PDF Forgotten Millions: The Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands by Malka Hillel Shulewitz in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. For whom should there be restitution?By mblThis is not a 'page turner'; but the information within its pages is a heart rending opinion turner. For any Christians who thought that this Middle Eastern crisis was about the Palestinian displacement; they will be stunned at the slaughter;political and physical demise of the previously Christian majorities that had inhabited the Middle Eastern regions for thousands of years along with their Jewish neighbors before the forced conversion or death or 'dhimmi' status to Islam through conquerors and expulsion. It will also be an eye opener for Muslims; who like the rest of us; have been kept in the dark concerning this carefully ignored; hidden; conveniently forgotten history of those Christian and Jewish millions who were dispersed; robbed of their heritage; their homes; and their money.It should be required reading in high school; so that people come to their opinions based on facts and not spin.10 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Interesting discussion of minorities and refugeesBy Jill MalterThis book is a collection of nine articles that deal with the treatment of minorities in Arab lands in general; and the expulsion of Jews in particular.Mordechai Nisan begins with an discussion of the treatment of minorities by the Islamic world. That includes Jews; Copts; Armenians; Kurds; Maronites; Assyrians; and Berbers. He also asks about the status of those people who say they have been represented by Arafat. Such people have been at the forefront of the fight against minority rights. Are they really a minority as well?Next; Walid Phares gives a report on Middle Eastern Christians. He includes the ones in southern Sudan. It's similar in most places: the Christians are vanishing from the region. And there is a systematic; general; and political abandonment of these Christians by the West.Bat Ye'or talks about the role of dhimmitude in the exodus of the Jews from Arab countries. Dhimmis have no right to life; but must purchase it by humbly paying "protection money" to real people. Bat Ye'or reminds us that dhimmis are not slaves. They can and do earn money. That enables them to pay taxes. But they lack rights. For example; they are not permitted to defend themselves from physical attack by Muslims or testify against Muslims in court.The fact that dhimmis are not slaves does suggest a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel; by paying sufficient protection money and humbly apologizing for existing; might be tolerated as a dhimmi nation. And then again; it still might not be tolerated.Bat Ye'or reminds us that the Muslim world would be better off were it to denounce dhimmitude. Otherwise; Muslim relations with other nations will be adversely affected; as will interactions of Muslims and non-Muslims in the West.Harold Troper tells about the campaign to rescue Syrian Jews; and the role of the Canadian Jewish community in achieving this.Ya'akov Meran talks about Arab reactions to the claims of expelled Jews. One point he makes is that there have been multiple Arab requests for refugees from Israel to be paid back in land: that is; asking that Israel cede; say; a third of its land given that a third of the population in 1948 was expelled. He reminds us that 35;000 Jews were expelled from Libya; which at the time had a total population of less than one person per square kilometer. By Arab reasoning; Jews would be owed over 35;000 square kilometers from Libya alone (it gets more interesting when we add in nations such as Yemen or Iraq). The entire West Bank; Gaza Strip; and Golan is about 5;000 square kilometers.Malka Hillel Shulewitz and Raphael Israeli argue for resettling the Arab refugees who are at present in refugee camps. Given how quickly large numbers of refugees have been resettled in other population exchanges; there is no excuse to abide by Arab demands to keep the refugees in camps. In addition; the camps are breeding grounds for terrorism.Avi Beker shows how UN and UNRWA obstructionism has made the Arab refugee situation much worse. Yehuda Dominitz describes the absorption of 600;000 Jewish immigrants from Arab lands into Israel. And Pnina Morag-Talmon explains how all these immigrants have been integrated into Israeli society.What are we to conclude from all this? I think the book suggests that refugees need to be integrated into society and not used as shock troops to fight irredentist wars.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Comprehensive; detailed; clear and movingBy TiZFollowing the creation of the State of Israel over 800 000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands where they had lived for centuries. Today there are virtually no Jews remaining in Arab lands. The Jews from Arab lands and their descendants constitute nearly 45 percent of the Israeli population. This book; with chapters by various authors; recounts and explains the cruel treatment of non-Muslim minority groups throughout Arab lands historically; the expulsion of the Jews from Arab lands; its implications; and the subsequent resettlement of the majority of these refugees in Israel.The first four chapters describe the predicament of minorities; such as Jews and Christains; in the middle east under Islam. Of particular interest is a chapter by Bat Ye'or on the treatment of Jews and Christians (dhimmis) under Islam. There has historically existed systematic; deeply entrenched and stringently enforced legal; religious; economic and social programmes of discrimination against and humiliation of Jews and Christians who have refused to convert to Islam. Another chapter here describes the predicament of Christians who have suffered from massacres and genocide in such countries as Iraq; Egypt; Lebanon; Sudan; Iran and Saudi Arabia.The following section devotes three chapters to the legal and global aspects of the expulsion. The first chapter describes the expulsion as it occurred in Yemen; Saudi Arabia; Iraq; Libya; Syria; Egypt and Algeria. This expulsion is compared to the predicament of the Palestinian refugees of the Israeli War of Independence; and the relevance of the Jewish expulsion to the claims of the Palestinians is discussed.The next section devotes two chapters to describing in some detail the absorption and integration of the Jews from Arab lands into Israel; their accomplishments and trials.The book includes four Appendices. The first is the findings of the Tribunal relating to the claims of the Jews from Arab lands; by Justice Arthur J.Goldberg; concluding that the violation of the personal and property rights of the Jews from Arab lands should be acknowledged by Arab states and fair compensation rendered. The second appendix includes the evidence of four witnesses before the Tribunal. The accounts (such as that of a girl from Baghdad who was tortured and gang-raped when she was 12 for refusing to "confess" to the Bath political party of the defence ministry that her family were spies for Israel) are frightening and moving.Thus the book offers a detailed discussion of the ancient and modern experiences of Jews from Arab lands; their achievements and tribulations; along with personal accounts. It explores many aspects of these subjects with clarity and sensitivity. This book is; in my opinion; essential reading for anyone interested in modern Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict.