12 Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
countries under Islamic rule . There were clearly delineated rules of behavior for Jews ( and Christians ) as second-class citizens . Violence against Jews was not unknown in the Muslim world .
To cite but one illustration of the fate of Jews in Arab countries , Jews lived uninterruptedly in Libya since the time of the Phoenicians , that is , many centuries before the Arabs arrived from the Arabian Peninsula , bringing Islam to North Africa and settling — actually , conquering and occupying — lands already inhabited by indigenous Berbers , among others .
The vast majority of Libya ’ s 40,000 Jews left between 1948 and 1951 , following pogroms in 1945 and 1948 . In 1951 , Libya became an independent country . Despite constitutional guarantees , the Jews who remained in the country were denied the right to vote , hold public office , obtain Libyan passports , supervise their own communal affairs , or purchase new property . After a third pogrom in 1967 , Libya ’ s remaining 4,000 Jews fled , permitted to leave with only one suitcase and the equivalent of $ 50 . In 1970 , the Libyan government announced a series of laws to confiscate the assets of Libya ’ s exiled Jews and issued bonds providing for fair compensation payable within fifteen years . But 1985 came and went , with no compensation paid .
At the same time , the government destroyed Jewish cemeteries , using the headstones to pave new roads , as part of a calculated effort to erase any vestige of the Jewish historical presence in the country .
There were an estimated 850,000 Jews in Arab countries in 1948 , the year of Israel ’ s establishment . Today , there are fewer than 5,000 , the bulk of whom live in Morocco and Tunisia . Though , on a brighter note , there is a tiny but thriving Jewish community in Bahrain and a growing Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates .