The Jews Of The British Crown Colony Of Aden

Based on more than five-hundred yet unpublished documents, this study provides an insight into the history of the Jewish community of the British Colony of Aden, as well as dimensions of its sociopolitical, cultural and socioeconomic fabric within the framework of an Islamic society.

This volume focuses on the Jewish community of the British Crown Colony of Aden, a community which is mistakenly lumped with Yemenite Jewry. It provides a critical assessment of its history; salient dimensions of its sociopolitical, religious, socioeconomic, cultural and intellectual fabric; insights into the unique quintessential traits that determine the place of the Jewish community of Aden as a cultural and spiritual phenomenon within Yemenite and world Jewry. It also affords a glimpse into the relationship between Jews and Muslims in Aden. The volume is based on a study of hundreds of yet unpublished legal texts and documentary material.

The lively essays collected here explore colonial history, culture, and thought as it intersects with Jewish studies. Connecting the Jewish experience with colonialism to mobility and exchange, diaspora, internationalism, racial discrimination, and Zionism, the volume presents the work of Jewish historians who recognize the challenge that colonialism brings to their work and sheds light on the diverse topics that reflect the myriad ways that Jews engaged with empire in modern times. Taken together, these essays reveal the interpretive power of the "Imperial Turn" and present a rethinking of the history of Jews in colonial societies in light of postcolonial critiques and destabilized categories of analysis. A provocative discussion forum about Zionism as colonialism is also included.

In Jewish-Muslim Relations and Migration from Yemen to Palestine in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Ari Ariel provides an account of Jewish emigration out of Yemen from 1880 to 1950

Original publication and copyright date: 2011.

In the twenty years that followed the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, 800,000 Jews left their homes in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Morocco, and several other Arab countries. Although the causes of this exodus varied, restrictive governmental measures and an outburst of anti-Semitic feeling during and after the war were major factors. Some of these "Mizrahi" Jews, most of whom were not active Zionists, were forced to leave behind property of great financial and ancestral value-property that was sometimes seized by the governments of the countries they fled. In this book, Michael R. Fischbach, who has dedicated years to studying land and property ownership in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, reconstructs the circumstances in which Jewish communities left the Arab world. Conducting meticulous and exhaustive research in the archives of Washington D.C., Jerusalem, London, New York, and elsewhere, Fischbach offers the most authoritative estimates to date of the value of the property left behind. He also describes the process by which various actors, most importantly the State of Israel, linked the resolution of Jewish property claims to the fate of Palestinian refugee property claims following the 1948 war. Fischbach considers the implications of contemporary developments, such as America's invasion of Iraq, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and Libya's attempt to shed its international pariah status, which have impacted pending claims and will affect claims in the future. Overall, he finds that many international Jewish organizations have supported the link between the claims of Mizrahi Jews and those of Palestinian refugees, hindering serious efforts to obtain restitution or compensation.

In Traditional Society in Transition Bat-Zion Eraqi Klorman examines the Yemeni Jewish existence from the mid 19th century onwards. It chronicles this community’s transition from a traditional patriarchal society to a group adjusting to the challenges of a modern society.

The Yemeni Jewish remnants have triggered so much interest on the part of so many western governments and humanitarian organizations, to an extent that is quite rare. The story of the Yemeni Jewish remnants is distinct from that of their brethren who emigrated to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet (1949-51). Before and during Operation Magic Carpet, Yemeni Jews came on their own in overwhelming numbers, many of them on foot, undeterred by the prospects of the trials and tribulations which they knew would await them in the course of their travels. In contrast, the Yemeni Jewish remnants displayed a strong hesitation, if not reluctance, to leave Yemen. Thus, since Operation Magic Carpet and until 1962 - the year of the coup d'état eliminating the autocratic Imamic regime in Yemen and the closing of the Yemeni gates for Jewish emigration - only some four hundred Yemeni Jews heeded the call to emigrate to Israel. It is for this reason that the book is subtitled Carpet Without Magic. A 'red carpet' was indeed spread before the Yemeni Jewish remnants, but the 'magic' was no longer there.