1. “Unitary Palestine Fails in Committee,” New York Times, Nov. 25, 1947, p. 9. [BACK]

2. For example, AJC, A Report on the Situation in Egypt (Jan. 1949), AJC/FAD-1, Box 12, Foreign Countries, Egypt, 1948–49; WJC, The Treatment of Jews in Egypt and Iraq (1948), MHT A-1/92.12; Nehemiah Robinson [for WJC], The Arab Countries of the Near East and Their Jewish Communities (1951), MHT A-1/33.9; American Jewish Congress, The Black Record: Nasser's Persecution of Egyptian Jewry (New York: American Jewish Congress, 1957). Don Peretz, “Egyptian Jews Today” (New York, AJC, 1956, mimeographed) and S. Landshut, Jewish Communities in the Muslim Countries of the Middle East: A Survey (London: Jewish Chronicle Association, 1950), prepared for AJC and the Anglo-Jewish Association, are far more judicious than the typical publications of this era. [BACK]

3. Ian Lustick, Arabs in the Jewish State: Israel's Control of a National Minority (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1980). [BACK]

4. This definition of the conflict in material terms is based on Gershon Shafir, Land, Labour and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 1882–1904 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989). [BACK]

5. al-Siyasa al-‘usbu‘iyya, Nov. 5, 1938, pp. 3–4. [BACK]

6. Information in the next three paragraphs is drawn from James P. Jankowski, “Egyptian Responses to the Palestine Problem in the Interwar Period,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 12 (no. 1, 1980):1–38; James P. Jankowski, “Zionism and the Jews in Egyptian National Opinion, 1920–1939,” in Amnon Cohen and Gabriel Baer (eds.), Egypt and Palestine: A Millennium of Association (868–1948) (Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 1984), pp. 314–31. [BACK]

7. al-Ahram, Sept. 29, 1929, p. 1. [BACK]

8. Information in the next two paragraphs is drawn from Thomas Mayer, Egypt and the Palestine Question, 1936–1945 (Berlin: Klaus, Schwarz Verlag, 1983), pp. 298 ff; Michael M. Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, 1920–1970 (New York: New York University Press, 1992), pp. 84–93. [BACK]

9. Rif‘at al-Sa‘id, interview, Cairo, May 22, 1986. [BACK]

10. A French translation of the letter, apparently made by British intelligence, appears in “Matzav ha-yehudim be-mitzrayim, 1938–1948,” CZA S25/5218. [BACK]

11. Maurice Fargeon (ed.), Annuaire des Juifs d'Egypte et du proche-orient, 1944 (Cairo: Societé des Editions Historiques des Juives d'Egypte, 1944), p. 111. [BACK]

12. Excerpt from letter (no names given) of Feb. 16, 1948, CZA S25/9034/899/71. [BACK]

13. Maurice Mizrahi, L'Egypte et ses Juifs: Le temps revolu, xixe et xxe siècles (Geneva: Imprimerie Avenir, 1977) p. 120. [BACK]

14. For example, Gibra’il Du‘ayq, “al-Da‘aya al-sahyuniyya,” al-Ahram, July 18, 1948. [BACK]

15. Anonymous letter of a Jewish prisoner in El-Tor (where conditions were much worse than in Huckstep or Abu Qir) to Jewish prisoners in Huckstep asking them to help free them, “Mitzrim, El Tor, Huckstep,” YTM. Other sources state that as many as 1,000 Jews were interned, but this figure usually includes Jewish communists and a certain inflation due to distance from the spot. [BACK]

16. Gudrun Krämer, The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914–1952 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1989), p. 212. [BACK]

17. Efraim S. “Skirah ktzarah "al matzav ha-‘aliyah mi-mitzrayim,” July 24, 1949, CZA S20/552 (no subdivision indicated). [BACK]

18. AJC, A Report on the Jewish Situation in Egypt, pp. 10–11; Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, pp. 127–29. [BACK]

19. Mario Perez, interview, Paris, June 2, 1994. [BACK]

20. al-Ahram, June 21, 1948, p. 3; al-Kalim, July 1, 1948; Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, p. 133. [BACK]

