A New Middle East; A Challenging Call for Change

This article recently appeared in a major United Arab Emirate newspaper. Please see my response following the article, and the Sultan's response to me.


Welcoming our long-gone neighbors

By Sultan Al Qassemi

Many of us have heard of the famous advertising empire known as Saatchi & Saatchi, laughed at the jokes of Jerry Seinfeld, tapped our feet to the beats of Paula Abdul and shopped at Max Azria's BCBG stores. So what do all these successful people from various industries have in common? They are all of Arab origins.

The Jewish presence in what is now the Arab world dates back thousands of years; in fact, the very religion was founded in this region. Arab Muslims, Christians and Jews have been living in peace and harmony for centuries, so what happened? In short, after the violent wave of European anti-Semitism in the mid-20th century there was an exodus of European Jewry into historic Palestine, much of it forced, armed and violent, led by groups such as the Haganah and the Irgun (who were responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel).

Unfortunately, many Muslim Arabs from across the region reacted violently to these developments and decided to reciprocate; as a result, Jews who were living among them were shunned and assaulted. In Iraq, for example, about 120,000 Jews were compelled to emigrate to Israel, the U.S. and Europe in just less than three years.
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The streets of Cairo, the historic neighborhoods of Syria, the mountainous terrain of Lebanon and the bustling markets of Baghdad were, for the first time in thousands of years, emptied of one of the most successful ethnic minorities living within their communities. Doctors, architects, businessmen, scientists, poets and writers started to pack up and leave, some with good reason and some to avoid the repercussions of the founding of the state of Israel.

It wasn't all bad blood between the Arabs and the Jews; in fact, there were stories of heroism that have gone unreported and unnoticed in the Arab media. In the midst of the horrors of the Nazi occupation of France in the 1940s, the imam of the Paris Mosque saved the lives of scores of Jews by issuing certificates stating that they were Muslim. In Tunis, entire Jewish families were saved by a local hero, Khaled Abdelwahhab, who hid them in his farm at great risk to himself and his family; he was honored posthumously for his bravery by the Anti-Defamation League. As a result of such actions, fewer than 1 percent of the Jews of Arabia - who numbered in the hundreds of thousands - perished compared to more than 50 percent of the Jews of Europe.

Since then, there has been predominantly negative coverage of Judeo-Arab relations. Europe, after the Second World War, was able to turn the page almost immediately, yet many Arabs still paint all Jews with the same brush used for Israelis.

In 1975, in the wake of the death of the Egyptian revolutionary leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, many countries in which he had financed and encouraged revolutions shed the burden of his pan-Arab nationalism and scaremongering and decided to take action in order to restore the social unity of their countries. The pre-Saddam Iraqi Revolution Command Council issued advertisements in The New York Times and elsewhere inviting Jews to return to their home countries and guaranteeing their rights. Anwar Sadat's Egypt and Hafez Al Assad's Syria also issued such statements.

In recent history, only the two forward-thinking Middle Eastern kingdoms of Morocco and Bahrain have broken the mold of suspicion toward their Jewish citizens and integrated them into the social and political spheres. The former with the case of Andre Azoulay, an adviser to the previous and current kings; and the latter with the recent appointment of Huda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo as the new Bahraini ambassador to America.

Today in New York City alone there are more than 75,000 Jews of Syrian origin, many of them educated in the best schools, who speak or understand Arabic and still have an affinity for Syria. Is it not possible to imagine that such persons have the right, if they so choose, to be full citizens of Syria?

Is it not time to reassure the Jews of Arab origin that their ancestral homes are mature enough to welcome them back if they decide to invest, visit or even take up citizenship? If football players who spend a few months in the Middle East are given citizenship, shouldn't people who have a natural birthright, tremendous wealth, and valuable education and skills be accorded the same?

Of course such statements will be met with criticism and reminders of what the Israelis are doing to our Palestinian brothers and sisters. To that one can reply that in the Middle East, no one has been more cruel and violent to Arabs, more exploitive of the Palestinians and more manipulative of their cause than Arabs themselves. Have we forgotten that it was Iraq that invaded Kuwait, Egypt that encouraged bloody revolutions throughout the region and mostly militants from the Arabian Peninsula who perpetrated atrocious crimes of terrorism in Iraq? We ourselves have been the victims of unfair generalizations by the Western media - but should we learn from past lessons, or should we continue to reciprocate?

Sultan Al Qassemi is a Sharjah-based businessman and graduate of the American University of Paris. He is founder of Barjeel Securities, Dubai, and can be reached at sultan.alqassemi@gmail.com. This article originally appeared in The Nation.

My Response"

Dear Sir,

I read with admiration and respect your suggestion that Jews who formerly lived in Arab countries should be asked to return. You so clearly represent a tradition of humanistic and civilized thinking that one sees returning to the Arab world and their spokesmen.

After living in Israel for 20 years ,during which terrible conflicts left one thinking all Arabs are bent on Jewish/Israeli destruction, I have for 3 years been on a Saudi education board, led by a Prince of the Royal Family. Here I have met and worked with a number of prominent Saudis, and been welcomed warmly with real friendship and consideration. I have found them to be very concerned, caring people,with a great sense of humor. Like so many enlightened people, they are struggling, with some considerable success, to move their nation toward a more modern, just and compassionate future.

I take every opportunity I can to inform my Jewish friends of the reception I have received in Saudi Arabia. Obviously, many Israelis trading in Qatar, Dubai and other centers have already discovered, and are renewing the traditional ties between Jews and Arabs.

Is there some way we can help promote this process? Help the Palestinians to see the tremendous potential a peaceful resolution with Israel could bring them? Promote trade and relations with Israel, so they can stop believing they are threatened with annihilation?

With warmest regards and gratitude

Forrest Broman

The Sultan's Response to my note:

Dear Forrest

Thank you Sir for the kind words. I am greatly encouraged by many of the replies. The fact that the article appeared in a UAE government owned newspaper says a lot. They have also asked to contact President Perez to write an official article on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel to appear in the very newspaper. I hope for peace but I will also write and lobby for peace for as long as I can.

Kind regards

Sultan Al-Qassemi

P.S. I would appreciate it if your reply appeared under the article so that Haaretz and the other commentators read positive replies as well.






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