Mizrahi Jews

Mizrahi / mizra'xim / ( Heb.. מזרחי Mizrachi "east ", plur מזרחים Mizrahi ) also Edot haMizrach ( communities of the East) is the common name for Israel in coming from Asia and especially from the Middle East Jewish populations. To include Mizrahi Jews in the Arab world and other Muslim countries such as the Persian, Bukharan, Kurdish Jews and the so-called Mountain Jews, Indian Jews and those from the Caucasus and Georgia.

Name and history

The term " Mizrahi " stems from the Israeli use of the present; before the establishment of the State of Israel, it was in this sense, for the Oriental Jews, not used. Previously, she was a self-designation of the Mizrachi activists (see Mizrachi ).

Many Mizrahi actually identify with their country of birth or that of their ancestors, the " Iraqi Jew ", " Tunisian Jew ", " Persian Jews ", etc. In the past called the Mizrahi oriental Jews ( in literal translation of " Mizrachi " ), although the term is used oriental little more; Today he has frequently the meaning of east.

The Mizrahi are also frequently given the Sfaradim ( Sephardim, which in Hebrew means Spain ) summarized the Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492 in North Africa ( Maghreb ) and settled in the Middle East. However, the Sfaradim do not want to be counted among the Mizrahi.

Before the advent of the term " Mizrachi " was occasionally used as a foreign term for Jews of Arab descent. Few accepted the designation as Arab Jews or Arabs, as they called the endured hostility of Arab States and their living conditions in memory. This term is mainly used in the Arab world. As with the Arab Christians the emergence of most of these communities on the Arab- Muslim conquest goes back, during which some ancestral Christian and Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East retained their ancestral faith.

Language

The Mizrachi communities spoke numerous Judeo - Arabic dialects, such as the now mainly serving as a second language Moghrabi. Other Related Mizrahi dialects are Dzhidi, Judeo - Georgian, Judeo - Tajik ( Buchori ), Kurdish, Judeo - Berber, and Judeo - Aramaic Juhuri.

Most of the many notable philosophical, religious and literary works of the Mizrahi were written in Arabic with a modified Hebrew alphabet.

Expulsion after 1948

Most Mizrahi fled their Muslim-dominated countries of birth due to the Palestine War and the proclamation of the State of Israel. Israeli emissaries had also promoted in advance by Zionist propaganda, Hebrew language courses etc. in the Mizrahi 's willingness to leave the home. The Arab Muslims in turn aggravated the situation by their Jewish neighbors attacked violently in supposed solidarity with the Palestinians driven from their homes. More anti-Jewish actions of Arab governments in the 1950s and 1960s, including the expulsion of 25,000 Mizrahi Jews from Egypt during the Suez crisis of 1956 made ​​numerous Mizrahi refugees, most of whom went to Israel. Many Moroccan and Algerian Jews fled to France, and thousands of former Jews from Syria and Egypt are now living in the United States.

Today over 40,000 Mizrahi live scattered, mainly in Iran, but also Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey in communities of non-Arab Muslim world. Over 5,000 of the Arab in the world who remained living in Morocco and fewer than 2,000 in Tunisia, in other countries are less than 100 is currently a very low rate of emigration recorded mainly to Israel and the United States. The information on the situation of Iranian Mizrahi are contradictory because they live in a country whose Islamic -oriented government, although Christians and Jews tolerated as members of a " religion of the book ", but this also assesses political reasons than ideological opponents. While indigenous Jews claim a largely peaceful coexistence of religions, documenting Israeli sources anti -Semitic incidents.

In the Arab countries, 1948-2008

In 1948, Jewish communities still existed in the entire Arab world. The entire Jewish population was comprised of about 758000-881000 people ( see table). Today there are less than 8,600. In some Arab countries, such as Libya, there are virtually no Jews still remain a few hundred other countries.

