The Forgotten Exodus

The Jewish people have been living in the Middle East for over three thousand years - since the Babylonian destruction of the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, in 586 B.C.E. As Jews, they take pride in being the Middle East’s oldest, existing minority group. Wherever they lived, from Morocco to Iran, they made enormous contributions.

In 1945 there were nearly 900,000 Jews living in communities throughout the Arab world Today, there are fewer than 8,000. In the 1940s and early 1950s Arab governments forced the Jews to flee.

Iraqi Jews flee 1950

The scars of the past can heal. But justice can only be achieved when peoples and governments in the Middle East recognize the plight of the forgotten million refugees. They, we pray for the day when justice will be achieved for the Jews of the Middle East, and all peoples of the region will live together in peace and harmony.



The collage picture above is courtesy of the Last Jews of Libya

The Forgotten Jewish Exodus ... One million Jews who fled oppression in the Muslim world in the 20th century