On The 100th Anniversary of The Balfour Declaration: An Inconvenient History For Egypt And Israel

As we mark the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, it is, perhaps, helpful to revisit the neglected history of Egypt’s relationship with Zionism and with Israel. In this essay, I shall be looking at some interesting, yet puzzling historical facts that it would be beneficial for Egyptians, Israelis and others to explore. I shall also be exploring what Zionism meant to Egyptians in 1917 and what it came to mean later.

Egypt’s reaction to the Balfour Declaration was unreservedly favorable

Contrary to widespread belief, in 1917, and for over a decade after that, the Balfour Declaration was not seen by most Egyptian intellectuals as detrimental to Palestine. Interestingly enough, some Egyptian Muslim and Christian families held parties to celebrate the declaration. Telegrams of gratitude were sent to Lord Balfour by the then-Governor of Alexandria Ahmad Ziour Pasha, a Muslim.

“The Governor of Alexandria Ahmad Ziour Pasha – later Prime Minister of Egypt – went to a party in the city celebrating the Balfour Declaration, that culminated in their sending a telegram to Lord Balfour to thank him,” according to Leila Ahmed in “A Border Passage”.

A delegation of leading Muslims and Christians traveled to congratulate the Jews of Palestine. Many Egyptian Zionist leaders were also Egyptian nationalists and fully committed to the cause of independence from Britain.

Egyptians support of the Balfour Declaration lasted beyond 1917. The Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar officially hosted Chaim Weizmann, co-author of the draft of the declaration submitted to Lord Balfour, when he visited Egypt on his way to Palestine in 1918. The Grand Sheikh was alleged to have made a donation of 100 EGP to the Zionist cause, Egyptian academic and writer Mohamed Aboulghar in his book about the Jews of Egypt confirms the meeting but alleges that actually a donation was made by Weismann to Al Azhar. Weizmann’s cultivation of regional support for the Zionist movement extended to his efforts with the rulers of Hijaz where he executed an accord with Emir Faisal endorsing the Declaration.

The Hebrew University was one of the early dreams of the Zionist movement, in 1918 construction commenced. Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, the renowned Egyptian nationalist, political leader and first director of Cairo University joined the celebration for the grand opening of Hebrew University in 1925. In 1944, Taha Hussien, one of Egypt’s most influential literary figures also visited the Hebrew University.

As the Jewish migration to Palestine continued, tensions between the Palestinians and the migrant population increased. The hardline Zionists, referred to as Revisionist Zionists, and early Islamists such as Mufti Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, played a large part in whipping up mutual resentment, fear and anger. These tensions culminated in the 1929 Palestine Riots in late August with the massacres of Jews in Hebron, Safad among others.

The reaction in Egypt remained decidedly pro Zionism well into the first half of the 1930’s, the Government reportedly banned the word ‘Palestine’ from Friday prayers, according to the Leila Ahmed.

The Wafed Government shutdown the sole Palestinian publication with the charge of being pro Palestinian propaganda. Zionist newspapers and magazines continued to operate freely well into the late 1940’s.

Egypt’s Role in Saving Jews from Nazi Europe

The US turned back the SS St. Louis which was full of Jews escaping Germany. Many of those refugees later perished in Nazi concentration camps. Three years later, the US authorities were shamefully still turning back Jews fleeing Nazi Europe. Holocaust Museums mention these stories in detail, yet the fact that Alexandria welcomed Jewish refugees, indeed was only one of a handful of ports, globally, open to Jews escaping from Nazi atrocities that hardly got a mention. For this is another inconvenient history.

Andre Aciman, an Egyptian Jew born and raised in Alexandria, told stories narrated by his family; some Egyptian Jews were not so keen on the influx of Ashkenazi Jews into Alexandria, according to “Out of Egypt”, a memoir by André Aciman.

In readings about World War II and the horrors the Jews faced at the hands of advancing Nazi armies or nationalist partisans, whether Russians, Ukrainians, Serbians or other local populations, it is worth noting that Alexandria, the city that once had the largest Jewish population in Egypt, did not record any attacks on Jewish property and lives when Hitler’s army was just 70 miles to the west.

As the advancing Nazi’s carried out raids on the western parts and the naval port of Alexandria, the number of violent anti-British acts, by Egyptians opposed to the British occupation of Egypt, increased.

Yet no signs of hate or anger against Jews surfaced. The Jews of Alexandria worried about the advancing of the Nazi army but did not fear their Egyptian neighbors, according to Aciman. This is rather strange when so much of the hate propaganda presents Egyptians and Jews as natural enemies. While the self-proclaimed “non-violent” Muslim Brotherhood had indeed started to attack Jews in graffiti, boycotts and worse around 1937 in certain cities, there appear to have been no such attacks during the time of impending entry of Hitler’s army into Alexandria. This should be contrasted with horrible anti-semitic violence Jews witnessed in most European cities.

Joel Beinin offers a concise essay covering Egyptian Jews in the first half of the twentieth century. It is important to note that Beinin has faced relentless attacks from staunch Zionists, much of Beinin’s history can be validated by personal and family narratives such as those of Andre Aciman and others. Aciman too, who wrote a very personal memoir, has also faced attacks from the same quarters that attacked Beinin. Yet both writers’ work calls into question the supposed hate and natural animosity between Egyptians and Jews while never mincing their words on the rise of antisemitism in Egypt.

