|
|
Introduction
This book sets out to explore key aspects of the modern history of Egyptian Jews by looking at three distinct topic areas. The first part sheds light on the last three chapters of their lives in Egypt: a golden age under the protection of the colonial powers of England and France from the early 1900s until 1937; a gradual decline due to the abolition of foreigners’ privileges under the Capitulations regime, the rise of Arab nationalism and increasing problems in Palestine; and finally, the crisis period that followed the outbreak of the three successive Arab-Israeli Wars of 1948, 1956, and 1967, all leading to the almost total demise of Egyptian Jewry by the early 1970s. The second part, which constitutes the core of this thesis, focuses on the migration experience of a small group of Egyptian Jews to Australian shores, including the government policies related to their immigration and integration into Australian society. The third and final part consists of a comparative case study addressing some of the more crucial themes linked to the migration experience of a select number of Egyptian Jews to France.