A Commentary on

The Jews of Egypt :Yesterday and Today

By; Rami Mangoubi Ph.D

In “The Jews of Egypt” (Elaph, December 22, 2005)[1], author Nabil Sharaf el Deen is respectful of Egyptian Jews, and even acknowledges that they suffered injustices, including expulsion, during the Nasser era.  The reader will also be pleasantly surprised to see that Egyptian Jews who fled to Israel are not described as traitors, a common accusation, but as a community that is “bound by profound longing for the motherland, Egypt”. 

Jews who fled persecution in Egypt are “full blooded Egyptians”, declares Sharaf Al Deen.  The article describes at length their active role in Egyptian cultural and artistic life.  By emphasizing the cultural contributions, the author helps dispel the commonly held belief among many Egyptians that Jews were rich foreigners (khawagat) whose only contributions to Egypt was limited to the economic sphere at best.   

The article, however, contains serious historical errors.  It wrongly asserts, or at least implies, that prior to the Nasser era, Jews lived in total harmony.  While Jews in the twentieth centuries had cordial, warm and unforgettable relations with many other Egyptians, they still experienced suffering and exclusion long before the Nasser era, even long before Israel and Zionism.  

Historically and through the middle of the nineteenth century, they, along with Christians, were tolerated as Ahl el Zemma, or Dhimmi.  To be precise, they were shown condescending mercy provided they did not contest the inferior social and legal status imposed on them.  The Dhimmi status implied the prohibition from testifying against Muslims in court, the prohibition from bearing arms or joining the army, and dress restrictions.  Jews and Christians were also required to pay an extra poll tax, the guizyeh[2]. 

Shortly after Khedewi Said ordered the emancipation of Jews and Christians from the Dhimmi status in the middle of the nineteenth century, and cancelled the guizyeh, new and increasingly dangerous forms of marginalization and exclusion started to appear.  As far back as 1869, long before political Zionism was born, nationality decrees were interpreted so as to deny Jews Egyptian citizenship.  These decrees were consolidated into Egypt’s 1929 Nationality Law.   As a result, more than 90 percent of Egyptian Jews were denied citizenship, regardless of how many centuries they resided in Egypt.  The majority, or 60 percent, remained stateless (apatride or gheir mo’ayan lel genseyah), while others were able to obtain foreign documents.  Despite the enormous Jewish contribution to Egypt’s economy, employment laws implemented during the 1930’s and 40’s thought to deny Jews opportunities even in the private sector.  The most notorious of these laws was the 1947 Company Law, as a result of which a huge number of Jews, because they lacked citizenship, lost their livelihood[3].  

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, accusations of ritual murders were also common in Egypt and other parts of the Arab world[4].  Nor was the article’s author made aware of the destruction of the Jewish synagogue in Cairo’s Darb el Barabra quarter on November 2, 1945, or the two massacres of Egyptian Jews that occurred during the Summer and Fall of 1948, shortly after the Egyptian army invaded Israel.  As many as 42 Jews were murdered, and many more wounded during these massacres[5].  No serious trial took place. 

Also unbeknown to the well meaning author are the incarceration and torture between 1967 and 1970 of nearly all Egyptian Jewish males, in the notorious detention camps of Abu Za’abal and Tura.  Nearly all were freed only on condition they leave the country, never to return; they were taken from prison to the airport without being allowed to see their homes, families, and neighbors[6]. 

It is rather disappointing and sad that Jews living in Egypt were unable to provide Sharaf el Deen with an accurate historical account of Egyptian Judaism; a strong indication that the dozen or so elderly Jews still in the country live in fear, a fear that many of us Egyptian Jews remember only too well.  We never dared discuss such matters in Egypt, and when pressured to talk to the press, Egyptian Jews had to claim that all was well. 

The more courageous individuals, however, would refuse to abide.  I recall for instance the time in 1969 when Mrs. Flore Marzouk, a member of the community who was volunteering her service at the Rabbinate, was asked to give an interview to Le Monde.  The security officer accompanying the correspondent to the Abbassiyah Rabbinate warned Mrs. Marzouk against any mention of the Jewish men imprisoned and tortured in Abu Za’abal and Tura.  The official let her know that she was expected to state that Jews are well treated in Egypt.  He also advised her that the correspondent should be made aware “that you are certain that both Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir (Israel’s defense and prime minister at the time), are criminals.”