Yad Vashem, other memorials and Holocaust history in general, offers no special recognition of the role that Egypt and Egyptians played in saving the lives of Jews. A disgusting byproduct of the recent rise of anti-Semitism in Egypt with the wide circulation of books by Holocaust deniers, is that few Egyptians are even aware of this important history that Egypt and all Egyptians should be proud of.

Operation Susannah, more widely known as the Lavon Affair

In the early autumn of 1952, a few months after the July 23 Coup D’etat that led to the overthrow of King Farouk, Mohammad Naguib, Egypt’s first President, joined the celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, at a Synagogue in the heart of Cairo.

Photographs of the event and Naguib’s words were widely reported in the press. Naguib’s message to the Jews of Egypt was that they had nothing to worry about from the 1948 War with Israel and that Egypt’s Jews were just as much an integral part of its fabric as their Muslim and Christian brothers. Naguib had given similar remarks on a visit to the Jewish Hospital in Alexandria among others.

In the immediate aftermath of the 1948 war, a minority of the Jews of Egypt left for Israel and those were mainly Ashkenazi Jews that had come to Egypt as refugees along with a minority of Karaite, Sephardic and other Rabbinic Jews that believed deeply in Zionism. Six full years after the establishment of the state of Israel, Egyptian Jews largely remained in place and minimal immigration had occurred from Egypt to Israel. Naguib’s strategy of fighting Zionism through attempts to integrate Egypt’s Jews further in the society showed good results.

Israeli Military Intelligence, possibly to spur Egyptian Jewish immigration, as well as attempting to derail the Egyptian American relationship, carried out a large number of terrorist attacks in Cairo and Alexandria. The Egyptian born terrorists and their Israeli handler were caught, tried and sentenced. Following Egypt’s defeat in the 1967 war, the imprisoned terrorists were exchanged for Egyptian POW’s.  Israel kept their return secret and continued its obfuscation of the Operation. In 1971, Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel, attended the wedding of one of the terrorists. In 1975, the four terrorists appeared on Israeli TV, where they recounted their story of “heroism”, they have received more honors as recently as in 2005.

Zakryah Mohyeldin, then Egypt’s Minister of Interior, used the very same language as Naguib and talked of Egypt’s Jewish sons as he reacted to Operation Susannah, according to Beinin. Yet hate speech towards Jews was growing in the Egyptian discourse; Muslim Brotherhood followers targeted all Jews regardless of their views towards Israel and intensified their language of hate.

Various attempts to rewrite the history of the Lavon affair continued even into the 21st century. The Israeli MOD continues to redact sections of their disclosures so many years later.  Israelis will at some point need to come to terms with the some of the ugly aspects of the history of their nation. Egyptians will need to learn that anti-Semitism plays into the hands of Israel’s right wing which consistently advocates exclusivity as the only way to defend Jews from ever hateful enemies.

Prior to 1967 War, no Egyptian Jews were expelled for being Jewish

Egyptian citizenship laws were first introduced in 1929 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of Egypt as a modern pluralistic nation-state in 1922-1923.  Ottoman nationals and others, who were born in Egypt prior to 1914, regardless of religion, had the choice of becoming Egyptian.

Most Sephardic Jews whose families came to Egypt in the second half of the 19th century sought alternatives to Egyptian Citizenship. It should be noted that Egypt’s native Jews, whether Karaite Jews or Rabbinic (non-Ladino) Jews had roots in Egypt dating back millennia. It is unclear how many Egyptian Jews actually wanted the Egyptian nationality. Beinin talks of increasing difficulties acquiring Egyptian nationality, faced by the Jews, in the 1940’s especially after the first wave of “Egyptianization” laws introduced in 1947. Several Karaite Jews actively lobbied for the “Egyptianization” laws as a way of proving their allegiance to Egypt according to Beinin.

Leftover from the days of outright British and French domination, was a typical colonial justice system that saw local Egyptians subject to Egyptian Law and courts, while the European minorities were subject to their own laws and consular courts. Many of the more affluent Sephardic Jews living in Egypt for two or even three generations did not regard themselves as Egyptians and spoke little or no Egyptian Arabic.

Aciman details the history of typical Ladino speaking Egyptian born Jews who pursued European citizenship. Beinin writes of Jews who actually purchased French and British nationalities without ever setting a foot in these countries. The percentage of non-Karaite Jews who opted for the Egyptian Citizenship is not known but, as Beinin explored, it was limited. Aciman tells a story of a relative who pursued Italian Citizenship following a fire that destroyed Italian birth archives which enabled some Jews who had never set foot in Italy to apply for and obtain Italian citizenship.

According to Benin, “…between the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1956 a substantial portion of the Jewish elite remained in Egypt and continued to play a significant, though diminishing, role in its economic life.”

The friendly policy towards Zionism by Egypt came to an end in the period leading to and especially following the 1948 War. Once vibrant Egyptian Zionist associations and papers were banned and those openly advocating a Zionist agenda expelled or detained.

Some Egyptian Jews were fervently anti-Zionist and they were typically communists targeted by the wrath of the state and detained with other non-Jewish communists. The first wave of expulsions targeted Zionist and communist Jews who did not hold Egyptian citizenship. This does not appear to have been a large number.

