Once Large and Flourishing North African Jewish Communities Near Vanishing Point

The once large and flourishing Jewish communities of North Africa have been drastically reduced in numbers since the beginning of the decade and, in some cases, are near the vanishing point, according to a report published here by the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation. The largest North African Jewish community, that of Morocco, numbers 50,000 today compared to 200,000 in 1960, according to the report. The second largest, in Tunisia, has been reduced from 61,000 in 1960 to 16,000 today. There are only 3,000 Jews left in Algeria out of 130,000 in 1960, 1,600 left in Egypt and 200 in Libya. Aden, in southwest Arabia, which had 500 Jews in 1964, has none today.

A contention by the Lebanese Ambassador to Britain that all is well with Jews in Arab countries was disputed by J. I. Linton, consultant on international affairs to the World Jewish Congress. in a letter published in the London Times yesterday. The Lebanese envoy had made his claim in response to a statement by Lord Arthur Balfour on the plight of Jews in Arab lands.

Mr. Linton said the Ambassador had probably based his information on his own country’s un-hostile attitude toward its Jewish minority. Lebanon is the only Christian Arab state. Mr. Linton noted that in the 20 years from 1947 to 1967, nearly 800,000 Jews left the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa, the majority of them finding refuge in Israel. Those Jews who remained were subjected to a storm of violence and hostility in the aftermath of last June’s Arab-Israeli war, Mr. Linton said. While authorities in Morocco and Tunisia took steps to protect their Jewish citizens from mob violence, those in Egypt, Syria and Iraq not only left their Jews unprotected but subjected them to official maltreatment either indirectly or by mass arrests, he said. Many hundreds of Jews were imprisoned in Egypt without charge or trial and suffered inhuman treatment at the hands of their jailers, Mr. Linton said, and many have still not been released. In Syria and Iraq Jews were arrested, suffered violence, boycotts and were prevented from leaving those countries. Mr. Linton noted that last March the Iraqi Government published new laws subjecting its Jewish population to severe economic restrictions.