The Jews of Lebanon : between coexistence and conflict

This text tells the story of the Lebanese Jews in the 20th century. It challenges the prevailing view that all Jews in the Midlle 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. This 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. Contents List of Illustrations Foreword by Avi Shlaim Acknowledgements Abbreviations Note on Transliteration Introduction 1 A Voyage through History 2 Lebanese Jews under the French Mandate: Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality 3 Lebanese and Israeli Independence: Questions of Identity 4 The First Civil War: Conflict of Identities 5 The Beginning of the Exodus 6 The Israeli Invasion and Beyond: Renaissance or Decline? 7 Conjectures, Considerations, and Conclusions: A Sentimental Journey Appendix Notes Bibliography Index Kirsten E. Schulze. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [181]-187) And Index.