Following the Suez War, citizens of France and the UK were evicted from Egypt. Some Jewish families were divided as those who held British or French citizenships, whether Jewish or not, had to leave Egypt. The third wave of departures commenced with the introduction of socialism in Egypt with the 1957 Egyptianization Laws. These culminated in a mass nationalization of private property and businesses with the 1961 Nationalization Laws which targeted foreign and Egyptian capitalists. The biggest exodus was actually Greek and Italian.

“After 1952 the Italian Egyptians were reduced – from the nearly 60,000 of 1940 – to just a few thousands. Most Italian Egyptians returned to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s,” quoting Italian emigration records.

Those wealthy Egyptians, of various religions, who could manage to escape with even a fraction of their fortunes did so. Needless to say, by end of the nationalization phase, the number of remaining Jews was greatly diminished, but as of then not a single Jew who held Egyptian nationality was forced to leave solely because he or she was Jewish.

Detention of Egyptian Jews, forced surrender of Egyptian Nationality and Expulsion

From the early hours of the 1967 war, the Egyptian authorities started rounding up scores of Jewish men on suspicion of spying for Israel. Several hundred Egyptian Jews were rounded up from all over Egypt and were imprisoned, with members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, in the notorious Abu Zaabal and Tora Prisons. Marc Khedr tells in detail of his experience from June 6, 1967, until his release over three years later. These Egyptian Jews were subjected to indefinite detention, never faced concrete charges and were never actually sentenced. They were kept in prison just on suspicion of collaboration with Israel, for being Jews.

To get out of Egypt, these Egyptians had to renounce their Egyptian Citizenship, undertake never to return to Egypt and were taken from their prison cells straight to the airport to board flights to France. Khadr’s use of language, referring to concentration camps, invites two unfortunate comparisons.

The first comparison is to the Nazi concentration camps, the other to the other political prisoners who were there before the capture of the Jews and whose detention outlasted theirs. This in no way diminishes the injustice and suffering that Mr. Khedr and other Egyptian Jews faced. Mr. Khedr, a Karaite Jew whose mother tongue was Egyptian Arabic and whose original name Mourad Amin Khedr, a typical Egyptian name, was fully Egyptian in all aspects of the word.  It was bigotry and discrimination, suspicion and mistrust by the State and fellow Egyptians that led to the loss of homeland for Egyptian Jews and the loss for Egypt of its own Jewish people.

Where are we 100 Years after the Balfour Declaration?

As mentioned above, history has been rewritten by both Egypt and Israel to suit the chosen narrative. The fact that Egyptian Jews were often in the forefront of Egypt’s liberation movement has been conveniently forgotten or ignored. The Egyptian’s support for the Balfour Declaration has been forgotten and history was rewritten to erase it. The role Islamic Nationalism has played in support of the ascendence of the uncompromising radical Revisionist Zionism can be seen clearly from the early 1920’s. Later, Revisionist Zionism came to dominate the Zionist discourse. The role Zionism played in strengthening Islamism, Islamic and Arab Nationalism as a counterbalance to it continues to our present day.

The lack of recognition of Egypt’s role in saving Jewish lives in the dark days of WWII should be an embarrassment to Egypt, Israel and world Jewry. It doesn’t fit the narrative of animosity. The narrative of Egypt throwing out Jews and the exodus of Jews from Egypt fits with the, now dominant Zionist narrative. Egypt lost a great deal from the exodus of the foreign communities whether Greek, Italian, Turkish, French or British. It is crucial to see the exodus of Egypt’s Jews for what it was and it was primarily an exodus of foreigners. The bigotry, racism and discrimination that followed several wars with Israel is abhorrent and should not be defended. However, it does not tell of ancient animosity between Egyptians and Jews, indeed it highlights the opposite. Some in Israel are beginning to question the language that has been used to describe the Jewish exodus from Egypt.

It is hard to reach a conclusion as to what the Zionist movement’s true aims were: did it really intend to protect the interests of the native Palestinian population or was Revisionist Zionism and Zionism the same all along with only some differences in outward appearance? As late as 1935, the main strand of Zionism continued to reject the idea of a Jewish state, this was the Weismann Zionism, whereas Revisionist Zionists led by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leader, clamored for the abandoned colonialist vision of Theodor Herzl. Was all of this just a Zionist facade?

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, did Revisionist Zionism provoke the emerging Islamic Nationalism and the Islamist movement or did the later unintentionally aid Revisionist Zionism and help it dominate the whole Zionist agenda? Were the Egyptian political elite subject to a conspiracy so that they fell for the “treachery” of the Zionists or were they supportive of a benign form of Zionism and were late in recognizing the emergence of the violent, racist, supremacist Zionism that triumphed late in the 1930’s? Answers to these questions determine how Egypt’s early support for Zionism can be viewed.

Let’s learn from the mistakes of the last 100 years. Let’s confront this inconvenient history and use it as a basis for the possibility of coexistence. Millions of Palestinians continue to live in refugee camps, millions of Palestinians continue to languish stranded under cruel occupation. The image of the Palestinians living literally underneath high speed “Israeli only” trains linking Jerusalem to neighboring “Jewish only” communities will forever stay etched the memory of many of the people who have seen it, it should be a source of shame for Israelis and Israel’s supporters.