Mizrahi in Israel today

Since their arrival in Israel, the cultural gap between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews with regard to customs, habits, language, etc. obvious and partly irreconcilable. The next North African Jews spoke Arabic dialects, the native language of the Iranian- was Persian, Indian Baghdad Jews spoke English, the Gruzinim Georgian, other languages ​​were Tajik, Juhuri and numerous other languages ​​depending on the country of origin. Partial speak Israeli Mizrahi still mainly those languages. Before emigrating, saw numerous Mizrahi Hebrew only as a prayer language.

The Mizrahi were initially quartered in poor, hastily erected tent cities and later reassigned to urban planning. The settlement in the moshav ( agricultural cooperatives ) failed mainly because many Mizrahi were craftsmen and merchants without agricultural experience.

The Mizrahi differed to a great extent by the Ashkenazim, which made ​​the assimilation into Israeli society to a difficult and decades-long process. Sociologists have identified numerous factors that affected the integration, including the level of education prior to arrival in the country and the presence or absence of a professional class within the community, but also racism on the part of the Ashkenazi establishment. However, the widespread intermarriage of Ashkenazi and Mizrahi in Israel as well as the general use of Hebrew have such lasting effect among the young generation that newcomers such as Russian and Ethiopian Jews keep the Mizrahi is now a part of the Israeli establishment.

Well 2004 was the average income of Ashkenazim to 36 percent higher than that of the Mizrahi, but this difference decreases with the mixing of the groups.

Famous personalities of the Mizrahi

Politician

• Shlomo Ben Ami, Professor, former Israeli foreign minister and diplomat - Morocco
• Benjamin Ben -Eliezer, Minister of the Interior, a former Israeli defense minister and chairman of the Labor Party - Iraq
• Moshe Katsav, Israel's president until July 2007 - Iran
• David Levy, a former Israeli foreign minister and deputy prime minister and deputy - Morocco
• Yitzhak Mordechai, General, politician and co-founder of the party Merkaz - Iraq
• Yitzhak Nawon, former Israeli President, Minister of Education and playwright - Palestine
• Amir Peretz, since June 2007, Minister without duties, former chairman of the Israeli Labor Party, former chairman of the Histadrut trade union, former defense minister (2006-2007) - Morocco
• Silvan Shalom, former Israeli foreign and finance ministers and deputy - Tunisia
• Maurice Motamed, a member of the Iranian parliament Majlis - Iran
• David Alliance, British entrepreneur and politician of the Liberal Democrats - Iran
• Said Emami, intelligence officer - Iran
• Dan Chalutz, former Ramatkal the Israeli armed forces - Iran
• Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Minister of Defense - Iran
• Charlie Biton, an activist of the "Black Panther" then Hadash Knesset member from 1977 to 1992
• Reuven Abergil, activist of the "Black Panther", then the " Mizrachi Democratic Rainbow" and in Tarabut - Hitchabrut

• Gali Atari, Israeli singer, actress, won the Euro Vision Song Contest - Yemen
• Izhar Cohen, Israeli singer, actor, winner of the Euro Vision Song Contest - Yemen
• Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer, actress - Yemen
• Dana International, Israeli pop singer, winner of the Euro Vision Song Contest - Yemen
• Yehoram Gaon, Israeli pop singer, actor, politician - Turkey
• Zohar Argov, Israeli singer called " melekh " the king
• Ofra Haza, Temani singer - Yemen
• Noa, Temani singer - Yemen
• Rita, popular Israeli singer, actress - Iran
• Sacha Baron Cohen, English comedian and actor, whose parents come from Wales and Iran / Israel
• Bahar Soomekh, Actor - Iran
• Eyal Golan
• Sarit Hadad

Other

• Mordechai Eliyahu, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, current spiritual leader of Shas - Iraq
• Françoise Giroud, born Lea France Gourdji, writer - Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
• Moshe Levi, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces - Iraq
• Farhat Ezekiel Nadira, Bollywood actress of the 1950s and 1960s - Iraq
• Charles Saatchi, Chairman and art collector - Iraq
• Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, former Vice - Chairman of the Conservative Party in Britain - Iraq
• David Sassoon, Indian businessman, philanthropist - Iraq
• Ovadja Joseph, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel - Iraq
• Nouriel Roubini, an American economist