1956–1957 exodus and expulsions from Egypt

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1956–57 exodus and expulsions from Egypt
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The 1956–57 exodus and expulsions from Egypt refer to the departure of foreign residents, primarily from

Jews had been established in Egypt since the 19th century. This group of foreign nationals became known as the "Egyptianized", Europeans residing in Egypt named the Mutamassirun.[1] The foreign resident population in Egypt numbered around 200,000 by the end of World War 1.[1] The exodus and expulsion of 1956-1957 were precipitated by various factors, including the Suez Crisis, political instability, the abolition of the capitulations system, and the rise of Egyptian nationalism under Gamal Abdel Nasser.[2]

Background

Main article: Suez Crisis

The exodus of the Mutamassirun ("Egyptianized"), which included the British and French colonial powers, and also

Greeks, Italians, Syro-Lebanese, and Armenians, began after World War I.[3] By the end of the 1960s, the exodus of the "foreign population" was effectively complete. According to Andrew Gorman, this was primarily a result of the "decolonization process and the rise of Egyptian nationalism".[4][5][6] Following the invasion of Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel in 1956, the new president Gamal Abdel Nasser enacted a set of sweeping regulations abolishing civil liberties whilst implementing targeted policies, allowing the state to stage mass arrests and strip away Egyptian citizenship from any group it desired.[7] Some lawyers, engineers, doctors, and teachers were no longer allowed to work in their professions.[8] As part of its new policy, 1,000 Jews were arrested and 500 Jewish businesses were seized by the government.[9] Jewish bank accounts were confiscated and many people lost their jobs.[8]

Expulsion

Population of Egypt, 1907-60[2]
1907 1917 1927 1937 1947 1960
Egyptians 11,189,978 12,512,106 13,952,264 15,734,170 18,966,767 25,984,101
European nationals
Greeks 62,973 56,731 76,264 68,559 57,427 47,673
Italians 34,926 40,198 52,462 47,706 27,958 14,089
British/Maltese 20,356 24,354 34,169 31,523 28,246 25,175
French 14,591 21,270 24,332 18,821 9,717
Others 16,664
Other Communities
Jews 38,635 58,581 63,550 62,953 65,639 8,561
Armenians 7,747 12,854 17,145 16,886 - -
Syrians, Palestinians, and other Arab nationalities 33,947 31,725 39,605 38,692 - 56,375

The actions taken to encourage emigration or expel the foreign minorities applied to the whole Mutamassirun population, and after 1956 a large majority of Greeks, Syro-Lebanese, Italians, Belgians, French, and British, including Jews, left the country.[10][failed verification] The expellees were allowed to take only one suitcase and a small sum of cash, and forced to sign declarations "donating" their property to the Egyptian government.[11]

On 9 December 1956, Egyptian Interior Minister Zakaria Mohieddin stated that of Egypt's 18,000 British and French citizens, 1,452 had been ordered to be expelled.[12]

Greeks

Main article: Egyptian Greeks

Egyptian Greeks, often referred to as "Egyptiot Greeks" or simply "Egyptiots", were a prominent ethnic community in Egypt with roots dating back centuries. The exodus of Greeks from Egypt started before the

Pan-Arab nationalism, and the subsequent nationalisation of many industries in 1961 and 1963, thousands of Greek employees decided to emigrate.[2]

Many Greek schools, churches, small communities, and institutions subsequently closed, but many continue to function to this day. The Nasser regime saw a significant exodus of Greeks from Egypt, but most of the minority left the country either before or after the period 1952-1970. The Arab-Israeli war of 1967 contributed to the uprooting of the sizable Greek community in the Suez Canal cities, especially in Port Said.[2]

Despite their departure, the legacy of the Egyptian Greeks continues to endure through cultural institutions, traditions, and the memories of those who once called Egypt home. Many of them emigrated to Australia, the United States, Canada, South Africa, Western Europe, and Greece. The term "Egyptio Greeks" serves as a reminder of their hybrid identity and the bonds that once connected them to both Egypt and Greece.