It is time to actively work towards achieving the second half of the Balfour Declaration. Historical examples of peaceful and positive coexistence are not limited to Egypt. It is time to remember that the majority of the Jews of Hebron and Safad were actually saved from the massacres, not just by the British Army, but also by their Palestinian neighbors. It is time to uncover more inconvenient history and use it as the basis for a better future. Personal narratives of Palestinians, like those of Fay Afaf Kanafani, tell of similar stories of successful coexistence between Palestinians and Jews even into the 1940’s. Digging into the truth of what really happened on the ground may prove harder than that of Egypt because of the relatively advanced nature of the Egyptian press and political structure compared to that of British Mandate Palestine. The Egyptian experience should nonetheless help in looking at what is possible over the next 100 years.

Ayman S. Ashour

This essay was first published by Egyptian Streets here. 

For The Love Of Germany!

During the 2002 Korea / Japan World Cup, I had been spending a lot of time in Cologne in Germany working on an assignment at the German subsidiary of an American client. Most of the matches were during working hours, the senior managers of the company gathered in their large conference facility to watch the German games. Turkish workers caught wind of this and so the Turkish games too were awarded the same treatment, the atmosphere was always fun and cordial. Flags of different nations playing in the World Cup were all over the factory and the offices, including those playing against Germany naturally, I don't recall seeing many or actually any German flags back then.

In 2006, the World Cup was held in Germany and this was really the first time the Germans started to appear comfortable in their own skin, lots of houses had flags, cars had German flags too. In fund raising mode, I had been traveling at the time between different German cities, hotels were expensive and trains were crowded but the World Cup in Germany was truly one big amazing celebration, I hardly watched any games but I watched the German people. Italy beat Germany and I recall seeing cars with Italian flags honking their horns parading the streets of Munich, yes Munich. I can't think of any other country I have been to, where this could happen. The development of the German national feeling into something that had shared pride and love for their country without exhibiting hate towards others captivated me, impressed me, made me genuinely develop true love and respect for Germany as culture and people. 

The years went by and I found myself again in Germany, at a large outdoor beer garden at the Englisch Garten with a friend in the center of Munich to watch the 2008 European Championship semifinal between Germany and Turkey. Unlucky for me, I had worn a burgundy color polo shirt which was almost identical to the colors of the Turkish flag. Siting amidst few hundred Germans to watch the game, Turkey scored first, a handful of Turks jumped up and down celebrating and actually taunting their German friends around them, nothing happened; Germany went on to win, people shook my hand, as a sort of "hard luck buddy" gesture. The atmosphere was always ultra friendly as the streets were full of Germans dancing and singing, I walked back to my hotel in my Turkish colors to pleasent gestures and smiles; I was actually rooting for Germany though, but with my looks and colors, I was assigned a Turk status for the night.

In 2010, during the South Africa World Cup, at the offices of my former company in Munich, we had people from different nations, but the local managers were shy to display the German flag at the entrance, I donated the German flag I had bought in 2006.

Now in 2014, I find my self sickened by the anti German racist jokes during the Brazil World Cup, I assume living in England where the gutter press and commentators know that stereotyping Germans and cracking the odd Nazi joke are often met with laughter that washes away the English national soccer shame, I know it's often done in a good hearted way, but I still find it upsetting. It was interesting though that many Brits were actually rooting for Germany. 

Also continuing to be keenly interested in my native Egypt social media scene, I was equally amazed at the amount of stereotyping comments made towards Germany mostly around the Algeria match. Brazil, the third world and the brown peoples representative to the football elites, is often the preferred nation to root for by most Egyptians. The 7-1 humiliations of Brazil by Germany unleashed lots of ugly comments, both sexist and racist, not to mention Holocaust comparisons. This was even more ugly than the English annoying humor. 

I wanted to write this short personal experience, because I believe in many ways, Germany and the Germans are ahead of much of humanity, going beyond the traditional national identification. Deutschland über Alles, or Germany above all, is an internal message to the Germans to put their pity differences aside and come together for the sake of Germany; it was not intended to mean Germany above other nations, as some have suggested, but right now, the Germans as people are truly ahead in building an affirmative identity for themselves indifferent to, and not hateful of others. Let's learn from the Germans to overcome stereotyping and racism.

AA

July 9, 2014

Zionism .... Nuances and .... Mr. Morsi

Zionism means different things to different people. To most Egyptians, Arabs, Muslims and certainly Palestinians. Zionism is all about dispossession of the Palestinians, about the expulsions of the natives, about occupation, about the settlements and the cruel  eradication of Palestinian villages and history. For the vast majority of Jews, Zionism is about a national identity, of pride in their Jewishness. Jews can't understand how others can view Zionism as racist, when Zionism welcomes Jews of all colors, origins and converts too. The pro Palestinian camps see Zionism as the ultimate form of racism and bigotry, an ideology that usurps the rights the Palestinians to their homes, to their land, to their history based on a superior claim of the Jews, just by virtue of their Jewishness, their "race".

My attempt at making sense of this huge gulf, between the interpretations, leads me to see Zionism as a nationalist movement, with some religious wrappings. Zionism allows an atheist "Jew" to  belong to the Jewish people; so clearly an alternate non-religious identity. This, very point, causes stress in Israel itself, the secularists see Judaism and Jewishishness  more of an overarching identity that accept people of Jewish origins regardless of their religious beliefs or adherence. Whereas, many religious Jews clearly see it differently, for them, faith and the Jewish Law are at the center of their lives.  Other religious Jews accept religion in a fashion that accomodate secular Zionism.

It may be helpful to look at Zionism in three parts, first being the rise of the Jewish people and their identification as a nation, second is the desire for a homeland, third is the choice of Palestine for a homeland. 

