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The Sephardi Bulletin vol 57, N° 5, september-october 2003
L'Exode oublié: juifs des pays arabes
by Moïse Rahmani ( Editions Raphaël, Paris 2003) Euro 20.
This book retraces the history of the Jews in Arab countries and their mass exodus, mainly between 1948 and 1960. The statistics are brutally eloquent: 940,800 Jews lived in those countries in 1948. Fewer than 4,300 remained in 2002.
A chapter devoted to each country recalls the history of the Jewish community and catalogues the periods of prosperity, the persecutions and vexations throughout the centuries, as well as the ill-treatment of those interned in recent years. The narrative debunks the myth that ?there were no pogroms in Arab countries?, although these were certainly not on the same scale as in Europe. Whilst the discrimination, taxation and subservience of dhimmitude (protection accorded to second class citizens) applied to Christians and Jews in Muslim countries, Jews were often singled out for particular humiliation. For instance, in Tunisia the head of the Jewish community was ceremoniously slapped across the face in public every year. From 1846, Jews in Yemen were forced to clean toilets and sewers. This is one reason why the local Imam refused to allow them to leave in 1948.
The historical narrative is enriched by enlightening first-hand accounts. These men and women generally look back on their youth in the Arab countries with affection and nostalgia. Having rebuilt their lives often under difficult circumstances, they would not consider returning to live in their country of birth. Most have returned as tourists: very few say that they would never again set foot there. With one or two exceptions, they do not harbour feelings of resentment or hatred.
This book is a timely reminder of the plight and dispossession of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, whose number largely exceeds the Palestinian refugees whom world opinion currently seems exclusively to focus on. Concisely written, well-documented and with some interesting appendices, it deserves to be translated into English to reach a wider audience.
Alec Nacamuli
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