queens College, Cambridge Queens College, Charlotte Queens College school, Guyana Queens College, Hong Kong (皇仁書院) Queens College, London Queens College, University of Melbourne Queens...

Overview

In most places in the world today, the term Arab Jew in considered an oxymoron.^[1] According to Salim Tamari, it generally refers to a period of history when some Eastern Jews (Sephardic and Mizrahi) identified with the Arab national movement that emerged in the lead up to the dismantlement of the Ottoman empire.^[1] Arab Jews, who shared in the language and culture of their Muslim and Christian compatriots in Greater Syria, Iraq, and Egypt, began identifying with this movement as early as the Ottoman administrative reforms of 1839.^[1] Look up oxymoron in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... “Ottoman” redirects here. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

David Rabeeya, a self-identified Arab Jew, extends that identification back even further, noting the long history of Arab Jews in the Arab world that remained in place after the dawn of Islam in the 7th century until midway through the 20th century.^[3] He writes that Arab Jews, like Arab Muslims and Arab Christians, were culturally Arab with religious commitments to Judaism.^[3] He notes that Arab Jews named their progeny with Arabic names and "Like every Arab, Arab Jews were proud of their Arabic language and its dialects, and held a deep emotional attachment to its beauty and richness."^[3]. The term "Arab Jew" just like the term "Arab" does not necessarily connote nationalist identifications, as it might just mean the Jew grew up or lived in a land where Arabic was the native language or on the Arabian Peninsula and naturally had shared cultural experiences with Muslims or Christians who also lived there. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... “Arabic” redirects here. ...

Terminology

The term "Arab Jew" is sometimes used by newspapers and official bodies in Arab countries, to express the belief that Jewish identity is a matter of religion rather than ethnicity, and that Arab identity is a matter of cultural belonging and community language not ancestry or religion. Many Jews disagree with this, and therefore do not use the term; but some Mizrahi activists, even those not born in Arab countries, define themselves as Arab Jews either because they identify as such, or to make a cultural or political statement. Notable persons espousing such identities include Naeim Giladi, Ella Habiba Shohat, Sami Shalom Chetrit and David Rabeeya. On a practical level, many of the 700,000 former "Arab Jews" who belonged to millenia-old Jewish communities in present day Arab countries, but who were forced to leave those communities after 1948, no longer feel connected to the countries from which they were ejected, and currently identify as Israelis or Zionists rather than as Arabs. Ashkenazi Jews praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur. ... Languages Arabic and other minority languages Religions Islam, Christianity, Druzism and Judaism Arab woman from Ramallah wearing traditional dress in 1915. ... Naeim Giladi was born in Iraq as Naeim Khalaschi in 1929 to an Iraqi Jewish family and later lived in Israel and the United States. ...

The proponents of the term "Arab Jews" argue that "Arab" is a linguistic and cultural rather than a racial term, and most certainly not a religious term, and that the Jews in Arab countries fully participated in that culture. On this view, the correct distinction is between Jews, Muslims, Christians and other religious groups, rather than between Jews and "Arabs" (Muslims, Christians, etc., to the exclusion of Jews). Similarly the Christian population of countries such as Egypt, Lebanon or Syria are quite unproblematically described as "Arabs", even though most of them, and indeed most of their Muslims, are descended from the pre-Islamic population of those countries who were converted by Arabian conquerors. Even while strife exists between Muslim and Christian Arabs, for example, with dwindling Christian Arab populations in Lebanon and Palestine, for example, as a result of this strife, the divisions between Jews and Arab non Jews presents unique problems of identity for those Jews. These Jews, who mostly have immigrated to Israel, are more commonly known by other names that do not include the word "Arab." They are called Oriental, Mizrahi, Sephardi Jews or Jews from specific locales such as Iraq, Morocco, or Yemen. The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ...