With the oppression, the Jews suffered throughout their history, at the hands of whichever majority they lived under, it is hard to stand against their desire to be considered as a nation. The way I see it, what right do I have telling the majority of Kurds or South Sudanese people, they are not a distinct nation? If the majority of Corsican or Basques people wanted to be a separate nation, then that is ultimately, their right. The Jews have plenty of reason to want to proclaim their own identity even before the Holocaust.

Second is the claim to a homeland, where never again Jews can become a minority living under the whims of another majority, at times accommodating and friendly, and at times oppressive but almost always suspicious and watchful. That too is understandable and again if the majority of Jews want it, I am all for it. Even if a minority wants it and don't wish to impose it on others then power to them.

The third, and most troubling aspect is really in what I term "applied Zionism" rather than in Zionism itself, is the choice of Palestine for the homeland. Zionism, a secular nationalist movement, needed to capture the imagination of the non secular, religious Jews and hence the introduction of Palestine rather than East Africa, Tasmania or other relatively unpopulated piece of real estate. In doing so, applied Zionism undermined some of the basic foundations of Zionism, itself.

So today’s' applied Zionism has to wrestle with a sad contradiction, of being a liberation movement and a colonial movement; of being a movement that is race blind towards Jews yet racist towards non Jews!

The Secular advocates of Zionism betrayed their liberal principles to attract more Jews, to protect more Jews, and to liberate more Jews; they mixed their secular vision with biblical history and focused on Palestine and thus gained a great deal of success, that would probably never been possible, had they opted for any other piece of real estate apart from Palestine. The price of this success has to be either giving up the vision of never again facing the possibility of becoming minority, or giving up Zionism as a moral liberation movement and turning it, into a colonial supremacist movement that aims to subjugate the natives forever. This is a moral battle, the Israelis, the Jews, the Zionists must fight, an internal struggle that will forever remain a weight on their conscience. The history of the suffering of the Jews does not actually waive that moral responsibility as some have suggested.

Naturally, the evolution of the meaning of Zionism, both, to Jews and non Jews, does not occur in a vacum, was and continues to be, influenced by events. It is instructive to see, what Zionism mean to a critical player such as Egypt's new democratically elected president  Mr. Mohammad Morsi. Mr. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood have a long history of both animosity to Israel and support for Palestine, but has vowed to respect and protect Egypt's peace agreement with Israel.

Mr. Morsi appears to make little distinction between Israelis, Jews or Zionists when he talked of the need to instill "hate of Jews and Zionists" into "our" children. Reflecting on the choice of words "Jews and Zionists", does this come from the tendency to use multiple repetitive words to describe the same thing in Arabic or did Mr. Morsi view Jews as a distinct category from Zionists? My guess is that Mr. Morsi agrees with the first aspect of Zionism, that the Jews are an indeed a nation, regardless of of their beliefs and practices, in a way, he is re-affirming a central aspects of Zionism by projecting his feelings against Jews, all Jews, as distinct identity and as a nation! Mr. Morsi's call for hatred did not leave room for the exclusions of pro Palestine Jewish advocates or even the small fringe of religious Jews who are passionately anti Zionism and anti Israel, so the call clearly shows an all encompassing hate for Jews beyond just support for Palestine.

It may surprise Mr. Morsi to learn that, his own country had several Zionist associations from late in the 19th century and Zionist newspapers operated freely, whereas the lone anti Zionist publication was shut down by the Egyptian Government in the early 1930's as anti Jewish Palestinian propaganda. The president of Egypt may also wish to re-examine how his rhetoric and that of his Muslim Brothers organization and its Palestinian counterparts may have played a role in strengthening the hands of the "Revisionist" Zionists who worked for an exclusive Jewish state in Palestine. A study of the roots, of topics never discussed in Egypt, such as the massacres of Hebron or Safed may help him understand how hate begets hate. The massacres of Jews and anti Jewish hate may explain how the course of history may have changed but offer no excuse of brutality by of Jewish gangs and Israel, since its founding.

Finally, I wish more Egyptians, Palestinians,  Muslims,  Jews, Israelis, Americans etc. stop using this highly confusing and emotive word "Zionism" as it is shorthand for many contradictory meanings that leads to more confusion and misunderstandings, not clarity. Show, if you must, your hate for Jews directly, like Mr. Morsi did, without having to hide behind the word Zionist, it certainly said more about him than it did about the Jews. Perhaps better still if you are pro Palestinians, express your support and convictions, without falling into racist hate that fuels, yet more hate and fire. For Jews, perhaps, time to re-examine the use of the word Zionism and come to terms with how, what may have started as a nobel vision, operates as violent, oppressive, racist and bigoted reality on the ground.

AA
January 18, 2013
(updated from earlier work)

The Grey Zone

On this anniversary of the Holocaust remembrance, I recall a rather obscure, movie called The Grey Zone that I saw nearly ten years ago. The movie was based on the true story of an Hungarian doctor and on his life with the brigades of Jewish workers in Nazi concentration camps. Those Jewish slave workers cleaned the gas chambers and operated the cremation ovens. They were grey all over from the ashes, so hence The Grey Zone. Typically these workers were exterminated after few months, so for their effort they were given an extra three to four months of life and a modicum of concentration camp comforts such as better sleeping arrangements, more food and cigarettes.

