Key points
What to understand first
- Some Middle Eastern Jewish communities dated back to antiquity.
- Mizrahi and Sephardi histories are central to Israeli society.
- The Farhud was an Iraqi event with its own wartime and political context.
- The causes of departure differed substantially by country and period.
Documented history
Different places, distinct histories
Damascus Affair
- What happened
- Jews were accused through a blood libel; several were tortured.
- Responsible
- Local authorities acting on a fabricated accusation
- Why it matters
- The case prompted international Jewish advocacy across borders.
Farhud
- What happened
- A pogrom killed an estimated 150–180 Jews, injured hundreds and brought widespread looting.
- Responsible
- Iraqi rioters amid a wartime political crisis
- Why it matters
- It shattered confidence in the security of Iraq’s ancient Jewish community.
Large-scale departures
- What happened
- Jewish populations left through varied combinations of pressure, insecurity, policy, choice and Zionist migration.
- Responsible
- Causes differed by country and cannot be assigned to one actor.
- Why it matters
- These communities profoundly shaped Israel’s population and culture.
Ancient communities across the region
Jewish life in Iraq traced its history to the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BCE. Other long-established communities flourished across North Africa, Yemen, Iran, Syria, Egypt and the wider Ottoman and Islamic worlds, producing scholarship, commerce, music and literature.
The Farhud
During a political crisis in Baghdad on 1–2 June 1941, an anti-Jewish pogrom killed an estimated 150 to 180 Jews, injured hundreds and caused extensive looting. It devastated confidence in the security of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities. 67
No single exodus story
Jewish departures after 1948 cannot be reduced to one cause. In some countries there were expulsions or severe restrictions; elsewhere violence, confiscation, political instability, decolonisation, family networks, economic opportunity and the attraction of Zionism interacted differently. 37
A society gathered from many diasporas
Most Jews who left Arab and Muslim-majority countries settled in Israel; others moved to France, the Americas and elsewhere. Their languages, religious traditions, cuisine and music became enduring parts of Israeli national culture.
Evidence
Sources for this article
- S24Pogroms
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Anti-Jewish violence in the Russian Empire and its effects on migration and politics.
- S37Jews of the Middle East and North Africa
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Jewish communities across Arab and Muslim-majority countries before and after 1948.
- S67The Farhud
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The anti-Jewish pogrom in Baghdad and its Iraqi political context.