Persecution of Jews in the Muslim World – a Historical Timeline

(Note: this is just a rough sketch, and is by no means complete. Please comment if you notice any events that should be added)

Persecution of Jews in the Muslim World –
a Historical Timeline

Date:  Event:

624     After Jews of Medina refused to accept him as a prophet and rejected his new religion, Mohammad became openly hostile toward them. He instructed his henchmen to murder and decapitate a renowned Jewish poet and chief of the Banu Nadir (date farmers tribe), and ordered his followers, “Kill every Jew you can.”

          Muhammad expelled the Jewish tribe of Banu Qaynuqa.

625     Muhammad banished the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.

627     Muhammad orders 600-900 Jews of Banu Qurayza beheaded (except for the few who chose to convert to Islam), all women and children enslaved, and their properties confiscated.

632     Muhammad expels Jews from Northern Arabia. Since then, Jews have never been allowed to live in parts of Arabia.

634     Jews expelled from Khaybar.

661     Muslim caliph of Jerusalem confiscated Jewish property throughout the Land of Israel and distributed it to Arab settlers.

717     Jews persecuted under Umayyad Caliphate.

789     Increased persecution of Jews under Abbasid Caliphate. Jews subject to oppressive taxes and humiliating laws.

850     Muslim Arab rulers require Jews of Iraq to wear yellow patch.

945     Jews persecuted by fanatic Shiite Buwayhid dynasty.

987     Jews deported from Fez, Morocco.

1004   Arab Muslim leaders forcibly convert Jews in Eretz Yisrael. Synagogues burnt down. Jews of Egypt forced to wear “Jew Badge.”

1013   Berbers kill Jews during their conquest of Cordova.

1035   6,000 Jews massacred in Fez, Morocco.

1066   Jewish population of Granada massacred by Muslim Mob. Yosef Hanagid crucified. 4,000 Jews killed.

1148   Jews of Cordova attacked and forcibly converted by fanatical Islamic sect, Almohades. Many were forced to flee the country. Almohades kill 150 Jews in Sijilmasa and many more in Tiemcin and elsewhere in the Maghreb.

1061   Jews banned from Marrakesh.

1165   Forced Islamic conversion in Morocco.

1169   Jews violently persecuted in Yemen, forced to choose between Islamic conversion or martyrdom.

1198   Jews of North Africa were required to wear humiliating dress.

1244   Jews of Jerusalem massacred by Egyptian and Turks while trying to flee the Holy City.

1250   Jews of Tunisia required by their Muslim rulers to wear “Jew badge.” Jews persecuted in Egypt.

1275   Jews of Morocco attacked by fanatic mobs.

1291   Jews massacred in Persia. Jews of Acco killed and imprisoned by Sultan of Egypt .

1293   Forced Islamic conversions in Iraq.

1303   Forced Islamic conversion in Egypt. All Jews there required to wear yellow turbans.

1392   A Jew was burned alive in Damascus, and many others imprisoned and tortured, after local Jews were falsely accused of setting fire to a mosque.

1442   Jewish women raped in Sale, Morocco. Widespread robbery and plundering of Jews in Alcazarquivir.

1465   Entire Jewish community massacred in Fez, Morocco.

1493   Jews fleeing Spain were attacked and persecuted upon arriving in Morocco. As many as 20,000 Jews died there due to attacks and famine.

1502   Increased persecution of Jews in Persia under Safavid rule.

1517   Property of Jews in Tunisia destroyed by Turks. Jews required to wear a yellow patch on their headgear.

1518   Jews of Hebron massacred by Muslims. Jews were attacked, beaten and raped, and many were killed as their homes and businesses were looted and pillaged

1521   Jews of Jerusalem blamed by Muslim rulers for a severe drought, and were required to pay heavy fines.

1524   Jews of Cairo were threatened with massacre and forced to pay an exorbitant tax.

1535   Jews killed in Tunis, and many were captured and sold to slavery.

1625   Jews of Jerusalem oppressively taxed, imprisoned and tortured, by Ottoman Pasha.

1628   Jews forced to wear Jew badge in Persia.

1630   Increased persecution of Jews in Yemen.

1640   Many Jews forcibly converted to Islam in Persia.

1656   All Jews expelled from Isfahan. Many were forcibly converted to Islam.

1668   Jews expelled from parts of Morocco.

1670   Jews publicly burned in Marrakesh. Synagogues of the city were torn down. Many Jews expelled from the Berber region of Sus. Enormous taxes imposed on Jews.