That day, I was at the Rabbinate, now called the Jewish Community Center, delivering some food to be shipped to my brother and uncle at the Tura detention camp, and I recall how Mrs. Marzouk, with a mixture of determination, fear, and tear retention, flatly refused to talk to the correspondent from Le Monde under such conditions.  As a result, the security officer never allowed the correspondent into the Rabbinate.  Had he come in, the correspondent would have seen how incandescent with rage we all were at the suggestions of the security officer.

The article’s reader will quickly notice that courageous Jewish individuals like Mrs. Marzouk no longer live in Egypt.  This is indeed a shame for we do see courageous Moslems and Christians like Sa’ad el Din Ibrahim, Ali Salem[7], and Tarek Heggy[8], openly calling for good relations with the Jewish state and even praising Israeli democracy.  Even Ariel Sharon can hear good words from no less an Egyptian than President Husni Mubarak. The President of Egypt declared that only Sharon can bring peace, and, upon hearing of Sharon’s hospitalization, he called Israel and expressed concern[9].  What Egypt needs and does not have today is an outspoken, courageous Jewish community leader who can explain to Egyptians what happened to Egyptian Jews, and what Zionism and Israel mean to all Jews. 

Few Egyptians[10] are aware that, while Egypt’s government denied employment and citizenship to Jews living in the country for centuries, Israel offered them both upon arrival.  The largest percentage of Egyptian Jews, roughly 40 to 45 percent, fled to the Jewish state, while most of the other sixty percent or so spread to various English or French speaking countries, mainly the United States and France.   We therefore are grateful, and indeed morally indebted, to Israel, and to the other countries that support her and took us.

The absence of any honest discussion of taboo subjects like Israel or the fate of Egyptian Jewry only reflects poorly on the country.  Regrettably, in today’s Egypt, it is more common to hear Holocaust denial by high profile personalities like Mohamed Mahdi Akef, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood[11].   And such criminal bigotry is not limited to fundamentalist circles.  William Fisher, who for a long time managed for the state department economic development project in Egypt and in the Middle East, despairs that even graduates of the American University in Cairo whom he considers Egypt’s future leaders, consider the Holocaust “an idea that's been pushed by the Jewish lobby in America.”[12] 

The sad irony is that such mindset constitutes an injustice not only to Jews who fled the country, but also to non-Jewish Egyptians who were tolerant to Jews.  For it definitely ought to be mentioned that not a few Christians and Moslems friends and neighbors were affectionate to the Jews they knew.  Our neighbors protected us from hostile elements in some neighborhoods like Abassiyah and Sakakini. They bought our grocery when it was too dangerous to step outside.  Our custodians would chase away harassers. 

The fondness that some Jews have for their former lives stems from such memories, and Egyptian Jews inside and outside Egypt have the moral obligation to act as a bridge of peace with Israel, a peace that an increasing number of Egyptian Moslems and Christians realize will benefit Egypt too.  Jewish spokespersons must also inform Egyptians and others about the massacres, the incarceration, the torture, and the years of persecution, if only to explain and acknowledge the deep loyalty and friendship of Egyptian Moslems and Christians who stood by their Jewish neighbors and friends.

Rami Mangoubi is a Jewish refugee from Egypt.  He holds a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and works as an engineer in the United States. 

---

[1]  Http://Www.Hsje.Org/YahMasr122205.Htm

[2] For an excellent account on the lives of Jews in the Arab countries, Iran, and the Ottoman empire since the Seventh century, see Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, Princeton University Press, 1987.  The Dhimmi status is also discussed in Sanaa Hasan,Christians vs. Moslems in Modern Egypt, Oxford University Press, 2003.

[3] Shimon Shamir, ed., “The Evolution of Egyptian Nationality Laws and their application to the Jews in the monarchy period,” in The Jews of Egypt, A Mediterranean Society in Modern Times, Boulder: Westview Press, 1987, pp. 33-67.