One argument against the term "Arab Jews" is that some of the communities referred to originated as early as the Babylonian captivity (6th century BCE), thus antedating the conquering Muslim Arabian federations by a millennium. However, as already stated, so do the Christian and most of the Muslims in various "Arab" countries descend from populations that antedate the Islamic conquerors from Arabia, and even in ancient Arabia, there were Arab Jewish tribes that predated the birth of Islam. However, the ancient Jewish communities that predated Islam did so while maintaining their identities, unlike the pre-Islamic populations that then converted to Islam. Another point of contention is in the actual usage of "Arab" in North African and Near and Middle Eastern countries, where people spoke of Arab Muslims and Arab Christians, but never of Arab Jews: the Jews were regarded as an ethnic as well as a religious minority. No one in fact ever spoke of "Arab Jews" until the rise of secular ethnic nationalism in the early twentieth century, when many Jews sought integration into the new national identities (Iraqi, Tunisian etc.) as an escape from their previous minority status, in much the same way as some nineteenth century German Jews preferred to identify as "Germans of the Mosaic faith" rather than as "Jews". One difference was that the Jews of German residence would have liked, after the Enlightenment, to have been known as "Jewish Germans," not "German Jews," which implied a lack of assimilation into the culture. Babylonian captivity also refers to the permanence of the Avignon Papacy. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 6th century BC started on January 1, 600 BC and ended on December 31, 501 BC. // Monument 1, an Olmec colossal head at La Venta The 5th and 6th centuries BC were a time of empires, but more importantly, a time... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... The Arab Jewish tribes are the ethnically Arab tribes professing the Jewish faith that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula before and during the advent of Islam. ...

Proponents of this view do not seek to deny the strong Arabic cultural influence on Jews in those countries. In North Africa, some Jews spoke Judeo-Arabic languages while others spoke French; and in some areas there are still Jews who dress quite like Arabs. Their argument is that “Arabness” referred to more than just a common shared culture. One could therefore legitimately speak of “arabized” Jews, or "Jews of Arab countries", but not of "Arab Jews"; just as one can speak of "English Jews" or "British Jews", but not of "Saxon Jews" or "Celtic Jews". What is needed is an equivalent of the traditional term Musta'arabim (Arabizers), which was used to distinguish the older Arabic-speaking communities of those countries from post-1492 Sephardim. The Judeo-Arabic languages are a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in Arabic-speaking countries; the term also refers to more or less classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in the Middle Ages. ...

A third view is that the term "Arab Jew" has a certain legitimacy, but should only describe the Jewish communities of Arabia itself, such as the Banu Qaynuqa of the time of Muhammad and, possibly, the Yemenite Jews: see Arab Jewish tribes. This stems from the view of Arabism as ethnicity and rejection of political/linguistic definitions of Arabism. The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... Yemenite Jews (Hebrew: תֵּימָנִים, Standard Temanim Tiberian ; singular תֵּימָנִי, Standard Temani Tiberian ) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן, Standard Teman Tiberian ; far south), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ... The Arab Jewish tribes are the ethnically Arab tribes professing the Jewish faith that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula before and during the advent of Islam. ...

Opposition

• Some Jews falling within boundaries of distinct non-Arab ethno-linguistic communities which are themselves inside boundaries of countries today considered Arab, identified as that ethno-linguistic community (along with Muslims and any other religious groups within that non-Arab ethnic identity) rather than as Arabs. Such is the case in Morocco with the Berber Jews together with Berber Muslims and the tiny Berber Christian minority identifying as Berbers, or in Iraq with the Kurdish Jews together with Kurdish Muslims, and Kurdish Yazidi, Kurdish Yarsan, and Kurdish Christian minorities identifying as Kurds.
• There is considerable opposition because of political rivalry and different opinions regarding Zionism and issues concerning Israel/Palestine.
• The term defies the ethos of "The Melting Pot", such defiance widely considered a taboo in Israel.
• The term is widely used by politically left-wing or anti-Zionist activists in Israel, as opposed to the commonly Zionist right-wing voting preference of Mizrahi Jews in Israel.