21. Rabbi Avraham Gabr, interview, Ramlah, Jan. 11, 1993. [BACK]

22. al-Kalim, July 1, 16, Aug. 1, 1948. The paper did not appear at all on Aug. 16, Sept. 1, and Sept. 16; Maurice Shammas, interview, Jerusalem, May 5, 1994. [BACK]

23. al-Ahram, July 16, 1948; AJC, A Report on the Jewish Situation in Egypt, p. 24–32. [BACK]

24. al-Ahram, July 20, Sept. 23, 1948; Richard P. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 63–64. [BACK]

25. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, pp. 58–79. [BACK]

26. Ibid., p. 71. [BACK]

27. Campbell to Bevin, Oct. 4, 1948, Great Britain, FO 371/69250. [BACK]

28. Ben Ya‘akov le-menahel mahleket ha-mizrah ha-tikhon, Apr. 17, 1949, “Matzav ha-yehudim be-mitzrayim, 1948–1952,” CZA S20/552/851/71/9776. [BACK]

29. Vaena was the leading exporter of onions, Egypt's third largest source of foreign currency. In 1965, the Nasser regime sequestered his assets, and he immigrated to France. Months later, unable to market its onion crop, the government invited Vaena to return and resume his commercial activity. He did so but was disappointed by his reception and treatment and died soon after his return to Egypt. See Maurice Mizrahi, “The Role of Jews in Economic Development,” in Shimon Shamir (ed.), The Jews of Egypt: A Mediterranean Society in Modern Times (Boulder: Westview Press, 1987), pp. 92–93. [BACK]

30. Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, p. 187. The Israeli census of 1961 records 14,895 immigrants from Egypt and Sudan who arrived in Israel from 1948 to 1951, and 15,872 for 1948–54. These figures are somewhat lower than those presented by Laskier, who relies largely on Jewish Agency records and makes no effort to resolve any of the inconsistencies in his sources. Part of the discrepancy is probably due to those who died or left Israel. All the emigration figures presented in this chapter are approximations based on my interpretation of those presented by Laskier and other sources. [BACK]

31. Ibid. [BACK]

32. This estimate is based on a collation of conflicting figures. Others whose estimates are similar include Krämer, The Jews in Modern Egypt, p. 221, and Institute of Jewish Affairs, WJC, “Egypt in September, 1957” (New York, Sept. 30, 1957), p. 3, MHT D-6/51.5. [BACK]

33. Dr. Isaac I. Schwartzbart, “Toward Unity between Sephardim and Ashkenazim” and “Comparative Chart of the Sephardim in the World Jewish Population, 1950–54” (New York, WJC Organization Department, Apr. 1954), p. 4, CZA Z6/852. [BACK]

34. Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, pp. 164–98; Shlomo Barad, “ha-Pe‘ilut ha-tzionit be-mitzrayim, 1917–1952,” Shorashim ba-mizrah 2 (1989): 65–127; Shlomo Barad et al. (eds.), Haganah yehudit be-artzot ha-mizrah: rav-siah shlishi, ha-ha‘apalah be-mitzrayim, 25 februar 1985 (Efal: Yad Tabenkin, ha-Mahon le-Heker ha-Tnu’ah ha-Tzionit ve-ha-Halutzit be-Artzot ha-Mizrah, ha-Mahon le-Heker Koah ha-Magen, 1986), especially the testimony of David Harel. [BACK]

35. David Harel and Benny Aharon, interview, Tel Aviv, Mar. 25, 1993; Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, pp. 183–85. [BACK]

36. Ben Ya‘akov le-menahel mahleket ha-mizrah ha-tikhon, Apr. 17, 1949, “Matzav ha-yehudim be-mitzrayim, 1948–1952,” CZA S20/552/851/71/9776. [BACK]

37. Amin Lisha‘, “al-Isra’iliyun wa’l-jinsiyya al-misriyya,” al-Kalim, Nov. 15, 1949, p. 2. [BACK]

38. “al-Bulis al-siyasi fi qafas al-ittiham.” al-Musawwar, Oct. 5, 1951, p. 28. [BACK]

39. al-Ahram, Dec. 1, 1949. [BACK]