[4] Bernard Lewis, p. 158. 

[5] Al Ahram, July 16, 1948, and September, 23, 1948. 

[6] I have personally lived through that period.  Michael Laskier, Egyptian Jewry under the Nasser Regime, 1956-1970,  Middle Eastern Studies, 31, (no 3: 1995), pp. 573-619.  See also Norman Stillman, The Jews from Arab Lands in Modern Times, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1991.

[7] Ali Salem, A Drive to Israel – An Egyptian Meets his Neighbor, Syracuse University Press, 2003.

[8] Www.Heggy.Org

[9] “Mubarak Phones Olmert, wishes PM well”,  Ynet News, January 6, 2006.

[10] Rami Mangoubi, “A Jewish Refugee Answers Youssef Ibrahim,” Middle East Times, October 30, 2004.  Http://Www.Metimes.Com/Articles/Normal.Php?StoryID=20041030-025149-4018r

[11] “Leader of Egypt’s Moslem Brotherhood calls Holocaust a myth”, New York Times, Dec. 22, 2005.  Article found on Http://Www.Hsje.Org/Ldrislmstcallsholocaust.Htm

[12] William Fisher, “Why should We Be Surprised?,” Www.Billfisher.Blogspot.Com, posted on January 18, 2006.

ISRAEL-EGYPT GALA EVENT– 12 March 2010

Celebrating 30 Years of activity of the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association
1980-2010
and 31 Years of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty – signed on 26.3.1979

Report

Levana Zamir, President of the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association, with Minister Silvan Shalom (right), Vice-Prime-Minister, and H.E. Barakat Ellessi, Egyptian Embassy Israel.

Tel-Aviv, March 12th 2010.

The Gala Event was held at the Einav Center in Tel-Aviv by the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association, in cooperation with the Egyptian Embassy in Israel, the Menahem Begin Heritage Center and the Municipality of Tel-Aviv.
Attending this successful and joyful event were some 350 participants, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors and delegates of 28 foreign countries in Israel, the Academy, and many Jews from Egypt who enjoyed gathering at this much elegant festivity.

Attending this successful and joyful event were some 350 participants, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors and delegates of 28 foreign countries in Israel, the Academy, and many Jews from Egypt who enjoyed gathering at this much elegant festivity.

Levana Zamir, with 3 former Ambassadors of Israel to Egypt: Prof. Shimon Shamir (right), Shalom Cohen and Zvi Mazel. 30 years of activities in a 16-minute movie:

The highlight of this event was a dynamic movie of 16 minutes, presenting the many and important events and achievements of the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association during 30 years of activities in Israel and Egypt, ebbing and flowing to the historical
waves of "cold or warm peace".
After this successful event, we received many emails
of appreciation. Here is one received
from Andrew C.Parker, Consul General of the
United States of America Embassy:

Dear Mrs. Zamir,
Thank you for making it possible for us to attend your event today. It was an honor to
participate in an event marking such an important milestone in the history of both Israel and Egypt.

Regards,
Andrew C. Parker
Consul General
U.S. Embassy Tel-Aviv.

The guests of honor presented their speeches during the event, very shortly.
Here below some "pearls" from those speeches:

Herzl Makov, Director General of the Menahem Begin Heritage Center
The Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt is the second most important historical event after the proclamation of the State of Israel and the Liberation of Jerusalem.
Sadat and Begin ‘s achievement should be remembered and learned from.

H.E. the Ambassador of Egypt
Since the signing of Peace between Israel and Egypt, our relations are developing steadily and constantly. This is the logical result of the Sadat and Begin initiative. President Mubarak is always calling for peace in the region, which suffered so much. As we celebrate Peace today, so let us work to create the proper environment for peace.

Nathan Wallach – Tel-Aviv Municipality
The normalization process is long and difficult, with many obstacles. But both sides know that Peace between our two countries is of strategic importance. Commercial ties are forming and there is no doubt that the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association is playing an important role in fostering closer relations for a dialogue between the two countries.

