Albert Memmi
JIMENA, 1975
“… the much vaunted idyllic life of the Jews in Arab lands is a myth! The truth is that from the outset we were a minority in a hostile environment; as such, we underwent all the fears, the agonies, and the constant sense of frailty of the underdog.”
The term “Arab Jews” is obviously not a good one. I have adopted it for convenience. I simply wish to underline that as natives of those countries called Arab and indigenous to those lands well before the arrival of the Arabs, we shared with them, to a great extent, languages, traditions and cultures.
If one were to base oneself on this legitimacy, and not on force and numbers, then we have the same rights to our share in these lands – neither more nor less – than the Arab Moslems. But one should remember, at the same time, that the term “Arab” is not a happy one when applied to such diverse populations, including even those who call and believe themselves to be Arabs.
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