1678   Jews expelled from Yemen, and synagogues destroyed. Most died of starvation or disease due to expulsion.

1741   Jews persecuted in Morocco.

1789   Jews massacred in Morocco.

1805   Jewish community of Algiers attacked and massacred by Turkish soldiers. 300-500 victims.

1828   Jews massacred and expelled from Baghdad.

1830   Jews of Tabriz were massacred. Jews of Shiraz forcibly converted to Islam.

1839   Jews of Meshed, Persia, attacked and killed, and the remainder forcibly converted to Islam, continued to observe Judaism secretly.

1840   Blood libel in Damascus. Many Jews arrested and tortured, including over sixty children (in order to extract confessions from their mothers). Two Jews died of torture, a number confessed, and one converted to Islam.

1844   Pogrom in Cairo.

1847   Pogroms in Dayr al-Qamar and Jerusalem.

1848   Pogrom in Damascus.

1850   Pogrom in Aleppo.

1857   A Jew was attacked and killed by Muslim mob in Tunisia for allegedly insulting Islam.

1860   Jews of Tetuan, Morocco, were massacred. Jews of Hamedan, accused of mocking Islam were fined. Some had their ears and noses cut off as punishment.

1862   Pogrom in Beirut

1866   Jews of Barforush were forcibly converted to Islam. 18 Jews of Barforush killed by Muslim mob. Two of them were burned alive. Pogrom in Kuzguncuk.

1864   Jews massacred in many North African cities, including Tunis and Tripoli (on Yom Kippur). Pogrom in Buyukdere.

1868   Pogrom in Eyub.

1870   Pogroms in Istanbul and Alexandria.

1871   Pogrom in Damanhur.

1872   Pogroms in Edirne and Izmir.

1873   Pogrom in Damanhur.

1874   Pogroms in Istanbul, Izmir and Beirut.

1875   Pogrom in Aleppo.

1877   Pogroms in Damanhur and Mansura.

1878   Jewish settlement in Petach Tikva attacked by Arabs.

1882   Jews attacked in Algiers and throughout Algeria in numerous anti-Jewish riots. Many Jews were killed, synagogues plundered, Torah scrolls desecrated. Pogrom in Alexandria.

1890   Pogroms in Damascus and Cairo.

1891   Pogrom in Damanhur.

1897   Jews attacked by anti-Jewish rioters in Mostaganem, Algeria.

1901   Pogroms in Cairo and Alexandria.

1902   Pogrom in Cairo

1903   Pogrom in Port Said.

1907   Thirty Jews were killed (and 250 women and children abducted) in Morocco. Porgrom in Alexandria.

1908   Pogrom in Port Said.

1910   The Jews of Shiraz were accused of ritually murdering a Muslim girl. Muslim dwellers of the city plundered the whole Jewish quarter, the first to start looting were the soldiers sent by the local governor to defend the Jews against the enraged mob. Twelve Jews, who tried to defend their property, were killed, and many others were injured.

1920   Jews attacked and killed by Arabs in northern Eretz Yisrael. Five Jews killed by Arab attacks in Jerusalem.

1921   Forty-seven Jews killed in Arab riots in Yaffo, and four Jews killed while defending Petach Tikva from an Arab attack.

1929   Many Jews killed in Arab Pogrom. Sixty-seven Jews (including women and young children) were massacred in Hebron, and the Jewish community destroyed.

1934   Twenty-five Jews killed (and many more wounded) in Constantine, Algeria, in attacks by local Muslim population.

1936   18 Jews killed in Arab riots in Tel Aviv. Over the next three years, Arab terror attacks claimed the lives of almost 500 Jews. Three Jews murdered in Iraq. Iraqi synagogues bombed.

1941   Jews massacred in Baghdad (Farhud). 200 were killed.

1947   Arabs begin attacking Jews in protest of United Nations vote to give Jews a partitioned are in Eretz Yisrael. 75 Jews of Aden killed in Arab anti-Jewish riots. Jews of Aleppo, Syria, attacked and all synagogues destroyed. 6,000 Jews fled the country. Jews persecuted and arrested in Iraq.