Berber Jews are the Berber Jewish communities inhabiting the region of the Maghreb in North Africa. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Kurdish Jews (יהדות כורדיסתאן Jews of Kurdistan, Standard Hebrew Yehudi Kurdistan) are the ancient Jewish communities inhabiting the region today known as Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Syria. ... Religions Yazdânism (Yazidism) Scriptures Languages Kurmanji, Arabic The Yazidi (also Yezidi, Kurdish: Êzidîtî or Êzidî, Arabic: يزيدي or ايزيدي) are adherents of the smallest of the three branches of Yazdânism, a Middle Eastern religion with ancient Indo-European roots. ... Yarsan or Ahl-i Haqq (Kurdish:Yarsan/Yaresan or Kakeyi, Arabic,Persian:اهل حق, Ahl-e Haqq, derived from an Arabic phrase translatable as People of the Truth and as Men of God[1]) is a religious sect, and its followers are primarily found in western Iran. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... This article is about Zionism as a movement, not the History of Israel. ... This article is about the geographical area known as Palestine. ... Alternate meaning: crucible (science) The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which heterogenous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (iron, tin; people of different backgrounds and religions, etc. ... Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism, the movement for a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. ... Languages Hebrew, Dzhidi, Judæo-Arabic, Gruzinic, Bukhori, Judeo-Berber, Juhuri and Judæo-Aramaic Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions and Arabs. ...

Arab Jews by nation

Arabian Peninsula

There had been, for some long but uncertain period, a significant number of Jews in Arabia. Some Arab historians claim that very large numbers of Jews - as high as 80,000 - arrived after the destruction of the First Temple, to join others already long established in places such as the oasis of Khaybar as well as the trading colonies in Medina and Mecca (where they even had their own cemetery). Another theory posits that these Jews were refugees from Byzantine persecutions. Regardless, Arab historians mention some 20 Jewish tribes, including two tribes of Kohanim. The Jews spoke Arabic, were organised into clans and tribes like the Arabs, and seem to have fully assimilated the values and customs of Arab desert society in all forms save for religion.^[4] The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... Solomons Temple was the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem which functioned as a religious focal point for worship and the sacrifices known as the korbanot in ancient Judaism. ... Ruins of a Jewish Fortress at Khaybar Khaybar (خيبر) is the name of an oasis some 95 miles to the north of Medina (ancient Yathrib), Saudi Arabia. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... Castle Ashby Graveyard Northamptonshire A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... http://www. ... The position of a Kohens hands when he raises them to bless a Jewish congregation A Kohen (or Cohen, Hebrew priest, pl. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... This article is about arid terrain. ...

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Medina Charter

According to Islam, the Muhammad had contact with the Jews of Arabia, and they feature prominently in the early history of the Muslim movement. The founder of Islam paid great respect to the Torah itself, as seen in the Hadith of Sunan Abu Dawud, where Muhammad is portrayed putting the Torah onto a cushion on which he at first sat and saying: "I believe in you and the one who revealed you (meaning God)". How these professions by the Islamic founder can be reconciled with later changes made in the fundamental readings in the Jewish Torah are hard to understand. But^[5] The importance of the father of Judiasm and the Jewish Nation, Abraham, within Islam can be further highlighted in the common belief of the shared tribal connection between the Jews and the tribes of Arabi, although Muhammad downplayed Abraham's Jewish or Christian credentials and instead portrayed him as a common forefather.^[6] The Constitution of Medina, written shortly after hijra, addressed some points regarding the civil and religious situation for the Jewish communities living within the city from an Islamic perspective. For example, the constitution stated that the Jews "will profess their religion, and the Muslims theirs", and they "shall be responsible for their expenditure, and the Muslims for theirs". Rarely did Jews live with such freedom. Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Constitution of Medina is the earliest known written constitution. ... Hijra may refer to: Hijra (Hegira/Hijrah/Hejira) is an Arabic term referring to the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622. ...

