L'Exode oublié – Juifs des pays arabes
By Moïse Rahmani
A very topical and fitting title for a book dedicated to all Jews from Arab lands most of whom were expelled (940,000) post 1948. It coincides nicely with the Conference on "Jews from Arab Lands".
It is still unfortunately true to say today that Arab PR has been effective at distorting our heritage in the eyes of the general public.
The preface by Alexandre del Valle (author of "The Totalitarisme islamiste a l'assaut des démocraties"), speak out against the – negation de l'identité autochtone – which has gained credence and demonises Jews and Israel's image abroad.
A related aspect is how traditional Europe anti-Semitism has mutated into a new so called "judeophobie" particularly among the new generation Arabs and Moslems. The recent BBC program "Blame the Jews" presented by David Aaronovitch was direct proof of such trend in the UK and elsewhere and the chapter "Antijudaïsme au quotidian" provides useful information. The book will become a standard and it would be very nice to hear from members' what they think of it.
The book is also a first class read including varied material from different contributors piecing together a truly incredible history, from happy times to difficult times in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, and Iraq. It is impossible to pick out one example to illustrate the book but I did find Rahmani's chapter "pages de vie" beautifully written and the chapter "les Juifs de Nasser" reproduced from "l'Express" of 1967 quite a gripping account of the tragic experiences of Berto Farhi (but not the only one).
The book is in French but I would hope that translations will be done to widen its readership. This is an important and timely contribution to the process of "telling our story". It concludes with Rahmani's ideal community "en forme d'espoir : Ma communauté idéale". Inchallah !
Maurice Maleh
L'Exode Oublié is published by Editions Raphael and can be ordered on Amazon France for €25 plus postage.
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