Human Rights Abuses of Jews in Arab Countries After the Six-Day War

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Human Rights Abuses of Jews in Arab Countries After the Six-Day War

Book excerpt

By: Netanel Lorch

Date: June 21, 1967

Source: Lorch, Netanel, ed. Major Knesset Debates: 1948–1981. Lanham, MD, University Press of America, 1993.

About the Author: Netanel Lorch is an author and former Secretary-General of the Knesset. The Knesset [trans. 'Assembly'] is the Israeli Parliament. First convened in February 1949 it consists of 120 elected members. The principle speakers in the below source are Asher Hassin (1918–1995), a Moroccan born Knesset member of the Ma'arach, and Shlomo Cohen-Tsiddon (1923–), an Egyptian born Knesset member of the Herut-Liberal bloc.

INTRODUCTION

On June 5 1967, after months of border skirmishes and diplomatic arguments and fearing an attack by a united Arab force, Israel launched pre-emptive air strikes against Egypt. In so doing it wiped out almost the entire Egyptian air force and precipitated a major regional conflict that also embroiled Jordan, Syria and Iraq. Over the following week the Israeli army waged an effective war before a ceasefire was agreed on June 11. By this time, Israel's territory had trebled in size, then occupying the Sinai Desert, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza.

What became known as the Six-Day War would have enormous consequences for Middle Eastern politics for years to come. The speed and relative ease of military victory was a surprise to Israeli military planners second only to the size of the territorial gains war had brought. To neighboring Arab nations, this was as much a disaster.

In 1948, the establishment of Israel was closely followed by a mass immigration of Jewish communities to Israel that had lived in Arab countries for centuries. In 1948, the Jewish population of Arab countries numbered around 850,000. Within twenty years this stood at between 150,000-200,000, although not all who had left had moved to Israel.

Israel's Law of Return gave the right to settlement of any Jewish born person within its borders, but the reasons for population shifts were many. Though some emigrated for religious reasons, many others moved because of economic imperatives. A better standard of life was promised in Israel, or generous incentives to emigrate made the move appealing. A third group were impelled to emigrate to Israel because of expulsion from their homelands, or because of the human rights violations that followed Israel's war of independence.

Both during and after Israel's War of Independence anti-Jewish riots and violence broke out across the Middle East. Forty-four Jews were killed during rioting in Morocco; in Cairo, a campaign of bomb attacks on Jewish property and businesses killed seventy. In Aden, which had a substantial Jewish community, a number of pogroms took place, while Libya witnessed both rioting and the destruction of synagogues. The situation worsened when post-colonial independence came to many of these countries in the 1950s. Anti-Jewish legislation and restriction on movement were frequently features of the statute books of these newly independent states.

The Six-Day War sparked intense Arab frustration. Anger at Israel's victory and its growing power in the region soon spilled over into violence on streets across the Middle East.

PRIMARY SOURCE

21 June 1967 (13 Sivan 5727).

A. Hassin (Ma'arach):

Mr. Speaker, distinguished Knesset, almost 150,000 Jews still live in Moslem coun tries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. When some of those countries became independent certain Jews left for other countries, while those who remained demonstrated their loyalty and expected to be given the same rights as everyone else…. This, however, was not borne out by circumstances. The Jews were treated as second-class citizens … subjected to officially-sanctioned harassment and attack … and made a general capegoat….

In the last few days two Jews were murdered in Morocco, others were ortured and a great deal of property was stolen. In Tunisia many Jews were beaten, including old people and pregnant women, stores were looted and the great and beautiful synagogue was desecrated and destroyed. In Egypt a large umber of Jews were imprisoned. They were tortured in ways invented by the Nazis and no one paid any heed to the cries of the young and the old…. In Libya Jews were beaten and slaughtered by mobs…. We have heard disturbing umors about the fate of our brethren in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, where they cower in fear and trembling behind the locked doors of their homes…. We have heard that the Jewish community of Aden has been wiped out brutally…. Meanwhile the world sits idly by, no country protesting or intervening or even displaying any pity or concern….