But whatever influence Jewish religious practice had on Muhammad, politically the Jews did not fare well under his growing influence as a result of political conflicts regarding the city's tribal alliances, as well as theological tension from their rejection of Muhammad's claims to prophethood. After the Battle of Badr, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qaynuqa allegedly breached treaties and agreements with Muhammad. The Islamic founder regarded this as casus belli and besieged the Banu Qaynuqa. Upon surrender the tribe was expelled.^[7] The following year saw the expulsion of the second tribe, the Banu Nadir, accused of planning to kill the founder of Islam by dropping a rock on his head as he rested under a wall outside its village--Muhammad, who received 'divine warning', evaded the plot. According to Islamic mythos, Banu Nadir aligned themselves with the Arab idolators of Mecca after being evicted from their mansions in Medina. The Banu Nadir chief unsuccessfully attempted to recruit the third Jewish tribe of Medina to breach treaties with Muhammad. The third major Jewish tribe in Medina, Banu Qurayza was eliminated when the Muslims besieged their fortifications. They were judged after having surrendered by a Muslim judge named Saad "under the laws of the Torah". Capital punishment befell and all adult males were executed and their women and children were taken into indetured servitude, an event reported in Surah 33:25-27 of the Qur'an.^[8] Combatants Muslims of Medina Quraish of Mecca Commanders Muhammad, Hamza, Ali Amr ibn Hishām Strength 300-350 <900-1000 Casualties 14 killed 50-70 killed 43-70 captured The Battle of Badr (Arabic: ), fought March 17, 624 CE (17 Ramadan 2 AH in the Islamic calendar) in the Hejaz... The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Casus belli is a modern Latin language expression meaning the justification for acts of war. ... The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Banu Nadir (Arabic: ‎) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Banu Nadir (Arabic: ‎) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Banu Nadir (Arabic: ‎) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... The massacre of the Banu Qurayza. ...

Muhammad invaded the other Jewish tribes in Arabia including Khaybar and Fadak. They remained, in a weakened but tolerated status as 'People of the book', but the harsh conditions that came with dhimmi status caused them to quickly lose power until they were expelled from the peninsula a few years later by the Caliph Umar. While the idea of dhimmi status comes from the Quran, the particulars of the legal rights and limitations were derived from the imposition of inferior status on the Jews of Khaybar after the Muslims had captured it. Ruins of a Jewish Fortress at Khaybar Khaybar (خيبر) is the name of an oasis some 95 miles to the north of Medina (ancient Yathrib), Saudi Arabia. ... Fadak (Arabic: فدك) was a tract of land in Khaybar, an oasis in northern Arabia; it is now part of Saudi Arabia. ... The term People of the Book (Hebrew עם הספר, Am HaSefer) is used in Judaism where it refers specifically to the Jewish people and the Torah. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qur&#702;&#257;n &#1571;&#1614;&#1604;&#1618;&#1602;&#1615;&#1585;&#1570;&#1606;; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

The development of the Mohamand's teaching may be linked to the changing relationship with the Jews of Medina.^[9] Although they formed part of his original alliance with the tribes of Medina, their position inevitably eroded as Muhammad's claim for his divine mission expanded. The Jews could not accept him as a genuine messenger of God within their own tradition due to his not being of Jewish lineage. Muhammad, in turn, seems to have viewed the nature of Jewish religious practice as a corruption or perversion of the revelation entrusted to them by the one God: "you have concealed what you were ordered to make plain", said Muhammad of the Jews, noting their exclusive societal nature and reluctance to proselytize. They had, in his view, greedily held onto a revelation that was meant to be spread to all peoples.^[10]

With such official attitudes towards Judaism it is not surprising that the limited tolerance shown towards the Jews in Arabia did not last. In year 20 of the Muslim era, or the year 641 AD, Muhammad's successor the Caliph 'Umar decreed that Jews and Christians should be removed from all but the southern and eastern fringes of Arabia--a decree based on the (sometimes disputed) uttering of the Prophet: "Let there not be two religions in Arabia". The two populations in question were the Jews of the Khaybar oasis in the north and the Christians of Najran.^[11] Other sources report the forced deportation of Jews and Christians occurring in 634 AD, with the last remnants of these two monotheistic religions being removed from the Arabian peninsula by the year 650.^[12]

Some provisions were made for the expelled Jews. The Arabian Jews were assigned lands in Syria and Palestine (while the Christian were sent to Iraq), and they were given time to effect the move. The expulsion was eventually completed, and from then forward the Holy Land of the Hijaz was forbidden to non-Muslims.^[13] Only the Red Sea port of Jedda was permitted as a "religious quarantine area" and continued to have a small complement of Jewish merchants.

Syria

Main article: History of the Jews in Syria

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, 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. This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited the region of todays Syria from the ancient times and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492 AD). ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ...