Silvan Shalom, Vice Prime Minister
Egypt being the major power and the leader of the entire Arab world, it was very important that the first Peace Treaty was signed with Egypt. By so doing Egypt said to the whole Arab world that Israel is here, and Israel is here for ever.
We should learn from 1977 that direct negotiations work and avoid time-wasting.

Professor Shimon Shamir – Tel-Aviv University and former Ambassador of Israel to Egypt:
I believe that Israel-Egypt peace is a remarkable success story, achieving what the architects of peace had in mind: no more war, no more bloodshed.
Today, there is a convergence of interests between Israel and Egypt: both of them want stability in the region, both of them are threatened by extremists and terrorism, both of them are worried by the ambitions of a neighboring regime which aims is to destabilize them.
These shared interests are the solid foundation of our relations, serving the purposes of both countries. People like Levana Zamir and her colleagues at the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association are playing a very important role in developing those shared interests, through friendship between the two societies, leading to peace in the region.

Levana Zamir – President of the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association
After more than 30 years of Peace with Egypt, we should be looking ahead. As early as in 1939, our first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion advocated a Middle-Eastern Confederation including a Jewish State. In the third millennium, when Europe, rising from the ashes of WWI and WWII, is merging into one entity, Ben-Gurion’s dream is not a delusion. The multicultural and cosmopolitan Jews of Egypt could be a bridge to achieving this aim.============

Makeshift bomb thrown at Cairo synagogue, no dead

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/21/AR2010022100831.html

The Associated Press
Sunday, February 21, 2010; 5:20 AM

CAIRO -- A man hurled a suitcase containing a makeshift bomb at Cairo's main downtown synagogue in the early hours Sunday morning, but there were no injuries or damage, police said.

According to the police report, a man entered a hotel located on the fourth floor of a building across from the synagogue at around 3 a.m. and as he was checking in, abruptly threw his suitcase out the window.

The case contained four containers of gasoline each attached to a glass bottle of sulfuric acid meant to shatter on impact and ignite the makeshift bomb, said police, who speculated the man may have panicked.

The bag, which also contained clothes, cotton strips, matches and a lighter, fell onto the sidewalk in front of the hotel and briefly caught fire before being extinguished. There were no injuries and no damage to the historic synagogue.

The suspect fled the scene and is now being sought by police.

Egypt's once thriving Jewish community largely left the country 50 years ago during hostilities between Egypt and Israel, but a number of heavily guarded synagogues, open only to Jews, remain.

The downtown synagogue, Egypt's largest, is the only one still conducting services for the Jewish high holidays, which are sometimes attended by Israeli diplomats.

The temple, known as Shaar Hashamayim, or the Gate of Heaven, was built in 1899 in a style evoking ancient Egyptian temples and was once the largest building on the wide downtown boulevard.

Egypt's Jewish community, which dates back millennia and in the 1940s numbered around 80,000, is down to several dozen, almost all of them elderly.

Egypt and Israel fought a war every decade from the 1940s to the 1970s until the 1979 peace treaty was signed.

Despite that treaty, Egyptian sentiment remains unfriendly to Israel, and anti-Semitic stereotypes still occasionally appear in the Egyptian media.

Since an Islamist insurgency based in southern Egypt was quashed in the 1990s, there have been few organized terrorist attacks in Egypt's Nile valley and the capital Cairo. There have, however, in a number of amateurish attempts to target foreigners over the years.

In February 2009 a crude explosive device planted in a bazaar popular with tourists killed a French teenager.

And There Were None

By Sultana Latifa (Suzy Vidal)

A Jewish refugee from an Arab land

I look into the mirror and ask myself: Who are you Sultana? Belgian, Italian, Egyptian, English, Israeli? Definitely none of these but a Jewish refugee from an Arab land!

At last we have been recognised as refugees.
We have even had Israeli coins paying tribute to Egyptian Jewry!
When the word refugee is pronounced you imagine suffering, struggles, insults, wars, prison.
Yes we went through all this.

Before 1948 we lived happily, I would say placidly. The everyday unhurried oriental life, no problems for the morrow practically planting our roots and happy to do that… but we were Yehud, Jews and that put us apart.

Come the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, all this changed radically.