40. Ibrahim Husni, “Nazaltu al-hara, tala‘tu al-‘abassiyya,” al-Kalim, May 16, 1946, p. 4; May 1, 1947, p. 2. [BACK]

41. al-Ahram, Aug. 3, 1952. [BACK]

42. On this aspect of Rabbi Nahum's career, see Esther Benbassa (ed.), Haim Nahum: A Sephardic Chief Rabbi in Politics, 1892–1923 (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1995). [BACK]

43. al-Ahram, Aug. 9, 1952. [BACK]

44. al-Kalim, Oct. 1, 16, 1952. [BACK]

45. El-Kodsi, The Karaite Jews of Egypt, p. 61. [BACK]

46. Ibid., pp. 88–90; al-Balagh, Oct. 25, 1952; Journal d'Egypte, Oct. 26, 1952. [BACK]

47. Lettres Expediés, janvier-juin 1953, nos. 99, 105, 106, 123, 124, 161, JLMC, Box 2, General Correspondence, 1926–57, Folder 7. [BACK]

48. Ibid., no. 157, E. Goar and S. Cicurel to the governor of the National Bank of Egypt, Apr. 25, 1953. [BACK]

49. Ibid., Box 2, Folder 8, Lettres Expediés, juillet-décembre 1953, nos. 321, 324, 325. [BACK]

50. al-Ahram, Feb. 9, 1953. [BACK]

51. Lettres Expediés, janvier-juin 1953, no. 55, JLMC, Box 2, General Correspondence, 1926–57, Folder 7. [BACK]

52. Mizrahi, L'Egypte et ses Juifs, p. 57. [BACK]

53. Albert Mizrahi, “Kalam eh al-faragh da ya si salah ya salim,” al-Tas‘ira, Mar. 22, 1954, p. 4. [BACK]

54. Jerusalem Post, Sept. 27, 1955. [BACK]

55. Eric Rouleau, interview, Paris, May 25, 1994. [BACK]

56. Jewish Chronicle, July 6, 1951, quoted in Nehemiah Robinson, The Arab Countries of the Near East and Their Jewish Communities (New York: WJC, Institute for Jewish Affairs, 1951), p. 74, MHT A-1/33.9. [BACK]

57. al-Saraha, Dec. 8, 25, 1952. [BACK]

58. Sasson Somekh, “Participation of Egyptian Jews in Modern Arabic Culture, and the Case of Murad Faraj,” in Shimon Shamir (ed.), The Jews of Egypt: A Mediterranean Society in Modern Times (Boulder: Westview Press, 1987), p. 133. [BACK]

59. Nehemiah Robinson, “Persecution in Egypt,” Congress Weekly, Nov. 17, 1954 (reprinted by the American Jewish Congress, Office of Jewish Information), MHT D-61/151.6, 1. [BACK]

60. Adel M. Sabet, A King Betrayed: The Ill-Fated Reign of Farouk of Egypt (London: Quartet Books, 1989), p. 217. [BACK]

61. “Rapport presenté à l'Agence Juive Department du Moyen Orient sur la situation actuelle des Juifs en Egypt par un Juif d'Egypte ayant quitté l'Egypte vers la fin de l’année 1949” [no author, but apparently the president of the Zionist Organization of Cairo from internal evidence, no date], “Matzav ha-yehudim be-mitzrayim, 1948–1952,” CZA S20/552. [BACK]

62. Michael Stern, Farouk (New York: Bantam, 1965), pp. 195–98. [BACK]

63. Robinson, The Arab Countries of the Near East, p. 74. [BACK]

64. Reported in al-Kalim, Dec. 15, 1949. [BACK]

65. Akhir sa‘a, July 11, 1951; reprinted in al-Kalim, July 16, 1951, p. 6. [BACK]

66. al-Kalim, Dec. 16, 1952, p. 8. [BACK]

67. al-Kalim, Dec. 1, 1953. p. 8; Dec. 16, 1955, p. 6. [BACK]

68. “Ya‘qub sannu‘…al-musawi al-misri al-muslim,” al-Musawwar, Feb. 18, 1955. [BACK]

69. al-Saraha, May 12, 1951, p. 1. [BACK]