Jews

The decree was also relevant to Egyptian Jews suspected as Zionist agents, especially those with free professions and relatives in Israel.[8] Although there was an indigenous Jewish population, most Jews in Egypt in the early twentieth century were recent immigrants to the country who did not share the Arabic language and culture.[13] Until the late 1930s, the foreign minorities, including both indigenous and recent immigrant Jews, tended to apply for dual-citizenship in addition to their Egyptian birth citizenship order to benefit from a foreign protection.[14]

Some 23,000—25,000 Jews out of 42,500 in Egypt left,[15] mainly for Israel, Western Europe, the United States, South America, and Australia.[16] Many were forced to sign declarations that they were voluntarily emigrating and agreed to the confiscation of their assets. Similar measures were enacted against British and French nationals in retaliation for the invasion. By 1957 the Jewish population of Egypt had fallen to 15,000.[17]

In fiction

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780415589345.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )
  2. ^
    ISBN 9781785334481.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )
  3. ^ Gorman 2003, p. 174–5.
  4. ^ Gorman 2003, p. 176 #1: "In the course of the 40 years from the end of the First World War until the early sixties, this considerable mutamassir presence was effectively eliminated, a casualty of the decolonization process and the rise of Egyptian nationalism. The relation between these two phenomena was exacerbated by British policy."
  5. ^ Gorman 2003, p. 176 #2: "During the Second World War, at the insistence of British authorities, adult male Italian citizens were incarcerated as enemy aliens. In 1948, the foundation of Israel made the position of all Jews in Egypt increasingly tenuous, no matter what their nationality, and the position of Greeks was affected by the vicissitudes of the Greek Civil War in the 1940s. Another critical setback came during the Suez crisis in 1956 when all those who held British and French citizenship were deemed enemy aliens and expelled from the country."
  6. ^ Laskier 1995, p. 573: "The Jews, like other minorities in Egypt—Greeks, Italians, Syrians, Armenians—did not make up a significant percentage of the total population of 19 million in 1948. Yet, like these minorities, they had made important contributions to the economic modernization of the country, particularly since the latter half of the nineteenth century."
  7. ^ Laskier 1995, p. 579.
  8. ^ a b c Laskier 1995, p. 581.
  9. ^ Laskier 1995, p. 579–80.
  10. ^ Krämer 1989, p. 233: "These developments concerned all local foreign minorities, and after 1956 the large majority of Greeks, Italians, Belgians, French, and British did, indeed, leave the country as well. Non-Muslim and non-Arab minorities had smaller chances to integrate into the Egyptian nation once it came to be increasingly defined on Arab and Islamic lines."
  11. ^ "The Suez Crisis and the Jews of Egypt". Fathom. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  12. ISBN 9780871962034
    .: "The Egyptian government Nov. 26 issued a statement denying that it had ever planned the mass expulsion of British and French nationals and saying that British and French citizens in Egypt were free to remain or to leave 'at their own discretion'. But Max Koenig, Swiss minister in Egypt, said Dec. 9 that expulsions of individual British and French citizens from Egypt and the sequestration of their property were 'continuing relentlessly' on a large scale. Egyptian Interior Min. Zakaria Mohieddin said Dec. 9 that, of some 18,000 British and French citizens in Egypt, 1,452 had been ordered expelled from the country."
  13. ^ Krämer 1989, p. 233"Not only were they not Muslim, and mainly not of Egyptian origin; most of them did not share the Arabic language and culture, either. Added to these factors was their political diversity."
  14. ^ Krämer 1989, p. 31.
  15. ISBN 978-1-317-62422-6
    .
  16. ^ Julius, Lyn. "The Suez Crisis and the Jews of Egypt". Fathom. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  17. ^ Laskier 1995.
  18. ^ Ruhayyim, Kamal. "Book review: Kamal Ruhayyim's "Diary of a Muslim Jew": An engaging take on a complex theme - Qantara.de". Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World. Quantara.de. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  19. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  20. ISSN 0143-6597
    .

Sources and further reading
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