Language:
English
Year of publication:
1995
Titel der Quelle:
Middle Eastern Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
31,3 (1995) 573-619
Keywords:
Jews History 1945-
Abstract:
There were 80,000 Jews in Egypt in 1948, and only 300 in September 1970, when President Nasser died. Although antisemitism existed in Egypt in the 1930s-40s, the flight of Jews from the country was triggered by the events of 1947-48 (the UN resolution to partition Palestine and the ensuing Arab-Israeli war). However, the process of dissolution of Egypt's Jewish community was enhanced by the political and socioeconomic policies initiated in the mid-1950s, after the revolution in 1952 and Nasser's accession to power. The measures included police detention of Jews, sequestration of their businesses and property, expulsion from the country, and promulgation of legislation under which Jews were deprived of citizenship. The anti-Jewish campaign intensified in 1956-57 and in 1967-70, following military conflicts with Israel. Although other minorities in Egypt (Greeks, Armenians, etc.) also suffered from the nationalist policy of "Egypt for the Egyptians, " it was the Jews as a group, perceived as "Zionist enemy agents" who suffered the heaviest blow.
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