All the powers have representatives in the countries I have mentioned, and they undoubtedly saw what was being done to the Jews there … but they said and did nothing … yet at the same time we are attacked in international forums by those countries, in words and deeds, we, who protect our citizens, who constantly extend our hand in peace, who respect others and do not interfere in the sovereign affairs of other countries…. The riots and killings have never been placed on the agenda of the U.N. Assembly…. We, the bearers of the vision: "and the wolf shall lie down with the lamb," "nation shall not lift up the sword against nation," and "they shall beat their swords into plowshares," are persecuted in the Moslem countries…. The representatives of some of the Powers dare to place us in the dock. Blood has flowed like water, peace-loving youngsters and defenders of the Holy Land have been killed … but the U.N. has said nothing…. It is blind and deaf when we are affected….

I know that the government is concerned about this and is doing what it can at this fateful hour … but the rioters act faster and there is no one to put out the fire in the Jewish quarters in the Moslem countries. That is why the government and the nation should take more vigorous action to place this subject on the agenda of the world and put an end to the suffering of our brethren…. I must add a word of praise for King Hassan of Morocco and President Bourguiba of Tunisia, who condemned the rioters, arrested some of them and issued orders to guard the Jewish quarters. This ad very little effect, for in the final event it is the voice of the people which decides…. In view of the importance of the issue … I would like the Knesset to discuss it….

S. Cohen-Sidon (sic) (Gahal):

Mr. Speaker, distinguished Knesset, from the moment the Arab leaders regarded the Jewish people's liberation movement, namely, Zionism, whereby the return of the Jewish people to its ancient homeland and its redemption from the oppression of the diaspora is fulfilled, as a rival to the movement to liberate the Arab peoples from the yoke of foreigners, mobs have been incited from above and have vented their anger on the Jewish minority living in Arab countries. Our brethren there have suffered persecution, murder, rape and the burning of synagogues. Whenever the Arab leaders have been unsuccessful in implementing their threats against our state, and whenever they realize that there is an immense gap between their speeches and the results of their machinations against us, mobs are inflamed and sent to conduct pogroms against defense less Jews….

At the beginning of the week several Knesset Members, myself included, submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister which said inter alia: "The State of Israel has absorbed some 750,000 Jews who resided formerly in Arab countries. These Jews, who … are full and equal citizens of Israel today and an integral part of the country's economic, political and social life, can easily be regarded as former residents of the Arab countries who have made room for the Arabs who lived in the territory of Israel prior to the establishment of the state and who live in Arab countries today, although still designated 'refugees.'.

Information has reached us of murders and damage to the persons and property of the Jews of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria. We appeal to the Prime Minister and voice our protest at these riots, demanding that the International Red Cross and the U.N. intervene immediately to rescue these Jews.

Just as the international organizations came to the aid of the Arabs known as refugees and who live among their people today, the same international organizations should extend their protection to the Jews in Arab countries and transfer them to Europe, where they will be able to choose where to go next….

Since the establishment of the State of Israel … the vast majority of the Jewish communities in the Arab countries has left … most of them being absorbed by Israel … and the great part of their property having been left behind and confiscated by the governments of the countries concerned…. In effect, there has been a population exchange between the Arab countries and Israel, counterbalancing the demands made on behalf of the Arab refugees by the Arab governments…. The Arab countries did not stand the test of minimal tolerance where a small Jewish minority was concerned…. I note this with deep disappointment, because the Arabs, and the Moslems in particular, were noted for their tolerance and have played a distinguished role in the annals of Jewish-Moslem cooperation. I would like to use this opportunity to appeal to the Arab peoples to cease to be influenced by European Nazi theories of race, which fit neither the Arab character nor the principles of Islam….