Lebanon

Main article: History of the Jews in Lebanon

In 1948, there were approximately 5,000 Jews in Lebanon, with communities in Beirut, and on 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. The Lebanese Jews are traditionally a Mizrahi community living in the present-day country of Lebanon, mostly in and around the city of Beirut. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Mount Lebanon (disambiguation). ... Deir el Qamar (in Arabic دير القمر, meaning monastery of the Moon) is a village in south-central Lebanon, 5 kilometres outside of Beiteddine, consisting of stone houses with red-tiled roofs. ... Barouk is a village in the Chouf region of Lebanon. ... Vichy France (French: now called Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the French state of 1940-1944 which was a puppet government under Nazi influence, as opposed to the Free French Forces, based first in London and later...

After 1948, the amount of Lebanese Jews was Quadrupled, from 5,000 to 20,000, mainly due to immigration from Syria and Iraq due to persecution. While negative attitudes toward Jews increased after 1948, the situation was considerably better than in Syria and Iraq. by 1967, however, many Lebanese Jews had gradually emigrated - to the United States, Canada, France, and Israel. The remaining Jewish community was particularly hard hit by the civil wars in Lebanon, More so as Syrian involvement became stronger. 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, Hezbollah 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.^[14] For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ...

Palestine

Main article: Palestinian Jew

Towards the end of the Ottoman era in Palestine , native Jewish communities lived primarily in the four 'holy cities' of Safed, Tiberias, Hebron and Jerusalem.^[1] The majority of Jews in these cities, with the exception of Jerusalem, were Arabic and Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) speakers.^[1] In Jerusalem, Yiddish was the dominant language among Jews there due to the large migration of pious Ashkenazi Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe.^[1] A Palestinian Jew is a Jewish inhabitant of Palestine throughout certain periods of Middle East history. ... “Ottoman” redirects here. ... This article is about the geographical area known as Palestine. ... Safed (Hebrew: צְפַת, Tiberian: , Israeli: Tsfat, Ashkenazi: Tzfas; Arabic: صفد ; KJV English: Zephath) is a city in the North District in Israel. ... Hebrew טבריה (Standard) Teverya Arabic طبرية Government City District North Population 39 900 (a) Jurisdiction 10 000 dunams (10 km²) Tiberias (British English: ; American English: ; Hebrew: , Tverya; Arabic: , abariyyah) is a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel. ... Arabic الخليل Government City Also Spelled al-Khalil (officially) al-Halil (unofficially) Governorate Hebron Population 166,000 (2006) Jurisdiction  dunams Head of Municipality Mustafa Abdel Nabi Hebron (Arabic:   al-ḪalÄ«l or al KhalÄ«l; Hebrew:  , Standard Hebrew: Ḥevron, Tiberian Hebrew: Ḥeḇrôn) is a city in the southern Judea... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... “Arabic” redirects here. ... This article deals with the Judaeo-Spanish language. ... Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange). ...

In Palestine, the situation of the Jewish community was more complicated than in neighbouring Arab countries.^[1] Whereas in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, communities were largely homogeneous in ethnic and confessional terms, in Palestine, Jewish pilgrims and European Christian colonial projects brought a large number of Ashkenazi immigrants from Eastern Europe and Sephardic groups from Bulgaria, Turkey and North Africa in the nineteenth century.^[1] 'Native' Jews of Palestine were not necessarily of Iberian origins, and included substantial Yiddish speaking communities who had established themselves in Palestine centuries earlier.^[1]  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... Iberia can mean: The Iberian peninsula of southwest Europe; That part of it inhabited by the Iberians, speaking the Iberian language. ...

In the narrative works of native Arabs in Palestine in the late Ottoman period, as evidenced in the autobiographies and diaries of Khalil Sakakini and Wasif Jawhariyyeh, native Jews were often referred to as abnaa al-balad (sons of the country), 'compatriots', or Yahud awlad Arab (Jews, sons of Arabs).^[1] When the First Palestinian Congress of February 1919 issued its anti-Zionist manifesto rejecting Zionist immigration, it extended a welcome to those Jews "among us who have been Arabicized, who have been living in our province since before the war; they are as we are, and their loyalties are our own.".^[1] Khalil Sakakini Khalil al-Sakakini (خليل السكاكيني; January 23, 1878 - August 13, 1953) was a distinguished Palestinian Christian, Arab Orthodox, educator, scholar, poet, and Arab nationalist. ... Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism, the movement for a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. ... This article is about Zionism as a movement, not the History of Israel. ... Arabization is the gradual transformation of an area into one that speaks Arabic and is part of the Arab culture. ...