We were well off and our homes beautiful but not because manna fell from heaven!
We worked hard and seriously to reach a certain standing. My grandfather woke up at 5 a.m. washed in cold water, drank his black coffee and trotted off to his shop where as a wholesaler, he sold exclusive fabrics directly imported from Great Britain.

My father worked at the Cotton Stock Exchange and was a stockbroker, whereas my mother was a very qualified Haute Couture seamstress catering for VIP ladies.
And thus we never lacked anything, cultural activities, members of a sporting club, social life and contrary to Arab children we all went to school, some to university.
A word about schools: The great majority sent their children to French-speaking schools because it was traditional to speak French at home. Except for the Lycée Français, the French schools were run by nuns or Jesuits, which may seem funny when you think the Jewish families sent their children to Christian schools.

As I was slightly on the wild side and very disobedient, I was sent off to a military academy managed by Irish generals (nuns) who would ‘tame’ me. I was the only child in the family to go to an English school. Looking back on that experience, I believe that the discipline we learned helped me to overcome the greatest difficulties of our exile.

The country was under British rule as Egypt had became a protectorate after the collapse of the Turkish Empire and administrations were mainly staffed by British officers who did not allow their employees to smoke the sheesha (water pipe) on the job!

As I was saying, the foundation of the State of Israel changed all that.
We could hardly go out without being spat at and called Yehudeya, bent kalb, Jew daughter of a dog

We were excluded from our sporting club where they said neither Jews nor dogs were admitted. Our Synagogue was shut down and out of bounds. Our Shaar Hashamaim, Gate to Heaven was a sight for sore eyes on the Friday Shabbat prayers: The ladies in their best dresses and the men in their elegant suits with their Talit around their shoulders. No weddings were celebrated or Bar Mitzvahs. Passing by the synagogue was like passing by a cemetery. No one there except the “boliss” standing guard.

The people in the Jewish community were questioned, preferably in the middle of the night. After World War 2 a lot of former Nazis found refuge in Egypt. It was said that the authorities took their advice very frequently. We were usually awakened in the middle of the night to force us to confess our Zionistic connections. When the authorities were convinced of such a connection there was only one place for the ‘so-called’ spy: prison in the middle of the desert: such infamous camps were Tura and Abu Zaabal. I had the privilege to write an Ode to the 400 (prisoners of these obnoxious places).

Under martial law anyone could be imprisoned following a denunciation from any Tom, Dick, or Harry. Being Jewish was a very serious accusation. Those were the days we dare not wear our Star of David, and even after that we did not wear any visible signs of our faith.

And strange to say, the less we could wear our star, the more Christians exhibited their cross seeming to say: look, I am not Jewish!

Needless to say there was a huge panic because of the explicit description of what the Egyptians would do to us. Apart from the verbal insults, Jews were threatened in the streets by throat slitting gestures miming the nature of their death!
Newspapers were full of insults and inciting the masses to go out and beat us up.
Egypt had the secret of extraordinary riots when thousands of people literally sprang out from the ground invading the streets, shouting and vociferating against Jews. Anyone remotely looking Jewish was beaten up in the streets.

Some people ask me: but how did they know you were Jewish? They knew! Maybe because of the colour of our skin, our way of dressing or because we did not wear the Muslim veil, THEY KNEW!

My youngest aunt who was pregnant was beaten up in the street during one of the spectacular riots Egyptians indulged in. Naturally, it was impossible for her to go on living in a country that was ready to cut you to pieces.
My mother’s family was composed of 9 brothers and sisters and my father’s of 8 brothers and sisters and it would be a lie to say we stood fearlessly waiting to see what would happen.

There was a curfew and everyone spoke in undertones, walked without looking at anyone, panic was there!

Why did we panic?

When the Jewish shops were confiscated and an ignorant ‘sequester’ (that is the name given to the man who lorded it) put in your place,
When Jews were not allowed to work at the stock exchange,
When a Jew could no longer retrieve his or her money from the bank without being checked out on an established black list,
When people, even women, started being arrested and put in prison in the desert,
When it became impossible to go out fearing an imaginary air raid by the Israelis and consequently be the target of wild Arabs in the street,
When you had to be careful of every word you pronounced,
When it looked very much like Nazism without the STAR on our lapel,
When there was only one way to survive:
FLEE! FLEE! FLEE!

