#mizrahi jews | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jewish-sideblog · 7 months

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Any time I see people call Israel a settler colonialist state I think about the history of the Mizrahi Jews who remained in Judea.

Mizrahi Jews in the seventh century, whose families had lived as native Israelites for 1,800 years, watching the Rashidun Caliphate move the first major wave of Arab Muslim migration into the imperial conquest they called "Military Palestine".

Mizrahi Jews who, over the course of the next 1,200 years, remained in the Levant. The ones who faced persecution, pogroms, and massacres under the Caliphates and Ottomans. The ones who stood strong and stayed put, as access to holy sites they had prayed at for three thousand years were taken from them. The ones who were faced with a choice between conversion and death, but chose neither.

Mizrahi Jews who watched as the modern State of Israel was established-- perhaps sighing in relief for just a moment. Maybe now, they would not be persecuted minorities in the land they had lived in for over three thousand years. Only to see other Mizrahim forced to flee their homes in Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran... Muslim-ruled countries that, through official law or social persecution, intentionally forced other Middle Eastern Jews to leave their homes and settle in Israel.

And the Mizrahi Jews today, who are the majority of the population of Israel. Most Israelis today are either Mizrahim who had lived in what is now Israeli territory for millennia, or Mizrahim who lived nearby and were forced by Muslim-majority nations to immigrate to Israel. Now, they get called "settler colonists", they get called "Europeans", they get called "fascists" and "Zionists". The world accuses them of occupying and stealing Palestinian land.

What were they supposed to have done differently?

Edit 12/27/23: Not so friendly reminder that if your "rebuttal" is to blame the actions of the Israeli government on Israeli civilians, I'm not even gonna bother to read the whole thing. I'll start believing that's a valid argument when average Americans get brought to the Hague for what the US government did in Cambodia.

#israel #jumblr #mizrahi jews

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omeryotam4 · 6 months

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A few days ago, in my quest to fight the antisemitism that lifted its head around the world following the massacre of October 7th, I stumbled upon a clip from a UN assembly where the speaker asked a simple question-

Dear Arab world, where are your Jews?

A lot of people think that Israeli roots come from Europe exclusively. But in fact, Jewish people were hunted in all corners of this world. In Europe, of course, but also in Asia, Africa and other places all over the planet.

My grandma is an Iraqi Jew. Iraqi Jewish community is one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, being the direct descendants of the Babylonian exile Jews, so ancient it is an exile mentioned in the Bible.

Recent studies, in which DNA retrieved from canaanite burial lands was compared to current populations in the area of ancient Canaan, has found that Iraqi Jews share the highest similarity to canaanite DNA out of all Jewish communities, more than 50% of the DNA on average.

All the beautiful, peaceful Jewish communities of the Arab world were wiped out in the blink of an eye.

The Arabic world has never treated their Jewish communities as equal citizens, oftentimes robbing them of any rights and performing violent acts of genocide against them (check 'Farhud' on Google).

But their voice was silenced once they fled to Israel.

So I decided to recap my grandma's story in the comments of the clip:

Soon after, many Jewish people with Arabic, or 'Mizrahi' heritage, shared their stories as well:

Jewish people all over the planet were driven out of their homes, ethnically cleansed by their neighbors, rulers, and governments.

We are still not welcome in most of the countries of the Arab world. Unable to see glimpses of our history.

My grandma still wishes she could see the house she grew up in. Holding the memories, but unable to set foot in that land, because she would be executed.

Nevertheless, she's not a refugee. She might've fled to Israel, but in Israel, her family got equal rights as citizens, and she built a house on a land she now calls her home.

Don't erase my grandma's story. Don't erase the Jewish ethnic cleansing that brought her to seek a safe haven in Israel.

Israel is a home for more than half of the Jewish people on this planet. Out of the ~8,000,000 Jews who live in Israel, there are about ~2,500,000 Jews of Mizrahi heritage.

And as Golda Meir once said: "our secret weapon is that we have nowhere else to go."

