Jews in Arab Lands: Then and Now

                                                                          

                            Ofrah Hazah, singer from Yemen

At one time there were 100,000 Jews living in Iran. Persia, as it was called, was the home of Queen Esther or Hadassah, who was married to King Ahashuaros. It was she who saved her people by telling her husband of the plot of Haman to kill all the Jews. She had to expose herself to her husband who did not know that she was Jewish in order to do this. The brave woman readied herself on a diet of seeds and nuts for three days in order to approach him on this delicate subject, no doubt to fit into that special dress. 

   My favorite singer in Israel from Yemen, Ofrah Hazah

Today there are about 11,000 Jews left in Iran. In my own family, a cousin's husband escaped from Iran on a camel in order to leave the country.

Algeria had 140,000 Jews and now less than 100 remain.

Egypt had 75,000. I taught in the same school as an Egyptian Jewish gal in Israel. She was teaching English. Today there are less than 100.

Iraq had 150,000 Jews, much to my surprise, although Ur is in Iraq. This is the ancient city where Abraham was born and had left. By 2009 there were about 35 Jews remaining there.

Lebanon had 20,000 Jews. Now it has less than 100.

Libya had 38,000 but now has none.

Morocco had a whopping 265,000 Jews. The heads of our English Department in Safed were from Morocco. Michelle loved Paris and had clothes from her mother from there. Many Moroccans lived in Safed. Today there are about 5,500 Jews there.

Syria had 30,000 Jews. Today they have less than 100.

Tunisia had 105,000 Jews. Today they have about 1,500.

Yemen was the home of 55,000. Today there are about 200 left. I believe this had been the home of my favorite Israeli female singer, Ofrah Hazah. She became very famous in Israel, and fell upon sad times by dying from drug overdose. I was heartbroken. She was such a wonderful and young singer.

Israel declared itself a state in May 1948 with the blessing of the U.N. Immediately war broke out causing 800,000 Jews to be forced to leave Arab countries where they had been living for two millennia. They moved to their new country of Israel, ready or not, as their native country had turned against them.

Living in Israel was not easy for them. These Jews had to compete with Ashkenazi Jews, many of which were more educated. The army duty was a place where all were treated the same and became a place of integration. Many of the towns these Jews came from were quite primitive, so they had cultural changes. Now we see that this new melting pot is doing quite well.

Resource: Stand With Us's Pocket Facts of Israel

An Imam In France That Went Too Far

Nadene Goldfoot
France has been very lenient with the influx of Muslim immigrants.  From having 4.7 million in 2010, the Pew research feels there will be 6.9 million in 2030.  Unfortunately so many have been extremists and violent to the point of putting many Jewish citizens in jeopardy with their hatred for Jews.  A Jewish school was targeted in Toulouse on March 19, of this year  with the result of the deaths of 3 small children and their teacher and another injured. There has been 148 incidents in March and April with 43 being violent.  Last year there were 14 violent anti-Semitic attacks, so it has risen.

France has the highest Jewish population in Europe, but this was causing many to remove to Israel.  In 2004 the Jewish population was about 483,500.  They suffered 96 anti-Semitic incidents that year.

France did the unthinkable.  Wednesday they deported 77 year old Imam Mohammed Hammami back to Tunisia where he came from in the 1960's.  He has been a real trouble-maker by giving anti-Semitic speeches that called for a holy war against everyone not Muslim.  He called for corporal punishment of women who stepped out of line of the Sharia Law.  He has been preaching in the Omar Mosque in Paris. It is but one of 19 mosques in the capital.  

Since the massacre in Toulouse, anti-Semitism rose 45% this year alone.  Netanyahu arrived in France on Wednesday for conferences and was assured that the country is doing its best to halt this anti-Semitic criminal behavior.  He mentioned that  the French Jews would be welcomed in Israel.   The population is projected to be 482,000 of Jews in France by 2020.  

We only have 13.3 million Jews in the whole world today.  1.6 million live in Europe which is 12% of our population.  In 1939, on the cusp of World War II there were 17 million Jews.  France acted bravely by ousting an Imam, but they realized that he was a threat to the society and security of France.

Resource:  http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/france-expels-radical-tunisian-imam-17607899
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161583
http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-europe.aspx
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/France.html
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/world-jewish-population.htm
http://judaism.about.com/od/jewishhumor/f/jewry_france.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mosques_in_France
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/anti-jewish_attacks_in_france_reach_epidemic_proportions.html

Situation for Jews in Tunisia and Egypt

Situation for Jews in Tunisia and Egypt

Nadene Goldfoot

The last time Jews were attacked in Tunisia was in 2002 by al Qaeda. They killed 21 people who were worshipping in the synagogue on the island Djerba.Tunisia has had the largest Jewish community in North Africa. They have been there since Roman times and numbered 110,000 before 1948, when Israel was created. As of this year the Jewish population has been 700 in Tunisia proper and 1,000 on the island of Djerba. Last night their synagogue was set on fire in the southern city of Gabes. The spokesman of the Jewish community, Peres Trabelsi, felt it was done not from anti-semitism but to create a division between the Muslims and the Jews. Torah scrolls were burned in the arson. The Prime Minister, Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali left Tunisia on January 14th when riots toppled his police-ruled government . Jews have lived in Tunisia since Roman times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXr9Crc_RLc  Attacking Tunis synagogue: added 2/20/2011