By agreeing to the transfer of 750,000 Jews from the Arab countries to their ancient homeland of Israel, the Arab rulers recognized that Israel was the homeland of the Jews, yet they nonetheless continue to clamor that the Arabs must return to Palestine, and since no one takes any notice of them they incite the masses to attack defense less Jews….

I ask the Knesset to transmit our protest against the aforementioned riots to all the parliaments of the world, the International Red Cross and the U.N. institutions. I would like our representatives to take this opportunity of stressing that for the last twenty years there has been a population exchange between the Arabs who lived formerly in Israel and the Jews who lived in Arab countries, and that the Arab countries must return the private and communal property of the Jews who lived there to their representatives in Israel or pay appropriate compensation for it….

The Prime Minister, L. Eshkol:

Mr. Speaker, distinguished Knesset, the two previous speakers did well to bring the plight of the Jews in certain Arab countries before the Knesset…. There are approximately 100,000 Jews still in Arab countries, most of them concentrated in two or three countries…. The attitude of the various Arab countries to the Jews residing there varies, and we should be careful not to make sweeping generalizations….

During the last few days several governments have begun to persecute the Jews and the Jewish communities…. In Egypt Jews are arrested and deported. In other countries official broadcasts incited the public against Israel and the Jews. In others, including Libya, Iraq and Aden, there were attacks and pogroms. In some places the authorities acted to put a stop to these attacks and protect the Jews…. We know from our long and bitter history that if a government wishes to stop attacks on Jews it can, and if it does nothing or encourages them, the attacks will continue….

Israel's ability to protect Jews in Arab countries is, regrettably, limited…. Our activities in this sphere are usually conducted via outside agencies of various kinds, including those bodies which have been mentioned here…. Needless to say, the nation, the Knesset and the Government are as shocked and distressed by the news as the distinguished Members of the Knesset who spoke on the subject…. We are doing everything we can to prevent riots and the shedding of Jewish blood. For obvious reasons, I will not go into detail as to the situation and our activities in the various countries. I am prepared to discuss it and submit additional information in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee if the subject is transferred to it…. I propose that the speakers agree that the subject be transferred to the appropriate committee for further debate.

(The proposal to transfer the subject to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is adopted.).

SIGNIFICANCE

The concerns expressed in the Knesset were not without basis, either in history or contemporary fact. After the Six-Day War, riots against Jews in Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen broke out. In Libya, violence was so severe that the country's remaining Jewish population of around 4,000 was evacuated en masse to Italy.

While some governments, notably that of Morocco, moved to protect their Jewish populations, others used the aftermath of the Six-Day War to persecute their Jewish communities. In Egypt, the government of Gamal Abdul Nasser ordered the round up of around 500 prominent Jews and incarcerated them without charge or trial for months, before releasing them on the condition that they relinquished all their property and citizenship rights. A number of Syria's Jews met a similar fate.

The plight of Jews following the Six-Day War hastened efforts to extricate them from Arab countries. Zionist organizations helped organize their emigration to Israel, western Europe or the United States. There are today less than 10,000 Jews living in Arab countries and most of the remainder of Jewish immigration from the Arab world took place in the years following the Six-Day War. In the 1970s, concern for Jewish minorities suffering human rights abuses turned to Iran and the USSR and large scale immigration took place from these nations during that period.

Human rights abuses against Jews living in the Arab World were not, however, universal nor always systemically carried out with state backing. In Morocco, King Hassan II (1929–1999), retained an invitation for Moroccan Jews to return and provided funds to maintain the synagogues and some of the homes of exiled Jews. It is noticeable that in many Moroccan villages the best kept building is often an abandoned synagogue. Today, only around 5,000 Moroccan Jews remain out of a pre-1948 population of more than 250,000. Critics of Jewish emigration from largely benevolent countries such as Morocco say that the mass emigration of historically ancient Jewish populations have helped feed the polarization of the current Arab-Israeli conflict.