#omi talks #jewish #Iraqi Jews #jumblr #israel #mizrahi jews #canaan #I hate the fact that Israel only trends on this hellsite when people wish its destruction #it's never two state solution it's always 'from the river to the sea'#that's just messed up

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nesyanast · 4 months

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Wedding of Iraqi Jewish Couple, 1960. Photo courtesy of Maurice Shohet

Source: exhibit.ijarchive.org (Iraqi Jewish Archive)

#jumblr #jewish #jews #nesyapost #jewish history #jewish culture #judaism #iraqi jews #mizrahi jews #1960 #iraq #wedding #history #mizrahi #Jewish wedding

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thebrightestwitchofherage · 4 months

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A brief History of Mizrahi Jews in Arabic countries and Their expulsion

A\N: While I am an Ashkenazi Jew, I have done A LOT of research, and have both Iraqi friends and relatives to corroborate this with. Also, I'm petty - an Iraqi user who comments regularly on my posts seems to forget about his own country's Jewish history... Well, I hope he forgot instead of the more likely reality: It seems like Arabic people nowadays aren't aware of Jewish history in their countries since they either killed to expelled them all. Thus is born the constant argument that all Jews originated in Europe and are merely settlers in the Middle East.

I realized that what may be obvious to me won't be obvious to others since I'm a history nerd who grew up in Israel with plenty of rich archeological evidence and resources surrounding me. I'm happy to make these posts in hopes of educating others and contributing my part to ending antisemitism and prejudice. ___________________

You might have seen the following picture in one of my previous posts:

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, in this case, it concludes hundreds of years of discrimination, violence, and exile for Mizrahi Jews. * It is important to note that numbers are slightly varied between sources, but the meaning is clear.

In a nutshell- all throughout history, the fate of Jewish people in countries where they weren't the religious majority was the same:

Discriminatory laws, blood libels, being blamed for disasters > violence & murder > Pogroms * > and eventually- exile or mass murder AKA ethnic cleansing \ genocide.

Pogrom- the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries.

Every Jewish community has its own Pogrom. While my side of the family might immediately think of the Kristallnacht or persecution & pogroms in Hungary, it is different for Jews from different backgrounds. You can read about a few cases of forced conversion to Islam here.

A brief History of the land of Israel

The land of Israel has always been considered a strategic passageway, and so many empires throughout history have conquered it:

* I simply cannot accurately write 3000+ years of Jewish history in the land of Israel. I found that this video summarizes it perfectly.

Exile from the land of Israel

Jews were exiled from the land of Israel numerous times since the Assyrian empire conquered Israel in 732 BCE, to what we call "the diaspora" גולה. It was not by choice and we were persecuted everywhere we went.

Jews were not allowed to legally return to Israel until 1948 when the British mandate over the land of Israel ended and Israel was formed. Yes, even during the Holocaust.

The Jewish answer to exile - Aliyah עליה There have been 5 waves of illegal immigration from all over the world to the land of Israel before 1948, recorded in modern times.

Chart taken from Wikipedia (their chart was the best I could find in English)

Forced Conversion

Whether in conquered Israel or in exile, Jews were often forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. The choice was between conversion or death.

*You can read more about some of the forced conversion of Jews during history here and here.

First Case study- The last jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati

Peki'in is an ancient village in the upper Galilee, Northern Israel. Nowadays, its population is mostly Druze.

Peki'in has had a Jewish presence since the Second Temple period, until Arab riots in the 1930s*. Meet the remaining member of the Zinatis, the only family who returned. (aish.com)

*Read more on the Arab riots of the 1930s here and here. Margalit is currently the last Jew living in the village of Peki'in . She is the last direct descendent of the Zinati Cohen family. The Zinati family's origins are dated back to the Second Temple era. The former Jewish community of Peki'in maintained a presence there since the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). That is when the polytheistic Persian Empire conquered the land of Israel. For reference- that was approximately 500 years before Jesus was even born! "During which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem." (Wikipedia)

As an adult, Margalit chose to not marry so she could stay in Peki'in and continue her family's Jewish legacy in Peki'in. She later became in charge of the ancient synagogue in the village and turned her basement into a visiting center \ museum of Jewish history in Peki'in- "House of Zinati". in 2018, she lit up a torch as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day Torch lighting ceremony (which is considered an honor given to influential and trailblazing people).

-Margalit Zinati pictured in the Peki'in Synagogue yard, 2016 Picture taken from Wikipedia, uploaded by Deror Avi.

Second Case study - Iraqi Jews (Babylonian Jews \ יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים)

Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest documented Jewish communities living in the Middle East. It is estimated that they originated around 600 BC.ת

The Farhud الفرهود הפרהוד

Unfortunately, Iraqi Jewish history ended in the same pattern I've described earlier. The Farhud was the violent mass dispossession against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq between 1-2 June 1941. was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, It immediately followed the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War.