Iraq

Main article: History of the Jews in Iraq

Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest, and historically most important, Jewish communities. Abraham came from Ur in Babylon, and it was to Babylon that the Jews were exiled around 600 BCE. The descendants of these exiles ensured that Babylonia became the most important Jewish community after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. The community thrived as the center of Jewish learning until the Middle Ages, when the Mongol invasion, and the subsequent persecutions of the Persians significantly reduced its importance. With the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the life of Iraqi Jews improved, though the community never regained its former importance. Iraqi Jews played an important role in the early days of the country's independence, but the Iraqi Jewish community, numbered at around one million in 1948, was almost entirely driven out of the country by increasing persecution from the 1940s onwards. Today, less than 100 remain. Many Iraqi Jews moved to India, where they are known as Baghdadi Jews. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... “Abram” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Ur (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Babylon (disambiguation). ... Babylonian captivity also refers to the permanence of the Avignon Papacy. ... Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... The Baghdadi Jews are one of the main Jewish communities of India. ...

Tunisia

Main article: History of the Jews in Tunisia

Tunisia has had a Jewish minority since Roman times. Tunisia was the only Arab country to come under direct German occupation during World War II, where they suffered under a forced labor and random execution policy. After independence in the 1950s, Tunisia's Jewish Community Council was abolished by the government and many Jewish areas and buildings were destroyed for urban rehabilitation. In 1948 the Jewish population was an estimated 105,000. During the Six-Day War, Jews were attacked in riots, and, despite government protection, 7,000 Jews emigrated to France. As of 2004 an estimated 1,500 still remain, particularly on the island of Djerba (noted for its synagogues), comprising the country's largest indigenous religious minority. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Djerba [1] (also transliterated as Jerba, Jarbah or Girba جزيرة جربة) is the largest island off North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes off the coast of Tunisia. ... A synagogue (from ancient Greek: , transliterated synagogē, assembly; ‎ beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: or Template:Lanh-he beit tefila, house of prayer, shul; Ladino: , esnoga) is a Jewish house of worship. ...

Egypt

Main article: History of the Jews in Egypt

Egyptian Jews constitute perhaps the oldest Jewish community in the world. The Jewish population of Egypt is now somewhere from 100-1000 people, down from between 75,000 and 80,000 in 1948. They included some 5, 000 Karaite Jews at that date, who, along with the Rabbanite Jews, constituted the historic core of the community. Egyptian Jews constitute perhaps the oldest Jewish community in the world. ... Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the sole reliance on the Tanakh as scripture, and the rejection of the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) as halakha (Legally Binding, i. ...

Algeria

Main article: History of the Jews in Algeria

Jews and Judaism have a rather long history in Algeria. However, following the brutal conflict of the 1990s there – in particular, the rebel Armed Islamic Group's 1994 declaration of war on all non-Muslims in the country – most of the thousand-odd Jews previously there, living mainly in Algiers and to a lesser extent Blida, 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; most of Algeria's 140,000 Jews, having been granted French citizenship in 1870, left the country for France when it attained independence, together with the pied-noirs. Jews and Judaism have a rather long history in Algeria. ... The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from French Groupe Islamique Armé; Arabic al-Jamaah al-Islamiyah al-Musallaha) is a Khawarij terrorist organization that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state. ... “Alger” redirects here. ... Blida (Arabic: البليدة) is a major town of Algeria, chief town of the department(Wilaya) of Blida, 45 km south-west of Algiers. ... Position of Constantine in Algeria. ... View of Oran Oran (Arabic: , pronounced Wahran) is a city in northwestern Algeria, situated on the Mediterranean coast. ... A synagogue (from ancient Greek: , transliterated synagogÄ“, assembly; ‎ beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: or Template:Lanh-he beit tefila, house of prayer, shul; Ladino: , esnoga) is a Jewish house of worship. ... Pied-noir is a term for the former French colonists of North Africa, especially Algeria. ...

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.

A series of pogroms started in November 1945, when more than 140 Jews were killed in Tripoli and most synagogues in the city looted. The pogroms continued in June 1948, when 15 Jews were killed and 280 Jewish homes destroyed.[1][2][3] Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Tarābulus) is the capital city of Libya. ...