While the much better known Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler'sList left me tearful, The Grey Zone left me in a state of deep and intense sadness; actually agony; but with remarkable clarity. The Grey Zone delivered all the shocking images that I could only guess at, but frankly dared not imagine. Here they were, right there before our eyes; hordes of people; entry into the gas chambers, the gas, the bodies piled up, the ovens, the ashes ...the whole thing. Not just the crowded trains, frightened faces and tired little hands clutching personal treasures , remnants of normal times, necklaces or photos of loved ones, but rather the full graphic details.

I am deeply saddened that that in my native Egypt, books of Holocaust deniers or those allocating much of the blame for the Holocaust to the Jews themselves, are increasingly widely accepted as the truth. It saddens me that movies like Schindler’s List have, to my knowledge, not been shown on Egyptian TV; while at the same time Egyptian State TV under Mubarak dictatorship serialized a drama based on the discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

I am also saddened that most Egyptians today are unaware of the very honorable role Egypt played receiving boatfuls of Jews escaping from Nazi controlled Europe at a time when Jews were still being turned away from the United States. Sadly, to my knowledge the honorable contribution of Egypt saving Jews escaping Nazi receives no mention in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem either or in other places commemorating the Holocaust. So as we remember the Holocaust today, I want more people to remember Alexandria as a willing safe haven for Jews and to honor Egypt’s role.

The Grey Zone left me with heightened clarity on some fundamental ideas. Humans are capable of great horrors; normally decent human beings, in the face of mortal danger, will resort to unspeakable acts to save their own skin, even for a short while! …and hate survives on the fear of its would be victims and on the silence of those who witness it.

As we remember I hope we look deep inside and attempt to cleanse ourselves from hate, prejudice and fear!

AA

January 27, 2012

Inconvenient History: tales of lesser discussed history of Egypt & Israel

As Egypt's relationship with Israel takes central stage for both countries, a look at some interesting little known historical facts may be beneficial for Egyptians and Israelis to explore. While I am in no position to offer ironclad guarantees of the accuracy of the various events and I lack the skill and knowledge necessary to offer various citations and references, I do however believe that the events cited here have indeed occurred largely as described. Oftentimes there are layers of fog surrounding events of the type covered here; less so with those here, most have just tended to get buried or be ignored, with the hope, that they fade away completely.


Egyptian popular mission representing the leading Muslim & Christian families traveled to Palestine to congratulate the Jews of Palestine following the Balfour declaration:

Contrary to the wide spread belief, the Balfour Declaration of 1917, was not, at the time, seen by most Egyptian intellectuals as a sentence against the Palestinians. Interestingly enough some Egyptian Muslim and Christian families held parties to celebrate the Declaration, the Muslim Governor of Alexandria sent a telegram of appreciation to Lord Balfour. A delegation of Egyptian Muslims and Christians led by another Egyptian Muslim, whose paper strongly advocated the then minority position of Arab Nationalism, traveled to congratulate the Jews of Palestine. Majority of Egyptians leaders didn't consider an Arab affiliation for Egypt at the time. The people who participated in that retrospectively misguided delegation were not received back as traitors or sellouts when they returned to Egypt. The majority of Egyptians who held more Egyptian nationalist views also saw the declaration as positive news. Perhaps those Egyptian intellectuals focused on the Decleration's guarantees of the rights of the native population of Palestine or saw certain positive aspects in Jewish nationalism the way Americans do today! This topic will be examined later.

As New York turned back Jews fleeing Nazi Europe, Alexandria welcomed them to Egypt, one of , just, four ports globally open to take in Jews escaping from Nazi atrocities

Sadly few highlight this historical fact. Yad Vashem, other memorials and Holocaust history in general offer no special recognition of the role that independent Egypt played saving Jewish lives. A disgusting byproduct of the recent rise of anti-Semitism in Egypt with the wide circulation of books of Holocaust deniers, few Egyptians are actually aware of this important generosity that Egypt and all Egyptians should be proud of.

Amazingly as large numbers of European Jews arrived in Egypt escaping Nazi Europe few wealthy Egyptian Sephardic Jews worried about backlash

While this was by no means wide spread, it is important to note the disproportionate attention certain Jew haters such as the marginal figure of Hussieni the Mufti of Jerusalem receives who some groups even absurdly suggest that his influence reached Egypt. Could a non Jew argue that the memory of the Holocaust should not be used for short term propaganda gains?

In reading about World War II and the horrors faced by the Jews at the hands of advancing Nazi armies, nationalist partisans be them Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian or just the local populations; it is amazing that Alexandria, the city with the largest Jewish population in Egypt, did not record attacks on Jewish property and lives when Hitler’s army was only 70 miles to the west.

As Alexandria’s western suburbs were being bombed, Alexandrians wanting to rid themselves of the British occupation attacked British soldiers but no real signs of hate or anger against Jews surfaced. The Jews of Alexandria worried about the advancing Nazi army but did not fear their Egyptian neighbors. This is strange when so much of the hate propaganda would have us believe that Egyptians and Jews are natural enemies.

While the then non peaceful Muslim Brotherhood had indeed started to attack Jews in graffiti around 1939 in certain cities, there appears to have been no such attacks at all during the time of impending entry of Hitler’s army into Alexandria.