Background for the Farhud:

WW2- At the time, many Arabic countries in the Middle East agreed with Nazi ideology.

History of violence towards Jews.

The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) - caused rising tension, and as usual, it was turned on the Jews.

personal family ties to the Farhud My relative was born in 1939 in Iraq, to a big upper-class Jewish family. Unfortunately, the mass exile of Jews in the 1950s didn't skip her family: she was stripped of her belongings and exiled to Israel along with her family. In the 1950s there were approximately 140,000 Iraqi Jews. As of 2021, there are only 4 left.

----------------- Please feel free to add anything I missed in the notes. And as usual - remember I am a human being. If you cuss or harass me, I will block and report you.

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Online Sources: * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".

What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud

History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/

What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB

The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/

Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots

Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk

Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period

Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4

https://academic.oup.com/book/32113/chapter-abstract/268043723?redirectedFrom=fulltext

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lem0nademouth · 6 months

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hey, Jewish friends: mute and block whatever tags you have to. you’re not excusing violence or absolving anyone of responsibility for wanting a break. especially if you are awaiting news on the wellbeing of your loved ones. take a break. let yourself be distracted for a bit.

#jumblr #jewblr #jewish #ashkenazi jewish #sephardi jewish #mizrahi jews #taking care of yourself is not an act of war #and anyone who says it is is not your ally

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hindahoney · 1 year

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Mizrahi Jewish life in Tehran and Mashhad, Iran, 1940-1973

#jumblr #judaism #jewish #frumblr #jewish history #jewish art #jewish photography #mizrahi #mizrahi jews #jewblr #judaica #jewish culture #chag purim sameach #purim

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secular-jew · 17 days

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North African Jewish Woman, likely to be Berber, of Debdou, Morocco.

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n1m3h · 4 months

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1️⃣2️⃣4️⃣

Yemenite Jew (1914)

#human #jumblr #jews #jewish #judaism #jewish culture #mizrahi jews #mizrahim #yemenite jews #arab jews #torah #life

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jewish-culture-is · 3 months

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Jewish culture is that your Jewish friends ask if you are Ashkenazi or Mizrahi (or both)

and jewish culture is not knowing (me)

#jewish culture is #judaism #jewish #jumblr #ashkenazi jewish #mizrahi jews

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itskebb · 4 months

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! DONT FORGET !

(Postcard of Mizrahi reading the Torah. Cant find much else)

Not all Jews are Ashkenazi so DONT TREAT US LIKE WE ARE!

! DONT FORGET !

! WE ARE JEWISH TOO !

(Moroccan Jews at a henna party wearing Kaftans and Berberisca. The Berberisca dress; or ‘Keswa El Kbria’ is a Moroccan Jewish wedding dress.)

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sarcasticsweetlara · 5 months

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We have to stand for Palestine!

Stand for what is right and advocate for their rights.

However don't mistake calling out Israeli Government for hatred towards Jews.

Remember there are Palestinian Jews, and that there are Jews that have been discriminated against either in their countries of origin or in Israel, like Yemeni Jews, Burakhan Jews, Kurdish Jews, etc.

#save palestine #palestine news #palestine #palestina #free palestine #free palestine ��🇸#free gaza #free gaza 🇵🇸#from the river to the sea palestine will be free #mizrahi jews #mashriqi jews #bukharan jews #kurdish jews #yemeni jews #i hate israel government but i like jews #hatred against jews is not right #palestinian jews

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nesyanast · 4 months

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Bar Mitzvah in Baghdad, 1961. Photo courtesy of Maurice Shohet Source: exhibit.ijarchive.org (Iraqi Jews Archive)

#jumblr #jewish #jews #nesyapost #jewish history #judaism #jewish culture #mizrahi jews #mizrahi #iraq #iraqi jews #Baghdad #1960 #bar mitzvah #vintage photography

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operafloozy · 6 months

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November is Mizrahi Heritage Month, so this seems like a good time to remind people that Mizrahi Jews exist, both within and outside of Israel.

I'm not an expert, so I'm just going to link to a Jewish Voice for Peace (an Anti-Zionist Jewish group) Fact Sheet. Because it's a PDF and this is tumblr, I'll post some major points here.

