Judaism in the World
Lebanon
|
|
-->
|
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
• Discussion Forum |
Do you have an opinion about this page? Make it known on the
Discussion Forum!
|
|
|
Lebanese Jews historically have been an integral part of the Lebanese fabric of
confessional communities. In 1947, they were estimated to number 5,950. After the
creation of the state of Israel in 1948, Lebanese Jews did not feel compelled to
emigrate because they enjoyed a prosperous status in Lebanese society and had been
granted equal rights by law with other citizens. Moreover, they suffered no harm
during the anti-Zionist demonstrations of 1947 and 1948.
However, the intensification of the Arab-Israeli conflict politicized attitudes toward
local Jews, who were often associated with the policies of Israel. In the early 1950s
their synagogue in Beirut was bombed, and the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies witnessed
heated debates on the status of Lebanese Jewish army officers. The discussions
culminated in a unanimous resolution to expel and exclude them from the Lebanese Army.
During the June 1967 War, Lebanese authorities stationed guards in Jewish districts,
when hostility toward Lebanese Jews became overt. Several hundred chose to leave the
country; until 1972 Jews were free to leave the country with their money and
possessions. During the 1975 Civil War, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
and Lebanese leftist-Muslim forces posted militia in the Jewish neighborhood of Wadi
Abu Jamil, that housed what remained of the dwindling Jewish community, estimated to
number less than 3,000.
Nevertheless, the rise of Muslim fundamentalists, especially in the aftermath of the
Israeli invasion of 1982, constituted a real threat to Lebanese Jews. Organizations
such as the Khaybar Brigades and the Organization of the Oppressed of the Earth
claimed responsibility for kidnapping and killing several Lebanese Jews between 1984
and 1987. As of 1987 it was estimated that only a dozen Jews remained in West Beirut,
and some seventy others in the eastern sector of the city.
Source: Library of Congress Country Studies
-->