Israeli Mossad Operation Susannah widely known as the Lavon affair: Six years after the establishment of the State of Israel, Egyptian Jews largely stayed put and minimal immigration to Israel occurred. Israeli Intelligence, in order to spur their immigration, as well as attempting to derail Egyptian American relationship, carried out a number of terrorist attacks in Cairo in 1954. The Mossad agents were caught, tried and imprisoned in Egypt. Following the defeat of Egypt in the 1967 war, the imprisoned Mossad agents were exchanged for Egyptian POWs and later, were treated to official welcomes by the Israeli Government and more honors as recent as 2005.

Many Egyptians would now be shocked to read the text of the speech of Zakriyah Mohieddean, Egypt's vice-president at the time talking of Egypt’s Jewish sons. The language of monkeys and pigs was hardly heard before the Mubarak era.

Various attempts to rewrite the history of the Lavon affair continued even into the twenty-first century. Israelis will at some point need to come to terms with the bloody history of their nation. Egyptians will need to learn that anti-Semitism plays to the hands of the Israel’s right wing which consistently advocates exclusivity as the only way to defend Jews from ever hateful enemies.

UK and France admitted conspiracy in 1956 Suez War, yet Israel continue to label it “war of self defense”. It is truly absurd that while the British and French have come clean about this trilateral aggression on Egypt and numerous books and archieves have now been made available for over two decades, Israel’s official version remains that the invasion of Egypt in 1956 was a war of self defense or just totally omitted from history.

This is probably one of the most blatant examples that show the need for Israel to come clean with its history. The Jewish and Israeli people will be more willing to make the concessions necessary for peace when they are more aware of facts. There are many disputed facts in the history of the various Israeli conflicts, perhaps the lies associated with the 1956 Suez war would allow more Israel supporters to look beyond state propaganda. We often hear of school books in Palestine and elsewhere teaching hate of Israel, this shows that history books need changing on all sides.

Not one Egyptian Jew lost his or her citizenship for being Jewish, yet many native Egyptian Jews left because of bigotry and distrust.

Egyptian citizenship laws were first introduced in 1929. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire residents had choices to make to become Egyptian, Turk or other nationality. Left over from the days of overt British & French domination following the invasion of Egypt in 1882, was a strange justice system that saw locals facing Egyptian Law, while foreign European minorities subject to their own laws and consular courts. Many of the affluent Jews living in Egypt for two or even three generations regarded themselves above the locals and pursued European citizenships; the Ladinos with more recent roots in Turkey or the Levant generally opted for Turkish or Egyptian citizenship. Following the Suez War citizens of France & UK were evicted from Egypt. Some Jewish families were divided as many held different European citizenships. The second wave of expulsions happened after the 1961 introduction of socialist nationalization laws which targeted foreign and Egyptian capitalists; its biggest exodus was actually for Greek and Italian Christians and included wealthy Egyptian Jewish, Christian and Muslim families.

Through the forties and fifties of the 20th century it appears that the Jews in Egypt who faced problems with the state were for reasons of communist affiliations, British or French nationality or anti capitalist laws. This would be entirely consistent with Nasser’s policies who viewed the exit of Egyptian Jews as a victory for Zionism and hence the earlier appeals for Egypt’s Jewish sons. It took few years after the Suez war for real animosity at the national level to start building up in the middle and late sixties.

Over the years I met many American Jews who told me of their Egyptian friends who were expelled from Egypt for being Jewish and it never failed that upon questioning it became clear that the friends in question never held the Egyptian nationality to start with, through their own choice, and had rejected the Egyptian citizenship for other opions and eventually left Egypt as part of a bigger story.

Yet for the ethnic Egyptian Jews, mostly “Karaite” whose mother tongue was Egyptian Arabic, were Egyptian citizens and were in all aspects part of the fabric of the “locals” ,rather than the world of the superior minorities. Egypt lost a great deal by losing its Greeks, Italians and its “foreign” Jews who were part of its cultural, industrial and merchant classes for generations. Yet Egypt's biggest loss will always be its native Jews who, those who trace their roots back thousands of years, those who wore the galabeya or tarboush, listened to Om Kalthoum music, ate mehshi and molokhiya. Ultimately it was bigotry, racism, mistrust of their fellow Egyptians that led to their gradual isolation and eventual sad departure from Egypt. Egypts’ Karaite Jews of Egypt left because of dwindling opportunity, increasing suspicion and obvious inducement for a better life. Sadly one hears of similar stories of discrimination and bigotry towards Coptic Christians nowadays.

Egyptians use Zionist as a non racist insult, Jews hear an offensive racist slur. This is not so much historical fact as an observation of current discourse, particularly post the January 25, 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The internet savvy Egyptians are trying to choose their words in Arabic and English carefully, they are forward thinking revolutionaries driven by values of freedom and justice. Egyptians use “Zionist” mostly to mean Jews who support the oppression of the people of Palestine. Yet many Egyptians proceed to use the common bigoted racist anti-Semitic slurs with the word Zionist, so we hear of Zionist monkeys and pigs and the like. The forward looking Egyptians are willing to live with Jews and make peace with Jews but not Zionists, the Salafi minority and their elk reject all other and worse of all Jews.

Yet to many Jews, Zionism is an identity, it is more about their pride as people, it has a lot to do with their affection for Israel but to most Jews and Israelis, Zionism does not equal oppression of Palestine or usurping their rights. So while some Egyptians want to use a non racist language, virtually most Jews and Israelis hear nothing but racist language. Some Egyptians have taken to hone their criticism against Israelis rather than Jews failing to note that often times, there is far more advocacy for Palestinian rights amongst Israeli Jews than non Israeli Jews.