Because of all that was said above there was a visceral fear. World War 2 had shown what could be done to defenceless Jews. Some like my grandmother, my mother and her sisters had panic attacks (though that medical term was not known then).
Panic that terrible word:
The families got ready even if they had to leave everything behind, but it was no longer viable to be a Jew in Egypt.
There were strict rules for leaving:
If you left then you were never to come back again
You could not transfer your own money. It was left to the Egyptian government.
If you had an Egyptian nationality you lost it and became apatride, without nationality

Those who lived in the vicinity of the Royal Palace were forced to move, the King was afraid of Jews.

But notwithstanding the sacrifices, two thirds of the Jews in Egypt left.
The great majority could no longer cope with the harassment and they were willing to give up everything they had worked and hoped for as long as they could escape the unspeakably harsh terror treatment reserved to Jews. On my mother’s side all the brothers and sister except one brother left. On my father’s side one brother and two sisters remained. The rest went to Israel.

Even that was dangerous for those who remained. Policemen came in the middle of the night to question the remaining family.

There were no direct routes to Israel. The state of war went on even when the war ended.

The Jewish refugees therefore left for either France or Italy by boat and were placed in camps: in France it was Marseille, in Italy it was Livorno (Leghorn) awaiting the possibility of transportation to Israel. All of them city people waiting for a new life!
Later, after our second exodus (1957) when we were able to meet our families by going to see them in Israel, still avoiding any Arab territory but through Greece, they told us in detail of the difficulties of their life and living in tents. City people, bank managers or employees who now had to earn their living by working on the new roads or lifting cement bags off trucks.

But once more they did not sit down in the streets holding out their hands begging, or crying to the U.N.

They struggled and worked hard.

As one of my uncles said: “we rolled up our sleeves and worked!”
The following two or three years in Egypt were more or less calm except that we were still very badly considered; being Jewish was like wearing a scarlet letter. All the family had gone but for us leaving the aged grandparents and flying off was not possible. Family solidarity was not a vain word.
It took time but my grandfather recuperated his shop, the ‘sequestre’ left and work could be resumed.
A word about the ‘séquestrer’ as they were called:
In general he was a man who did not have much schooling, had no idea of how products were made, or how to handle business. But nothing could be done without his approval (that maddened my grandfather who had been trading for well on 50 years). So he would come home and pull his hair out telling us about the stupidity of that sequester. All we could do was tell him to be patient. We also encouraged my grandmother to believe in peace promising that she would see her dear children again as soon as a peace treaty was signed. The peace treat only came 40 years later with Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, her heart had given way and she never saw them again. She was only 55.

Come January 1952:

The morning started off peacefully. Gradually the masses invaded the town, and the terrifying roars came closer. The town was on fire. They had set fire to Cairo! We lived in Malika Farida Street a few metres from The British Officers’ Club. That club was invaded and fire put to it. My best friend who lived just opposite the club saw the burning officers thrown from the windows and left downstairs on the ground blackened and smoking. It was horrendous!

In front of our house was a shop selling alcohol, it was invaded and all the bottles thrown into a bon fire in the middle of the street. The bottles kept popping for hours on end sounding like gunshots.

We shuddered home, shaking and praying hanging on to our Mezuzah nailed on every door, hoping the crowd would pass on. But they burst into our building looking for Yehud, Jews.

Our hall porter, called a Bawab in Egypt, swore to them there were no Jews in that building. But we rushed up the metal service stairs looking for an escape: Fire everywhere, on the left, on the right and in front of us. There were five of us: my mother, father, my younger sister and my nonno, grandfather, with a kitchen knife in his hands!

Well, and that passed away too and life settled down again, everyone going about his business. As the French say: tout passe!