Upon Libya's independence in 1951, most of the Jewish community emigrated from Libya. After the Suez Crisis in 1956, another series of pogroms forced a large number of Jews to flee. In 1967, the Jewish population of 7,000 was again subjected to pogroms in which 18 were killed, and many more injured, sparking a near-total exodus that left fewer than 100 Jews in Libya.^{[citation needed]} When Muammar al-Qaddafi came to power in 1969, all remaining Jewish property was confiscated and all debts to Jews cancelled.[4] Combatants Israel United Kingdom France Egypt Commanders Moshe Dayan Charles Keightley Pierre Barjot Gamal Abdel Nasser Abdel Hakim Amer Strength 175,000 Israeli 45,000 British 34,000 French 70,000 Casualties 197 Israeli KIA 56 British KIA 91 British WIA 10 French KIA 43 French WIA 650 KIA[1... Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi 1 — pronounced Gaddafi — (Arabic: معمر القذافي ) (born c. ...

In 2004 Libya unilaterally invited Jews to return and receive compensation for their original property, on condition that they leave their property in Israel to Palestinians.^[15] Libyan Jews' reaction to the offer of return has been negative; they view it as a stunt intended to improve Libya's standing in both the Western and Arab worlds, cite concerns about religious freedoms, and point out the lack of human rights and democracy in Libya that make such an offer highly unattractive. However, the compensation offer has attracted guarded interest.^[16][17]

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.[5] [6]

Bahrain

Main article: 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. Over the next few decades, most left for other countries, especially England; some 36 remain (as of 2006.)[7] Bahraini Jews constitute another one of the worlds oldest, and todays smallest, Jewish communities. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

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. Bahrain is the only Gulf state with a synagogue. One member of the community, Rouben Rouben, who sells TV sets, DVD players, copies, fax machines and kitchen 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.”

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 JTA news agency, the active Jewish community is "a source of pride for Bahraini officials".[8] The Consultative Council (majlis al-shura) is the name given to the upper house of the National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain. ... The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) is a Bahraini human rights organization established in November 2004 which has been at the forefront of efforts to protect housemaids, fight for women’s rights and confront Islamist campaigns to restrict personal freedoms. ...

See also

• Jewish ethnic divisions
• Mizrahi Jews
• History of the Jews under Muslim rule
• History of the Jews in Algeria
• History of the Jews in Egypt
• History of the Jews in Iraq
• History of the Jews in Morocco
• History of the Jews in Tunisia
• History of the Jews in Syria
• Syrian Jews
• Yemenite Jews
• Jewish exodus from Arab lands
• Arab Jewish tribes

Jewish ethnic divisions refers to a number of distinct Jewish communities within the worlds ethnically Jewish population. ... Languages Hebrew, Dzhidi, Judæo-Arabic, Gruzinic, Bukhori, Judeo-Berber, Juhuri and Judæo-Aramaic Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions and Arabs. ... Excluding the region of Palestine, and omitting the accounts of Joseph and Moses as unverifiable, Jews have lived in what are now Arab and non-Arab Muslim (i. ... Jews and Judaism have a rather long history in Algeria. ... Egyptian Jews constitute perhaps the oldest Jewish community in the world. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community. ... ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited the region of todays Syria from the ancient times and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492 AD). ... Yemenite Jews (Hebrew: תֵּימָנִים, Standard Temanim Tiberian ; singular תֵּימָנִי, Standard Temani Tiberian ) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן, Standard Teman Tiberian ; far south), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ... The Jewish exodus from Arab lands refers to the 20th century expulsion and emigration of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from majority Arab lands. ... The Arab Jewish tribes are the ethnically Arab tribes professing the Jewish faith that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula before and during the advent of Islam. ...

References

The Jerusalem Quarterly (JQ) was conceived in 1998 as the Jerusalem Quarterly File, and is published by the Institute of Jerusalem Studies (IJS), an affiliate of the Institute for Palestine Studies. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 261 days remaining. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Forward is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York. ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Who is an Arab Jew? - On being Mizrahi (anti-Arab identity) by Albert Memmi.
• Reflections by an Arab Jew - On being Mizrahi (pro-Arab identity) by Ella Habiba.