The Mubarak era saw massive increase of media criticism of Israel and of all things Jewish including the shameful serialization of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion on Mubarak’s own State TV, the rise of anti-Semitism in Egypt was a product of the state encouragement as a sanctioned channel for venting and activism and it also served the purpose of showing the US and the west the crucial need for Mubarak and his regime for ongoing stability. Long gone were the Sadat days of actively seeking reconciliation, Mubarak’s was the cold peace at the people to people level.

But this, clearly, is not the whole story, at a time of shocking images of live round the clock news coverage and citizen journalism; Israel is seen to be seriously out of step with its continued suppression of the rights of the people of Palestine, massive reprisals and collective punishment on a population occupied for generations. Israelis cannot stay silent on what is being committed in their name, day in and day out, and expect not to be hated. The continued right wing supremacist policies of colonial settlements, house demolitions, road blocks and “facts on the ground” are eroding the possibilities of peace and with Israel being a “democracy” are coloring all of its people with one big ugly brush in the eyes of many Egyptians.

Most Egyptians today are unaware of the deep roots of Zionism in Egypt and how most Egyptian political leaders and intellectuals looked admirably on Zionism even into the early 1930’s. In 1925 ardent Egyptian Nationalist Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed represented Egypt in the opening ceremony of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Some of the leaders of the Wafed Party in 1919 Revolution were also well known leaders of Zionist Associations in Cairo & Alexandria. Back then Jews, indeed Zionist Jews and Egyptians never viewed one another as enemies but friends. The Wafed Governments did not tolerate what they termed “Palestinian propaganda” from the one lone anti Zionist paper warning against evictions of Palestinians, they shut it down, while several Zionist papers were published in Egypt. The word “Zionism” did not have the abhorrent connotation it conjures today in the mind of the average Egyptian. Yet to Jews it still has the same lofty values that colleagues of Saad Zaghloul and Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed advocated.

The current events offer hope for change for the better but also offer a huge amount of uncertainty and fear. Perhaps looking at history we can see that the natural order is friendship between Jews and Egyptians or at the very least absence of animosity, perhaps Egyptians can learn to criticize actions and situations rather than labels and Jews and Israelis can revisit the history to see why a people who supported and welcomed them for many years have become so hateful towards them.

Ayman Ashour
August 29, 2011


Recommended Readings and Sources


I received a number of requests for sources and some readers wanted to read more on the various topics.

For political history and general views of Egyptians intellectuals and political leaders, I relied on readings in Arabic and English including The Question of Palestine by Edward Said and several of his other works. Leila Ahmed's outstanding memoir Border Passage, more than any other work helped me clear my views on issues of Egyptian identity and the more recent Arab identification. Other works that stayed with me included the controversial Enemy in the Promised Land by Sanaa Hassan and works in Arabic by Abed el Rahman el Refa'ay and others. Material I have encountered along the way but think had less influence on me were works by Bernard Lewis in English, Redwa Ashour and several others in Arabic.

For the Jewish experience in Egypt, I relied on Cairo, City Victorious which extensively used rabbinical records from Egyptian synagogues. The excellent Andre Aciman's Out of Egypt touched me deeply and I have also read  few other stories of  Jewish exits from Egypt.

Joel Beinin outstanding Stanford University research titled: Egyptian Jewish identities: communitarianisms, nationalisms, nostalgias, offers a concise review of material covered in more detail elsewhere. The paper is available on the internet and I have read several critical reviews of it as well but honestly have not been moved by them, perhaps Beinin just said what I wanted to hear.

I have also, through nearly 10 years as a co-moderator of an Arab Jewish internet dialogue group, and as member of in-person dialogue group in Boston, have heard directly of Egyptian Jewish experiences and was refered to countless articles and materials. Egyptian Jewish groups on the Internet continue to offer fascinating insight too.


My attempts to understand what the Holocaust meant for Jews come primarily from accounts of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors in dialogue; also readings of Primo Levy touched me deeply and on the use of the memory of Holocaust for political or monetary gains on The Holocaust Industry by Norman Finkelestin. I have suffered through several books in Arabic including those translated from French that deny the Holocaust or at least its full extent as well as theories on Jewish collusion with Nazi.


Reading on what I term “applied Zionism” or rather what actually happened on the ground in Palestine includes limited readings of Benny Morris and the amazing Hannah Arendt and closer to my own perspective was the outstanding work of Fay Afaf Kenafani: Nadia, Captive of hope and In Search of Fatima by Ghada Karami.

For the Lavon Affair I have primarily relied on Internet searches, one or two articles in Arabic and the also writings by Joel Beinin of Stanford referenced above. I have read minimal amounts of similar operations carried out in Iraq for the purpose of inducing fear in the Jewish communities to emigrate to Israel.

For the Suez 1956, I read few books by British politicians of the time including Descent to Suez and relied on the website of the Jewish Agency which until few years ago described the war as “campaign of self defense” but as of yesterday appear to have deleted all reference to it, or I may have looked it elsewhere.

I have reviewed  many of the books referenced above and the reviews are on " myAmazon reviews". 

Finally, I am neither a historian nor a researcher; I just happen to be an avid reader and also have a relatively good memory. The topics have been of great interest to me and I view the reconciliation between Egypt and Israel as critical for achieving peace in the whole region, I am also deeply moved by the historic and on-going suffering of both Jews and Palestinians.