1948   Many Jews killed by Arab bombings and attacks in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Eretz Yisrael. A few hundred Jews were killed in the fighting with Arabs after the British withdrew.

          Armies of all the Arab countries surrounding Israel (i.e. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq) invade, joined by Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

          20 Jews were killed in Arab attack in Cairo, and over 100 Jews killed in subsequent sporadic riots.

          A prominent Jew was publicly hanged in Basra to terrorize Jewish population.

          Hadassah convoy massacre.

1949   Sporadic Arab attacks on Jews in Eretz Yisroel continued for many years.

1950   Synagogues bombed in Iraq. Jews had been persecuted in Iraq for several years prior, were finally given permission to leave Iraq, but were not permitted to take any possessions. 110,000 Jews (almost the entire Jewish population of Iraq) left for Israel, leaving behind possessions worth $200 million.

1956   Increasing number of Jews in Eretz Yisrael killed by Arab infiltrators from across the border, many from Egypt. Egypt closes Suez canal to ships sailing to and from Israel. In response to Israeli military action to open the canal, the Egyptian government expelled almost 25,000 Egyptian Jews and confiscated their property, and sent approximately 1,000 more Jews to prisons and detention camps.

1964   Terrorist organizations P.L.O. and Al Fatah established with goal of carrying out murderous attacks against Jews in Eretz Yisrael.

1967   Increased terrorist attacks against Jews in Israel. Egypt and Syria arm, mobilize and deploy forces to border, Egypt closes Suez to Israel-bound ships, openly calls for annihilation of Israel and death of Jewish inhabitants. Nasser stated his goal to “throw Jews into the sea” and soak the soil with Jewish blood. Israel launches preemptive attack. 777 Jewish soldiers killed in conflict.

          Jordan occupied eastern Jerusalem and expelled all Jews from the Old City. 58 synagogues were desecrated or demolished in the Old City, resulting in the de-Judaization of Jerusalem. Jews were barred from the Western Wall, in defiance of UN armistice agreement. 38,000 Jewish graves in the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives were systematically destroyed, and Jews were not allowed to be buried there.

1969   Nine Jews publicly executed in Damascus. Egypt began war of attrition against Israel with daily shellings across the Suez Canal.

1970   Libya confiscates Jewish property. The P.L.O. begins hijacking planes.

          Avivim school bus massacre. 12 killed (9 victims were children), 25 wounded.

1972   Lod Airport massacre. 26 killed, 80 injured.

          Eleven Israeli athletes taken hostage and killed by Arab terrorists in the “Munich Massacre.”

1973   Egypt and Syria attacks Israel on Yom Kippur. 2,522 Jewish soldiers killed in the conflict. After their defeat, Arab nations threaten not to sell oil to countries that support the Jewish state. Israel becomes isolated (particularly in the United Nations).

1974   Four Syrian Jewish girls were abducted while trying to flee from Syria to Lebanon (and eventually to Israel). Their bodies were found raped, murdered and mutilated. Remains were found of two Jewish boys, victims of an earlier massacre. Syrian authorities deposited the bodies of all six in sacks before the homes of their parents in the Jewish ghetto in Damascus.

          Ma’alot massacre. Arab terrorists attacked an elementary school in Israel and took over 115 people hostage, including 105 children. After a two-day stand-off, the hostage-takers killed children with grenades and automatic weapons. Ultimately, 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed and 68 more were injured.

          Kiryat Shmona massacre. Arab terrorist killed 18 (including 8 children) and injured 15.

1976   Arab terrorists hijack plane and take 100 Jews hostage.

1978   Coastal road massacre near Tel Aviv. 8 people were killed on bus. Victims include 13 children. Other people killed nearby. 71 wounded.

1982   Arabs bombard Jewish towns near Lebanese border and launch other terrorist attacks. Arab terrorists attack and murder Jews throughout the world.

1983   Blood libel accusation claimed publicly by Syrian government official. “The Matzah of Zion” published, and re-printed several times.

1989   Bus 405 suicide attack. 16 killed.

1991   Iraq fires 29 SCUD missiles at Israeli cities, damaging 4,000 buildings in 18 waves of attacks, but miraculously only kill one or two Israelis directly (not counting people who died of heart attacks during the terror of the SCUD attacks).

1993   Two suicide bombing attacks in Israel. 2 killed, 39 injured.

1994   Dizengoff Street bus bombing. Suicide bomber blows himself up in a bus during the morning rush hour in Tel Aviv. Killing 22 people and injuring 50 others. Numerous other suicide bombings throughout Israel, resulting in 16 deaths and 13 injuries.

1995   Beit Lid massacre. 21 killed, 69 injured. Three other bombing attacks, resulting in 18 more deaths.

1996   First Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing. 26 killed.

          Second Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing. 19 killed.

          Two more suicide bombing attacks, killing 14.

1997   Island of Peace massacre. Jordanian soldier opened fire on a large group of Israeli schoolgirls, killing seven.

          Three separate suicide bombing attacks in Israel, killing 24.

1998   Two suicide bombing attacks in Israel, killing 3 and wounding 20.

1999   Two suicide bombing attacks in Israel.

2000   Five suicide bombing attacks in Israel, killing 6 and wounding 4.

2001   Sbarro restaurant massacre. 15 killed (7 of whom were children),130 injured.

          Dolphinarium discotheque massacre. 21 killed, 100+ wounded.

          Forty suicide bombing attacks in Israel in total, killing 85 and wounding hundreds.

          Ramallah lynching.

2002   Egypt's government-sponsored television aired a miniseries based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which is widely accepted as fact and printed in school textbooks throughout the Arab and Islamic world.

          In Netanya, Israel, Arab terrorist murders 30 Jews and injures over 140 at a Passover seder. Some victims were Holocaust survivors.

          Bat Mitzvah massacre. 7 killed, 33 wounded.

          Yeshivat Beit Yisrael massacre. 11 killed (including 7 children and 2 infants).

          47 suicide bombing attacks in Israel in total. 236 killed and scores wounded.

          Hebrew University Massacre.

          Lyon car attack in France. Wave of increased attacks on Jews and Jewish targets in France.

2003   The blood libel was featured in a scene in a popular Syrian TV series.

          Tel-Aviv central bus station massacre. 23 killed, over 100 injured.

          23 suicide bombing attacks in Israel in total. 145 killed, scores wounded.

2004   17 suicide bombing attacks. 98 killed, dozens wounded.

2005   9 suicide bombing attacks in Israel. 33 killed. Scores wounded.

2006   Young Jewish man kidnapped, tortured and killed by Islamic radicals in France.

          Three suicide bombing attacks in Israel. 15 killed, 99 wounded.

2007   Three killed in a suicide bombing attack in Israel.

2008   Mercaz HaRav massacre. 8 killed, seven of whom were students.

          Two suicide bombing attacks in Israel. 1 killed, 22 wounded.

2011   Itamar attack. Both parents and three young children of one family stabbed to death in their home, one infant decapitated.

2012   Algerian terrorist attacked a Jewish day school in Toulouse, France, killing a teacher and three children, and wounding a teenager.

2014   Jerusalem synagogue massacre. Five killed. Three teenagers kidnapped and killed. An Islamic terrorist opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Brussels, Belgium, killing four people.

          Rocket attacks launched toward Israel from Gaza increased dramatically, killing numerous victims.

2015   Hypercacher Kosher Supermarket siege in Paris. At the height of pre-Shabbat shopping, Islamic terrorist took hostages and killed four Jews. Numerous other attacks on Jews throughout France.

          One suicide bombing attack in Israel.

2016   Tel Aviv shooting. Four killed.

          One suicide bombing attack in Israel, injuring 20.

2017   Jewish woman murdered by Islamic terrorists in France.
           Halamish stabbing attack – a father and two children stabbed to death in their home by Arab terrorist.

          According to recent figures, 1332 people have been killed in Israel by Arab terrorists since 2000, including 21 Israelis killed abroad in terror attacks directed specifically against Israeli targets. (Not included are 9 IDF soldiers killed during the ground operation against Hamas terror in Gaza 2008-2009, or any of the IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge 2014).