Egypt used to be the home of 100,000 Jews who have immigrated to Israel and most likely France. Now just 70 older Jews are left. They are afraid to speak about the riots going on now.
Jews had the history of being slaves in Egypt for 400 years, but in 1492 Jews who had been living in Spain and Portugal were expulsed. These Jews, called Sephardim, made a mass immigration back to Egypt as they were about to be killed from the Spanish Inquisition. By 1937 they suffered much anti-semitic attacks because Egypt had teamed up with Germany, so Jews suffered in all countries because of it. By 1947 there were 65,639 Jews in Egypt. In 1956 Egypt expulsed 21,000 Jews. This was the year of another war between Israel and all her neighbors. By 1960 there were 8,500 remaining in Egypt. By the 1967 War, 800 remained in Egypt alive.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110201/wl_nm/us_tunisia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Tunisia
http://www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/muslims-and-jews/muslims-and-jews-in-history/history-of-the-jews-in-egypt.html
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=206241
added 10/27/12 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20010837#  Tunisia Jews, hanging on and cooking 

Middle East Fears

Dictator's Leaving in Tunisia Not Due to Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

Everying thing bad happening has been blamed on either Jews or Israel. Even the 9/11 Twin Towers falling has been blamed on Israel with some extremists. I might add that our American government has been blamed for that, as well. The conspiracy theories keep on making the circuit on the web and in films. Right now Ahmadinejad is threatening Israel and the USA, telling us to stop sedition in Lebanon or the Lebanese will cut off our hands, and that our decline is on a fast track. Even the Saudi investigator into the assassination of the former president of Lebanon has backed out saying that Lebanan is dangerous. Lebanon is made of Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims, the last two as compatable with each other as Ireland's Protestants and Catholics. They had a sharing power practice that went by the wayside after the assassination. They are no longer the role-models of the Middle East. Terrorism has upset the apple cart.

What Arabs fear most is losing their power and control over their people. Israel coming along practicing their democratic values is a wrench thrown into their works. This seems to be more of a threat than practicing Judaism. Since Jews don't proselyze, Arabs aren't really concerned about that. These rulers have felt they have to stop this idea of freedom.

Like a chess game, the Arab chieftains have put the USA on the defensive because they have backed the hated Israel. Democracy and it's inherent evils are too close. The USA changed its tactic trying to show how fair they are to Arab countries by giving a cold shoulder to Israel . They've been quite successful showing that they aren't favoring Israel. Even a lot of Israelis now believe this. Poor decisions have been made, such as breaking our promise to Lebanon to be against Hizbullah.

The West needs to see that as dictatorships fall, such as in Tunisia, it leaves Israel as the only democratic state in the Middle East, a country that is aligned with the West with Western values and can be depended on. My question is, can Israel trust the West? Evidently the Knesset still does.

A Tunisian, an Egyptian and an Algerian have recently set themselves on fire in protest of their respective governments. They didn't do it because they were protesting Israel and the Palestinian situation. Most average citizens everywhere are concerned with their own needs and happiness. These three weren't able to be heard at all in their type of governments. Tunisia just had an overthrow of their government because the people all united into a demonstation against a president acting like a monarchy, in power for 23 years and not doing what was necessary for his people.

The Palestinians have been raised since gestation on the idea that Israelis are to be hated and killed. Their mothers have taught this, their schools are teaching it, and they are brainwashed into not being concerned with their own desires other than seeing Israel disappear. As a teacher I'm very concerned with how Israel is ever going to bridge this monumental elephant in the room. To me it would be a sign that Abbas's Fatah is actually interested in making peace if schools start teaching neighborly behavior with Israelis and then hope the children can convince their parents that this is the best route to take. For what is said in English to Westerners is not what is being said to his subjects. Then again, the idea of freedom's democracy and mutual decisions of getting along with Israel would have to take place in Gaza with Hamas and all their little factions of terrorism. How long will all this take? Perhaps another 62 years. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Israeli fears right now must be on the UN planning on voting against them for building in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem, which is part of their own capital. Though USA and Israel will be against this vote, it may pass. A Jewish family of 10 just made aliyah to Israel, fearing the safety of their lives if they remain in Tunisia, while another more cautious family came to Israel on just a visitation from Tunisia.

Of course, Ahmadinejad's threats to destroy Israel with atomic weaponry in his hands is no political rhetoric like Palin's crosshairs. His threats have to be taken seriously. I ask what the U.N. has done about his constant threats? How long the stuxnet virus will warp his computers is not known, but every day is a blessing, for it's stopping an atomic threat to all of us from Iran.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0111/glick011811.php3 Article by Caroline Glick
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=204318