I registered at university (The American university at Cairo) at 17, in 1953. Those were the happiest years in my life. After the strict nuns I enjoyed the diversity and freedom University offered me! I could give way to my artistic inclination by being part of an actor’s guild and directing a play or taking care of the sets. And my love of sports found opportunities as never before. I was part of the basketball team and captain of the tennis one. I was a member of the Square Dancing team.
The Touring club organised a visit to Upper Egypt and the Valley of the Kings where we sweated it out visiting the sights. I was doing very well in my studies except for Arabic never having had one hour of that language in my very English schooling. And for the first time in my life I was in love. Who could ask for more?
At A.U.C. there were guests invited to ‘speak’ to us such as Helen Keller, blind deaf and dumb. Other visitors were the Harlem Globetrotters who gave a whirling exhibition.

Then we were invited to the U.S. Embassy to demonstrate square dancing where we had our first taste of hamburgers with ketchup. In short as I said in my book: these were the Razzle Dazzle years.

1956! The Suez Crisis! War!

It fell on us!

The French, English and Israelis attacked Egypt because Nasser nationalised the Canal. Pandemonium broke loose. No one ever thinks of those civilians in war. All the Jewish French and English subjects were given 24, 48 hours to leave the country. They could only have one suitcase and ten Egyptian pounds. The apartments went to officers, the money and businesses to the government to punish us for what was happening.

And what about us Jews, responsible for everything as usual?

• 
  Once again prison,
  Loss of the Egyptian nationality,
  Confiscation of shops,
  Ostracisme,
  Etc! Etc! Etc!

All the borders were closed, only those expelled could leave; even then there were not enough planes to cater for this massive expulsion, they had to wait for their turn meanwhile receiving the visits of officers who had their eye on the apartments and listening to their comments on furnishing and decoration! Farewells were heart rending. Who knew when and where we would see them again!

My father being of a very distant Italian origin and having kept his nationality, we were consequently Italians. My mother went to the consulate to ask for their help. She was told:
We are not at war with Egypt and if you want to leave it will be through the desert and at your own responsibility! (Imagine the Sahara Desert? They did not offer to supply camels!).

University was closed, the American teachers flown to safety by their government.
As usual the American cultural centre was looted (every time the Egyptians had a grudge, they marched to the American Cultural centre and destroyed it).
The Americans always rebuilt it!

My grandfather’s shop and money once more confiscated, he had been put on a plane to Milan with his one suitcase and a piece of paper giving my cousin’s address in Milan.
It was a tragic mistake. He only spoke Arabic and no one understood what he was saying.

He cried like a schoolboy trying to explain that his children were in Israel. An interpreter was finally brought along and my cousin was contacted. (By the way she later told us we were morons to have put nonno on a plane all by himself ).It was true but we were afraid he would go to prison.
My mother who had a sharp tongue kept insulting Nasser, praying his house would crush over his head! (Yekhreb betak ya Nasser)

One day the Police came and took her away. She had been denounced by one of her apprentices whose uncle belonged to the Muslim brothers.

What must be known is that during a crisis, everyone unites against Jews. After her short imprisonment nothing could make my mother stay. She packed off all our belongings and we went and lived in a hotel. The furniture was sold at auction and our former servant bought most of it!

We no longer had anything: no home, no job: my father as a Jew could not work at the stock exchange. The clothes we had packed were stolen during the night at the hotel and when we called the police they treated us as though we were guilty. I was only a few months away from graduation and had to present my thesis so I hung on by my teeth to my studies.

My mother and younger sister left. I went on living at the hotel with my father.
All the Jews left Egypt, country of their birth, either by force or of their own ‘free will.’

And then there were none!

After visiting my aunts and uncles in Israel, we settled in Milan convinced that as Italians we would get help the same way the French and the English had helped out the expatriates. Nothing came our way, (once we received a can of cheese from America). We went down and down and down living in a boarding house in two rooms. It was the worst years of our lives.

Broken lives but who cared? An Italian told me we deserved it because we Jews had crucified Christ. My parents did not survive their exile. My mother died at age 55 and my father 57.

P.S. There is a follow up to that black period. A much happier one! I have been blissfully married to a Belgian for 50 years; have three wonderful, intelligent grown children and three equally beautiful grandkids.

As the French say: les chats ne font pas des chiens!

Suzy Vidal (Sultana Latifa)

The following article could also be viewed at http://hsje.org/mystory/therewasnone.htm