Country: Egypt

Group: Jewish

Date Finalized: 4/20/21

Team: Rayna Castillo (lead), Hannah Goldman, Johanna McCombs

Content Warning: anti-Semitism, forced labor, forced relocation, religious violence

Approximate Time Period: 1948-present

There is evidence that the Jewish community experienced forced displacement in Egypt.

The Jewish community has been present in Egypt for thousands of years (Minority Rights Group International, 2017). However, after World War II and the establishment of Israel as a state, relations between the Arabs and Israelis deteriorated, resulting in hostility towards the Jewish community in Egypt by both the state and its citizens (Minority Rights Group International, 2017; World Jewish Congress, 2018). In 1948, anti-Jewish sentiment heightened during the War of Independence, with many Jewish people forced to leave the country in order to avoid deadly attacks, internment camps, and bombings of their homes and religious buildings (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2017; Minority Rights Group International, 2017). Between 1948 and 1958, approximately 35,000 Jews fled the country as a result (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2017). After the Sinai Campaign of 1956 and the Six-Day War in 1967, Egypt again persecuted its Jewish population, driving thousands more out of the country (Minority Rights Group International, 2017; World Jewish Congress, 2018). Although Egypt and Israel established a peace agreement in 1979, discrimination towards Jews remained (Minority Rights Group International, 2017). While an estimated 63,550 Jews resided in Egypt in 1937, by 2015 only an estimated 30 remained with continued reports of Jewish discrimination (Minority Rights Group International, 2017; World Jewish Congress, 2018). This is a clear case of forced away because the Egyptian state targeted and persecuted Jewish people on the basis of their identity, causing mass migrations of the population out of the country. The data quality for the evidence is a 3 because a substantial amount of consistent information is available from reliable sources; however, it is also important to note that one of these sources is directly from the Israeli government.

Sources

  1. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2017, November 30). Jewish refugees expelled from Arab lands and from Iran. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/Jewish-refugees-expelled-from-Arab-lands-and-from-Iran-29-November-2016.aspx
  2. Minority Rights Group International. (2017, October). World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Egypt: Jews of Egypt. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a0462157.html
  3. World Jewish Congress. (2018, March). Community in Egypt. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/EG