HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Jews have lived in the Islamic world since ancient times. The Mizrahi (Oriental) Jews spread across the region after the destruction of the First Temple in the 6th century BCE.  When the Sephardi Jews of Spain and Portugal were expelled in the late 15th century, many were welcomed by the former Ottoman Empire. They joined and established thriving communities in cities like Aleppo, Cairo, and Baghdad, which produced some of the greatest scholars and personalities of the Jewish world and contributed significantly to the cultural and economic development of those countries.

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The rise of nationalist movements, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and broader global politics threatened the situation of Jews in Islamic countries. Most were dispossessed and expelled, some left to escape a worsening political and economic climate. Jewish communities in the Arab and Muslim world massively reduced in number, some have today totally disappeared.

The work of SVUK enables families and communities to connect with their past and celebrate their heritage and researchers and the general public to have a unique window into the lives of Jewish communities which no longer exist from countries such as Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Algeria.   

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Please support our urgent work and help Sephardi Voices UK to preserve the precious Sephardi and Mizrahi heritage and transform Jewish memory and historiography. 

Thank you!

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