MARTIN GILBERT IN ISHmael’s HOUSE A HISTORY OF JEWS IN MUSLIM lanDS YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN AND LONDON This book is dedicated to the 13 million Jews and the 1,300 million Muslims in the world in the hope that they may renew in the Twenty-First Century the mutual tolerance, respect and partnership that marked many periods in their history GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd vviiii 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd vviiiiii 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM CONTENTS List of Photographs | xi List of Maps | xiii Acknowledgements | xiv A Note on Transliteration and Dating | xvii Introduction | xviii 1. Before Islam | 1 2. The Prophet Mohammed and the Jews | 8 3. Protection or Persecution? | 27 4. The First Four Hundred Years Under Islam | 39 5. Jews and Muslims in the Age of the Crusades | 54 6. The Ottoman Sultans and Other Muslim Rulers, 1324–1699 | 74 7. The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries | 93 8. Progress and Peril: Towards the Twentieth Century | 110 9. The First Years of the Twentieth Century and the Emergence of Zionism | 127 10. Jewish and Arab Nationalism: The First World War and After | 144 11. The Nineteen Thirties | 162 12. The Second World War: A Time of Danger | 178 13. Towards Liberation, and an Uncertain Future | 198 14. The United Nations Palestine Partition Resolution | 208 15. The Creation of the State of Israel, 14 May 1948 | 217 16. Iraq, 1948–1952 | 237 GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd iixx 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM 17. Egypt, 1951–1961 | 251 18. The Exodus Continues, 1950–1967 | 265 19. The Six-Day War of 1967 and Its Aftermath | 282 20. A New Life in New Lands | 310 21. The Search for Recognition | 325 22. Jews Who Remain in Muslim Lands | 335 Maps | 355 Glossary | 375 Bibliography | 379 Index | 398 GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd x 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS 1. A Jewish woman brings her merchandise to the Harem, Istanbul, 1714 2. A Jewish doctor in a Muslim land: a Seventeenth-Century print 3. A Jewish merchant in a Muslim land: a Seventeenth-Century print 4. A pre-1914 manhole cover of the Alliance Israélite Universelle school system, Jerusalem 5. The Yambol Synagogue, Istanbul 6. A Jewish offi cial in the Ottoman Empire, before 1914 7. A Jewish wedding in Izmir, Ottoman Turkey, 1910 8. Jewish delegates from the Tenth Zionist Congress, Basel, 1911 9. Jewish women in the Moroccan city of Tetuan, 1925 10. Jewish girls in Tunis, 1931 11. Jewish boy scouts in Alexandria, Egypt, 1932 12. An Egyptian Prince congratulates the Maccabiah team, Cairo, 1935 13. A wedding ceremony at the Neve Shalom Synagogue, Cairo, circa 1935 14. The synagogue and Jewish Quarter in Zawia, Libya, after the pogrom of 1945 15. A Jewish home in Zawia, looted during the 1945 pogrom 16. Libyan Jewish schoolgirls 17. Libyan Jewish schoolboys 18. A Jewish woman searched at the dockside, before leaving Tripoli 19. Libyan Jews leaving Tripoli by ship 20. Hashid Camp, Aden, during Operation Magic Carpet, 1949 GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd xxii 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM 21. Yemeni Jews on a plane from Aden to Israel, 1949 22. Tented camps in Israel for immigrants from Muslim lands 23. A Jew from Yemen at work on the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem highway, 1948 24. Iraqi Jews on a plane to Israel, 1951 25. Iraqi Jews landing at Lod Airport, Israel, 1951 26. Jewish refugees from Egypt on board a ship arriving at Haifa Port 27. Two elderly Jews on Djerba Island, Tunisia, 1958 28. Jews from Morocco celebrate the festival of Mamouna in Jeru- salem, 1984 29. Memorial to the Jews killed in Aden in December 1947: Ho- lon, Israel, 2009 GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd xxiiii 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM LIST OF MAPS 1. The conquests of Islam by 750, and towns with large Jewish communities | 356 2. Jewish communities in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Mohammed | 357 3. Jewish traders in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries | 358 4. Jewish communities in Spain during Muslim rule, 711–1236 | 359 5. Jews seeking refuge in Muslim lands from Christian persecu- tion, 1012–1540 | 360 6. The Ottoman Empire in 1850 | 361 7. Jewish communities in Ottoman Palestine by 1914 | 362 8. Birthplaces of Jews born in Muslim lands, deported to their deaths from France, 1942–1944 | 363 9. Former Jewish communities in Morocco | 364 10. Former Jewish communities in Algeria and the area around Algiers | 365 11. Former Jewish communities in Tunisia | 366 12. Former Jewish communities in Libya | 366 13. Former Jewish communities in Egypt | 367 14. Former Jewish communities in Lebanon | 368 15. Former Jewish communities in Syria | 369 16. Former Jewish