WJC video telling the stories of Levana Zamir (Egypt), Gina Waldman (Libya), R. Elie Abadie (Lebanon) and Edwin Shuker (Iraq)
There are many Arabs and Jews who believe all the calamities and wars that have beset the Arab world, including the Arab Spring, are part of Allah’s curse on those states over the discriminatory treatment toward the Jews. Edy Cohen wrote this article in Israel Hayom to mark the Day to remember Jewish refugees on 30 November.
The leaders of those states didn’t want to or couldn’t defend the People of the Book, even though the Quran tells Muslims that they should treat non-Muslims, including Jews, with respect, if they accept Islamic rule.
There are many Arabs and Jews who believe all the calamities and wars that have beset the Arab world, including the Arab Spring, are part of Allah’s curse on those states over the discriminatory treatment toward the Jews. Edy Cohen wrote this article in Israel Hayom to mark the Day to remember Jewish refugees on 30 November.
The leaders of those states didn’t want to or couldn’t defend the People of the Book, even though the Quran tells Muslims that they should treat non-Muslims, including Jews, with respect, if they accept Islamic rule.
Each Arab state had a different policy toward Jews, but generally speaking, they were treated as second-class citizens or even worse than that. Even though they were loyal to their states, they were forced to leave or were expelled, owing to the rampant anti-Jewish sentiment in those countries after the State of Israel was established in 1948. Those Jewish communities had been there for over 14 centuries, well before the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. They dealt with trade, medicine and law, as well as other fields, and were of great contribution to the economies and societies of every state. The Arabs, who had become accustomed to discriminating against the Jews, couldn’t stand the fact that those inferior people had a state.
On December 1, 1947, two days after the U.N. General Assembly approved the Partition Plan, pogroms erupted in most Arab states. These pogroms were a result of the incitement in the state-run media in those countries, and was supposed serve as retribution for U.N. plan. The Arabs considered the partition to be a betrayal by the international community, and many in Arab world still hold that view today and refuse to accept the notion that the Jews should have a state.
The pogroms erupted in the British-ruled Aden Protectorate (now part of Yemen), in Libya, in Syria and in other countries. Hundreds of Jews were killed, dozens of synagogues were torched, and many Jewish homes were looted. In Aleppo alone some 100 Jews were killed, and thousands more fled to Lebanon or Damascus.
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The belief that Allah cursed Arab leaders for their mistreatment of the Jews is very much alive. Some believe the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s demise was a result of his decision to execute dozens of innocent Jews in 1969, even before he was president. Their blood cried out from the grave, and this, say those who believe in the curse, led to Saddam ultimately being hanged by his own people. Some say deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was brutally executed by rebels because he targeted Libyan Jews and had many synagogues sealed.
Many Arabs have been gloating over the recent wildfires in Israel. This glee shows that some in the Arab world still believe the Jews are a thorn at their side and cannot be tolerated. It seems that not much has changed since the Jewish expulsion from Arab states; the hatred is still very much there.
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