Egyptian-Jewish Emigrés in Australia By Racheline Barda

activities of the community and the gradual disintegration and dispersal of the Jewish community in the wake of the first three Arab-Israeli Wars. Laskier argued that previous studies failed to examine the relationship between the Jews of Egypt and the Yishuv since the time of the granting of the Palestinian Mandate to Great Britain in 1920. He also maintained that the critical role of the French-language Jewish press had been largely overlooked. Laskier ended his study in 1970, the year of President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s death, when Jewish communal life in Egypt had virtually come to an end. His main sources were the archives of the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Jerusalem and New York, the Israel State Archives for the period 1948–1958, and the Egyptian, Israeli, and European press. Oral history methodology was used to gather the testimonies of former Israeli emissaries and members of Zionist youth movements. Laskier’s examination of the issue of illegal immigration to Palestine prior to the establishment of the Jewish State in 1948, and the crucial role of the Yishuv’s emissaries to Egypt, was particularly interesting because it authenticated the testimonies of some of my interviewees who reported having been involved in some of the covert operations mentioned by Laskier.⁴¹ Even more relevant to my own work was Laskier’s research on the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, with the arbitrary sequestration of the largest Jewish enterprises and the internment conditions of Zionist suspects at the Huckstep prison camp. Once again, the details he provided confirmed my own interviewees’ testimonies.⁴² The most interesting section of the book dealt with the previously mentioned Lavon Affair—also known as The Mishap—when Egyptian authorities arrested and tried a group of young Egyptian Jews in 1954 on charges of espionage and sabotage on behalf of Israel. Laskier provided transcripts of the interrogation of the accused during the trial, as well as reports on the political manoeuvrings of Israel and major Jewish and international organisations, once the individual verdicts were delivered.⁴³ Laskier was very critical of Israeli military intelligence handling of the whole matter, especially considering the tragic outcome for the accused, calling it “an irresponsible act politically”.⁴⁴ By providing such extensive primary sources relating to