Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Algerian Jewish Leaders Discuss Casbah Situation at Emergency Meeting

December 15, 1960
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

The Consistoire Israelite of Algiers, central Jewish organization in the Algerian capital, went into an all-day emergency meeting today to discuss the situation of the Jews in Algeria, especially in the Algiers Casbah, where it was feared that many Jewish families may have fallen victim to Moslem fanaticism that has kept the Casbah embroiled in terror since Sunday.

The reports that there are Jewish dead among the Casbah victims are, as yet, unconfirmed, but the fears were freely expressed both here and in Algiers. So far, neither the more important French Jewish organizations here, nor the representatives here of the World Jewish Congress and other international Jewish groups, have received confirmation about the feared dead.

One report received here stated that there were still about 20 Jewish families and a number of Jewish individuals left in the Casbah. The majority of the Jews in the ghetto, inhabited for generations by both Moslems and Jews, have been evacuated or have managed to flee to other sections of Algiers guarded by French security forces.

Today, the Chief Rabbi of Algiers, Rabbi Simon Morali, Joined a public appeal, along with the Roman Catholic Archbishop and the head of the Moslem religious community, calling upon all elements in Algeria to help calm the rioters and to avoid further violence.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement