Jews of Arabic-speaking societies

One of the topics in which I maintain an ongoing interest is that of the "Jews of Arabic-speaking societies." I have read a great deal about them and met many of them as well. There is no doubt that my interest in the Jews of Egypt was the starting point. I then spent years (during the seventies of the last century) in Morocco, during which I became interested in Moroccan Jews. Finally, I developed an interest in the Jews of Iraq. While I could write a book about the Jews of Arabic-speaking societies, I will limit myself here to highlighting one dimension, which is "the Jews of Arabic-speaking societies and the degree of modernity within these societies." The time span for this topic is the period from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day. 

A study of the conditions of these societies in general and the condition of Egyptian society in particular confirms the existence of a relationship between the presence of the Jews in these societies and the degree of their modernity. The conditions of Egypt during this era prove the argument which finds the presence and activities of the Jews reflecting the modern trends in Egyptian society. Further, the imposition of an intended (forced) end to the presence of the Jews within Egypt was accompanied by a process of apostasy from modernist tendencies. This argument does not suggest that the Jews within a society, such as within Egypt, were the spearhead of the modernist tendencies, but rather the Jews and their activities were a manifestation of that society’s modernist tendencies. The presence of the Jews was the result of a political, social, and cultural climate characterized by three values: "pluralism", "altruism" (acceptance of the other), and "coexistence".  

Since the fifties of the last century, the prevalence of these values has markedly declined.  This decline has been accompanied by the exodus of most Jews and the beginning of a period of pressure on other Egyptian minorities, foremost among them Christian citizens. There is no doubt that the "citizenship of Egyptian Christians" during the first half of the last century was closer to perfection than the citizenship of Egyptian Christians in the decades following.