70. Somekh, “Participation of Egyptian Jews in Modern Arabic Culture, and the Case of Murad Faraj,” p. 132. [BACK]

71. Layla Murad's biography is based on the following obituary notices and articles that appeared after her death: Amjad Mustafa, “Layla murad, 77 ‘amman min al-‘ata’,” al-Wafd, Nov. 23, 1995, p. 8; “Misr: ghiyab layla murad,” al-Hayat, Nov. 23, 1995, p. 24; ‘Adil Disuqi, “Rahalat layla murad, sindarila al-shasha al-misriyya wa-sahibat al-sawt al-dhabi,” al-Hayat, Nov. 25, 1995, p. 24; Fatemah Farag, “Farewell to the Last Artist of Integrity,” Middle East Times, Dec. 3–9, 1995, p. 17. Salih Mursi's instant biography, Layla Murad (Cairo: Dar al-Hilal, 1995), Dar al-Hilal's featured book the month immediately after Layla Murad's death, avoids all the controversial aspects of her career and barely acknowledges her Jewish origins (see p. 11). [BACK]

72. “Layla murad,” al-Ahram, Sept. 12, 1952, p. 6; “Layla murad tukadhdhib tabarru‘aha li-isra’il 50 alf junayh,” al-Ahram, Sept. 13, 1952, p. 7; ‘Adil Hasanayn, Layla murad: ya musafir wa-nas hawak (Cairo: Amadu, 1993), pp. 85 ff; ‘Adil ‘Abd al-‘Alim, “Watha’iq tuthbit bara’at layla murad min tuhmat ziyarat isra’il,” al-Hayat, July 4, 1993, p. 1. [BACK]

73. “Layla murad tukadhdhib tabarru‘aha li-isra’il 50 alf junayh.” [BACK]

74. Hasanayn, Layla murad, p. 89. [BACK]

75. Ruz al-yusuf, Nov. 8, 1954, p. 34; Layla Murad, “Ta’alamtu wa-ta‘adhabtu fi sabil ikhlasi,” Ruz al-yusuf, Dec. 6, 1954, p. 33. [BACK]

76. Disuqi, “Rahalat Layla Murad.” [BACK]

77. “Kharaju min dinihim fi sabil al-hubb,” Ruz al-yusuf, Feb. 7, 1955, p. 40. [BACK]

78. “Cairo's Jews: Uneasy Friendship,” Jerusalem Post, Feb. 16, 1955. [BACK]

79. Unless otherwise noted, the next two paragraphs are based on AJC, “The Situation of the Jews in Egypt at the Beginning of 1957” (New York, Jan. 7, 1957), MHT A1/969. Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, pp. 253–64, relies extensively on the same source. [BACK]

80. Institute of Jewish Affairs, WJC, “Egypt in September, 1957.” [BACK]

81. WJC, The Persecution of Jews in Egypt: The Facts (Apr. 1957), p. 7, MHT A1/22–19. [BACK]

82. For precise figures, see the table in Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, p. 273. [BACK]

83. Gilbert Cabasso et al, Juifs d'Egypte: Images et textes (Paris: Editions du Scribe 1984), p. 42, estimates that the numbers of Egyptian Jewish emigrants to destinations other than Israel were 15,000 to Brazil, 10,000 to France, 9,000 to the United States, 9,000 to Argentina, and 4,000 to the United Kingdom, with smaller numbers in Canada, Italy, and Australia. This total of 47,000 cannot be reconciled with the Jewish Agency's figures for ‘aliyah without assuming a Jewish community of at least 85,000 before 1948, a larger figure than most estimates. It is more easily reconcilable with the Israeli census figures (see note 30 in this chapter). The same source claims that only one-third of all Egyptian Jews emigrated to Israel. A certain number of Jews who went to Israel because that was the only available destination immediately after the 1948 and 1956 wars ultimately settled elsewhere, and this may account for part of the discrepancy. The available statistics are incomplete and to some extent politically designed. [BACK]

84. Dina Monet, “Absorption of Egypt's Aliya in Good Hands,” Jerusalem Post, Dec. 31, 1955. [BACK]