Description
Book SynopsisThis is the first book to tell the story of the Jews of Lebanon in the twentieth century. It challenges the prevailing view that Jews everywhere in the Middle East were second-class citizens, and were persecuted after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The Jews of Lebanon were just one of Lebanon's 23 minorities with the same rights and privileges, and subject to the same political tensions. The author discusses the Jewish presence in Lebanon under Ottoman Rule; Lebanese Jews under the French mandate; Lebanese Jewish identity after the establishment of the State of Israel; the increase of the community through Syrian refugees; the Jews' position in the first civil war; their involvement in the exfiltration of Syrian Jews; the beginning of their exodus after the 1967 War; the virtual extinction of the Jewish community as a result of the prolonged 1975 second civil war and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon; and finally the community's memory of their Lebanese past.
Trade Review"An outstanding sociopolitical history of the Jewish community of Lebanon. Highly recommended..." -- Choice
"Dr Schulze succeeds in placing the Jewish community in the broader context of Lebanese and Middle Eastern politics, and makes a highly significant and substantive contribution to the study on minorities in the Middle East." - From the foreword by Professor Avi Shlaim, St Antonys College, Oxford
Table of ContentsForeword by Avi Shlaim; Introduction; Jewish life in the Arab Middle East; Jewish life in Lebanon; A literary survey; A Voyage through History; The historical legacy; Lebanon under Ottoman Rule; The Lebanese Jewish community; Culture, education and religion; Lebanese Jews under the French Mandate: Liberty, Fraternity and Equality; Grand Liban and the mandate; Merchants and financiers; Inter-communal relations and community life; The Lebanese Zionist project and contacts with the Yishuv; The Palestine question; World War II and the Vichy regime; Lebanese and Israeli Independence: Questions of Identity; Lebanese independence and the National Pact; The Jewish community and the political situation, 1943-1948; Two women remember: a privileged life in Lebanon; The establishment of the State of Israel; Jewish refugees and unavoidable changes; Syrian refugees; The First Civil War: Conflict of Identities; Dual loyalties; The Jewish community and the political situation, 1949-1957; Community life, 1943-1958; The first Lebanese civil war; Political and cultural identification; The Beginning of the Exodus; The Chehabist miracle'; Jewish emigration; The Six-Day War and beyond; The Cairo Agreement: the road to disintegration; The second civil war; The Israeli Invasion and Beyond: Renaissance or Decline?; Operation Peace for Galilee; Renaissance in Beirut; The war continues, 1985-1989; The end of the civil war; Conjectures, Considerations, and Conclusions; A Sentimental Journey; The community in history; The Arab-Israeli conflict; A history of Lebanon; Index.
