Six-Day War victory was also Jews' misfortune

The Jewish News Weekly has a round-up of the devastating effects on Jewish communities in Arab countries after the Six Day War (via JIMENA):


"Imagine That, every Friday night, your mother prepared dinner with fresh food your father brought home from the market. Sundown welcomed Shabbat, and with it, the smell of roasted tomatoes and spices mingled with fresh fish.
"
"This was Gina Waldman’s Libya. Until June 1967.

"When Israel defeated its Arab neighbors in the Six-Day War, Waldman’s government and its people made life nearly unbearable for Libyan Jews.

"The day after the war began, a mob of protesters surrounded her parents’ home, shouting “Slaughter the Jews!” and other obscenities. Her mother warned her not to come home. For six weeks, Waldman stayed on a co-worker’s couch and her parents could not leave their house. They were afraid they would be killed.

“I would say the war was bittersweet,” said Waldman, who now lives in Tiburon. “Sweet because Israel won, and bitter because we lost our home. The Libyan Jewish community is totally extinct today.”

"Life had not been easy for Arab Jews in North Africa and the Middle East since the creation of a Jewish state, but the results of the 1967 war made a difficult life even harder. Across the region, governments squashed the rights of Jews. They were expelled, jailed, or in some cases, killed.

"Even though Waldman’s parents observed the Sabbath, they were never able to openly or publicly observe Jewish holidays or events. They were not considered citizens of their country. They were not allowed to have a telephone."

Read article in full