Supporters of Israel dislike talking about MENA Jews because of racism within Israel and Israel portrays itself as European to soften their image with Americans and Europeans. Israel's detractors dislike talking about them because their existence muddies the White Euro Colonizer portrayal of Israelis. (OP commentary, not from the fact sheet)

Of 7 million Israelis, 35-40% are Mizrahim, 15% are Russian immigrants, 20% are Palestinian Israelis, 2.2% are Ethiopian, and 25-30% are Ashkenazi Jews and others. This means 55-60% of the Israeli population is ‘non-white’; together, Mizrahim and Palestinian Israelis form a majority.

Middle Eastern Jews immigrated to Israel for a variety of reasons related to each particular country’s economic, political, religious and national policies, messianic hopes and Israeli policies. Where one immigrated depended on socio- economic status and religiosity. Wealthier North African Jews ended up in Europe and America, as a rule.

Many MENA Jews can be considered refugees, immigrating due to persecution, pogroms, and economic hardship, though few of them refer to themselves as such.

On arrival [to Israel], some underwent humiliating experiences such as being sprayed with DDT. The Ringworm Children documentary highlights the tens of thousands of mostly North African children received high doses of radiation for ringworm, resulting in deaths and long-term effects including seizures, infertility, and cancers.

Despite being the majority Jewish population in Israel, Mizrahim are represented in small numbers in the Israeli Parliament and in elite positions such as professorships. Many still live in poor ‘development towns,’ agricultural Moshavim, or urban peripheries such as South Tel Aviv that receive fewer municipal funds than more central and majority-Ashkenazi Jewish cities, towns, and Kibbutzim

This information should not be used for:

This is not an excuse for genocide. What is happening in Gaza is 100% more important. I'm just sharing this with the hope that it enhances the way some of you talk about Israel.

This is not a case of 'good' brown Jews and 'bad' European Jews. There are plenty of MENA Jews within and outside of Israel that are Zionist. There are plenty of Ashkenazi Jews within and outside of Israel that are anti-Zionist. In both cases we're talking about large swathes of people who have disparate experiences, both within and outside of Western racial framework.

This should not be taken as support of the Israeli government. People continue to not be their governments.

#Israel #mena jews #mizrahi jews #mizrahi heritage month #I've been considering whether or not to post this for a while #because I'm not an expert and I don't want to deal with people saying that this is a distraction #but then I thought about how I felt about people asking about more inclusive language for abortion (perfectly fine)#and other repeated requests to not lambast people whose governments are shitty

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the-catboy-minyan · 3 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/740245907556220928/sephardi-jew-here-thank-you-for-your-posts one of my friends reblogged this post and I'm just. I'm so tired

the post

oof this is just... yikes. it's not even calling Mizrahi Jews "Arab Jews", it completely erases our identity to call us Palestinians??? this is just begging Mizrahi jews to call it out.

can you try to gently reach your friend and explain to them what Mizrahi Jew means? (Jews from middle eastern and north african origin. Yemeni, Iraqi, Persian, Moroccan, Egyptian, etc), maybe add a link to Operation Magic Carpet, since it's one of the largest Mizrahi immigrations iirc. there's a chance they'll listen.

#asks #antisemitism #mizrahi jews

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cheesebongdynasty · 7 months

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Imagine if....

...people on Tumblr decided that South Koreans were "white" and North Korean were "POC."

Imagine that people you follow, and who follow you, are regularly referring to South Korea as a "U.S. army base," and "a white colonizer state."

Whatever you think you know about history and whatever you've seen with your eyes is irrelevant. These labels are now the norm, and you can't convince people otherwise.

Imagine that people you follow, and who follow you, are urging that you must spread the word about South Korea's "genocide" against North Korea, or you're not a true Ally.

Do you openly question anyone on this?

Do you dare just ignore it all?

Or do you start looking for ways to maintain your "ally" badge for both North and South Korea, without losing too many of your followers on this website?

Maybe you simply reblog the anti-South Korea posts, while looking for ways to show off that you're totally still an ally to the South Koreans (perhaps by acting outraged over a maybe-stereotype in a random work of fiction). That seems logical, right?

#israel #israeli #palestine #palestinian #hamas #mizrahi jews #ashkenazi jewish #sephardi jewish #white #poc #ally #its all about the labels on this site #propaganda #jewish #antisemitism #allyship

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yoramkelmer · 1 year

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Ramola Devi (Rachel Cohen) (1917-1988), 1940s

#Ramola Devi #Ramola #Bollywood #Old Bollywood #Vintage Bollywood #Jewish #Jews #Baghdadi Jews #Indian Jews #Mizrahi Jews #Jewish History #Jewish Actors #Jewish Actresses #Khazanchi

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