communities in Iraq | 370 17. Former Jewish communities in Iran | 371 18. Former Jewish communities in Afghanistan and the Khanate of Bukhara | 372 19. Former Jewish communities in Yemen | 373 20. The ‘Second Exodus,’ 1947–1957 | 374 GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd xxiiiiii 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS he idea for this book came from the late Israel Asper, head of Tthe Asper Foundation of Winnipeg, Canada, who, shortly before he died, suggested it as a topic for me. The trustees of the Asper Foundation took up his idea after his death and enabled me to pur- sue it by making available the resources of the Foundation. Their enthusiasm, and that of Moses Levy, Executive Director, and Jeffrey Morry, Senior Program Manager, of the Asper Foundation, has been a constant support. At no point has the Asper Foundation sought editorial control. Throughout the course of my writing, the sustained encourage- ment and support of Sir Ronald Cohen and Sir Harry Solomon, two special friends, has meant a great deal to me, and has considerably enhanced the book. They have been an inspiration to me in telling this much- neglected story. My publisher, McClelland & Stewart of Toronto, has been support- ive from the outset. I am grateful to the company and its staff, and to Doug Pepper, Susan Renouf, Marilyn Biderman, Aruna Dahanayake, Anne Holloway and Chris Bucci, for helping produce this volume to the highest standards. My Canadian literary agent and friend, Michael Levine, has been a font of encouragement. Roy Bishko made an important contribution toward the preparation of the maps. The car- tographer Tim Aspden, with his usual skill and patience, has turned my rough drafts into maps of the highest quality. I am grateful above all to those Jews, born in Muslim lands, who have helped me with my search for material and encouraged me in my task, among them: Dr. Ada Aharoni, Lord Alliance, Mordechai Ben- Porat, Mordechai Bibi, Samuel J. Cohen, Dr. Naim E. Dangoor GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd xxiviv 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM OBE, Ellis Douek, Bertha Fattal, Shahnaz Keypour Feinstein, Robert Khalifa, Marc Khedr, Raphael N. Luzon, Naim S. Mahlab, Jacob and Odette Masliyah, Tania Pardo, Tony Rocca, Claudia Roden, Tova Murad Sadka, Professor Victor D. Sanua, Myriam Schechter Wolf, David R. Shama, Edwin Shuker, Vivianne M. Silver, Julian Sofaer, Eli Timan, Edna Turner (Anzarut), Suzy Vidal (Sultana Latifa), Regina Waldman (Bulbil), Ovadia Yerushalmy, Levana Zamir and Aida Zelouf. The literature on the history of Jews in Arab and Muslim lands is vast. Books and articles, academic volumes and personal memoirs, have explored every one of the fourteen countries involved. They have also explored the themes that recur throughout the story of the age- old relationship of Jews and Muslims. I have tried to do justice to this large body of published work, without which no book can be written on the subject. The bibliography in this book refl ects my own indebtedness, and that of the reader. I am also indebted to those historians without whose pioneering work this book could not have been written, in particular: Michel Abitbol, Mark R. Cohen, W.J. Fischel, S.D. Goitein, H.Z. Hirschberg, David Levering Lewis, Maurice M. Roumani, Robert Satloff and Norman A. Stillman. Important suggestions as to form and content have been made by David Matas, Allan Levine and Stanley Urman. Many people have sent me material or put me in touch with those who could. I would like to thank in particular: Hilary E. Appell, L.L. Amior, Barbara Barnett, Daniel Behar, Emily Blanck, David Cohen, Mark Durie, Oded Eran, Dan Gillerman, Nayim Güleryüz, Danna Harman, Rabbi Aubrey Hersh, General J.F.R. Jacob, Tammy and David Kovler, Douglas Krikler, John Krivine, Rabbi N.S. Liss, Roger E. Nixon, Yoni Ozdana, Orly Rahimyan, Ken Robbins, Tony Rocca, Debra Roth, Taffy Sassoon, Rabbi Barry Schlesinger, Ruth Schweitzer, Natalie Shamash, Margaret Shannon, Morey and Barbara Shapira, Linda Shapiro, Steven Solarz, Eri Steimatzky, Judy Stoffman, Dr. Romeo Vecht, Enid Wurtman and Ben- Dror Yemini. I am grate- ful to Bat Ye’or, Andrew G. Bostom and David Littman for patiently answering my queries about their work. Judy Feld Carr talked to me about her efforts to free the Jews of Syria. Professor Paul Fenton GGilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.inddilb_9780771033698_4p_all_r1.indd xxvv 33/16/10/16/10 44:06:06 PPMM translated for me Abraham ibn Ezra’s ode on the Almohad persecu- tions. Professor Etan Kohlberg gave me the benefi t of his extensive knowledge of early Islam. For allowing me to use photographs in their collections, I am grateful to Beth Hatefutsoth Photo Archive, the Nahum Goldman Museum of the Diaspora, Tel Aviv; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Ada Aharoni, Gourji C. Bekhor, Naim Dangoor and Maurice Roumani.