THE FORGOTTEN ALIYAH & LAW OF RETURN

I would like to supplement my previous article ( 5 ALIYOT PLUS 1) with what is often refered to as "THE FORGOTTEN ALIYA", which refers to the mass exodus of Jews from those countries that supported the PAN ARABISM MOVEMENT which fueled the rise of ARAB NATIONALISM.

In 1945 there were approxianately 850,000 Jews living in the various Arab states. Many of their communities dating back 2500 years, more than 1000 years before the birth of Islam in 622. From 1945 onwards, there was a rise in anti-semitism which manifested as anti-Jewish riots that surfaced in many of the aforementioned countries . Many Jews were murdered & imprisoned. Zionism was considered a crime & dentention without trial was common. Property, personel belongings & businesses were confiscated. Jews were in some cases expelled from the country and in other cases prevented from emmigrating. Freedom of movement was often restricted & Jews were forced to live in specific neighborhoods. In some instances seperate I.D. cards were issued & citizenship revoked. Many Jewish schools were either vandalized or destroyed. Jews were removed & banned from holding government & military positions. Financialy it has been estimated that the combined Jewish losses amounted to about 950 Billion dollars.

Approximately 600,000 of the 850,000 Jews sought refuge in Israel and were fully absorbed into the society. This claim is further reinforced by the present day demographic makeup of Israel, inwhich slightly more than half the Jewish population originated from North African and Middle Eastern countries. Thus the claim often made by many of Israel's adversaries that all Jews are Ashkenazi in origin is false. Ashkenazi Jews are those Jews that lived in the Rhineland valley & neighbouring France before their migration eastwards to Slavic lands (e.g., Poland, Lithuania, Russia) from the 11th - 13th centuries as a consequence of the savagery of the Crusades .

Following are a few examples from an extensive list of prominent Mizrachi Jews. ( Mizrachi Jews being those who originated from either North Africa or the Middle East):

MILITARY & POLITICAL FIGURES : Avigdor Kahalani, former minister of Internal Security and decorated IDF tank commander : (Yemenite descent) Moshe Katsav, former President of the State of Israel and minister of Transportation : (Iranian descent). Shaul Mofaz, former Israeli Minister of Defense and chief of the IDF General Staff : ( Iranian descent). Gabi Ashkenazi , former IDF Chief of Staff : (Syrian descent). Eli Cohen, the legendary Israeli spy in Syria who was executed in 1965 : (Egyptian descent). Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas political party : (Moroccan descent ).

RELIGIOUS FIGURES : Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the current Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem : (Moroccan descent). Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel : (Persian descent). Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and spiritual leader of the Shas political party : (Iraqi descent).

SPORTS PEOPLE :

Victor Perez, boxer : (Tunisian descent). Yossi Benayoun, former Israeli soccer player for Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal : ( Moroccan descent). Shahar Tzuberi, Israeli Olympic medalist in Windsurfing : (Yemenite descent).

WRITERS & ACADEMICS :

Orly Castel Bloom, Israeli Hebrew writer : (Egyptian descent). Sami Michael, Israeli Hebrew writer : (Iraqi descent). Samir Naqqash, Israeli Jewish writer in Arab language : (Iraqi descent). Avshalom Elitzur, Israeli physicist, noted for the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-testing problem in quantum mechanics : (Iranian descent)

ENTERTAINERS :

Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress, won the Eurovision Song Contest : (Yemenite descent) Yossi Banai, Israeli singer and actor : (Persian descent). Yizhar Cohen, Israeli singer, won the Eurovision Song Contest : (Yemenite family). Dana International, Israeli pop singer, won the Eurovision Song Contest : (Yemenite descent). Yehoram Gaon, Israeli singer and actor : (Bosnian Jewish Father & Turkish Jewish mother). Sarit Hadad, Israeli born singer decended from the Mountain Jews : (From the Caucasses). Achinoam Nini ("Noa"), Israeli born pop singer : (Yemenite decent). Rita, Israeli pop singer : (Iranian descent).

The LAW OF RETURN is an Israeli Law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews the right to come and live in Israel and to gain Israeli citizenship. Section 1 of the Law of Return declares: "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [immigrant]." The "Palestinians" claim that the law of return is also their right, Arafat having been born in Egypt & Abu Mazen in Tsfat. However the right of return is not dependent on where you were born, but is dependent on the covenant inwhich God gave the land of Canaan to the Jews as an everlasting possession. The covenant was first made with Abraham (Genesis 15:18), renewed with Isaac, not Ishmael (Genesis 26 : 3) and again renewed with Jacob, not Esau (Genesis 28:13).

Note : I have deliberately left out the Ethiopian Aliyot as this occurred at a later date & deserves a separate article. However it is important to note that the Ethiopian community was also subjected to similar violence & discriminatory measures as mentioned above.

Ron Traub (Tour Guide & Architect) Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo's : Downloaded from the internet.