CHARLES MALICK

The Arab States opposed the creation of Israel. They promised that Jews could like in Arab lands and would have “absolute protection” and “no discrimination whatsoever”, There was no need for a separate Jewish since the Islamic states were open to Jews. At the time, few took the statement seriously. The Islamic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had been a general officer of the Nazi SS. There had been hundreds of anti jewish riots where Jews were killed and if they were lucky, only their property would be destroyed. Historically, only in Ataturk’s Turkey could Jews and Christians live as equals in an Islamic state. Under Islamic law, “people of the book”—Christians and Jews—could live in Muslim nations but had to pay special taxes and had many restrictions on their public visibility. Since 1947, there is not a single Islamic state in the Middle East with the exception of Turkey where Jews had “absolute protection: and were not discriminated against.

The Arab States opposed the creation of Israel. They promised that Jews could like in Arab lands and would have “absolute protection” and “no discrimination whatsoever”, There was no need for a separate Jewish since the Islamic states were open to Jews. At the time, few took the statement seriously. The Islamic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had been a general officer of the Nazi SS. There had been hundreds of anti jewish riots where Jews were killed and if they were lucky, only their property would be destroyed. Historically, only in Ataturk’s Turkey could Jews and Christians live as equals in an Islamic state. Under Islamic law, “people of the book”—Christians and Jews—could live in Muslim nations but had to pay special taxes and had many restrictions on their public visibility. Since 1947, there is not a single Islamic state in the Middle East with the exception of Turkey where Jews had “absolute protection: and were not discriminated against.