History repeated itself on October 7 with the most recent pogrom in a long list of pogroms suffered by Jews perpetrated by Muslims. This last act of barbarity was no different from numerous other historical barbarities but what was different was the response by the victims following the cowardly attack. The response of the only Jewish State was like no other to acts of feral barbarism unworthy of any human beings other than the morally indecent Islamic fundamentalists steeped in Nazi ideology absurdly calling themselves Palestinians. A name they cannot even pronounce in their Arabic mother tongue – they call themselves Filastins, the definition being either extinct invaders from Greece or uncouth, uncultured heathens. The latter definition being entirely appropriate.
Let us acknowledge that since the creation of Islam, Jews have been subjected to pogroms in Muslim countries irrespective of the time they have resided within those countries or the cultural and economic contributions they have made. Permanent residency benefitting Islamic economies has been no barrier to wanton, barbaric behavior heaped on the peaceful minority Jewish population. The list below documents what we believe to be a comprehensive timeline of pogroms and readers will have to forgive me for any errors.
I cannot give credit to the original compilers simply because despite research I do not know who they are and secondly the original list has been updated with deletions and additions as other researchers have submitted amendments. It is possible that there are minor inaccuracies but nevertheless we believe the vast majority of episodes listed did occur in the years and places recorded. Let’s just refer and reflect on the atrocities suffered by the minority population of Jews in Muslim geographies and simply because they were people born into Judaism. Nothing more, nothing less than fortune or misfortune of birth condemned them to acts of barbarism.
622 – 627: Ethnic cleansing of Jews from Mecca and Medina, (Jewish boys publicly inspected for pubic hair. if they had any, they were executed)
622 – 634: Extermination of the 14 Arabian Jewish tribes
624 – 626: Expulsion of Jewish clans and massacre of Beni Khazradj Jews
628 – Attacks on Jews of Khaibar and Fadak
629 – 1st Alexandria massacres
822 – 861: Islamic empire passes law that Jews must wear yellow stars, (a lot like Nazi Germany), Caliph al-Mutawakkil
940 – Baghdad pogrom
1010 – 1014: Cordoba massacres
1032 – Fez massacres 5000 plus slaughtered
1066 – Granada massacre
1106 – Ali Ibn Yousef Ibn Tashfin of Marrakesh decrees death penalty for any local Jew, including his Jewish physician and military general.
1127 – Further massacres and persecutions in Morocco
1145 – Tunis Jews forced to convert or exiled
1148 – Almohadin of Morocco gives Jews the choice of converting to Islam, or expulsion
1165 – 1178: Jews nationwide were given the choice (under new constitution) convert to Islam or die, Yemen
1165 – Chief Rabbi of the Maghreb burnt alive. the Rambam flees for Egypt.
1109 – Forced conversion of Jews in Yemen
1220 – Thousands of Jews killed by Muslims after being blamed for Mongol invasion, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Egypt
1270 – Sultan Baibars of Egypt resolved to burn all the Jews, a ditch having been dug for that purpose; but at the last moment he repented but too late for many who perished.
1276 – 2nd Fez Pogrom, Morocco
1291 – Forced conversion of Jews in Tabriz
1301 – Further pogroms and forced conversion of Jews in Egypt
1333 – 1334 Forced conversion and pogroms in Baghdad
1385 – Khorasan Massacres, Iran
1438 – 1st Mellah Ghetto Massacres, Morocco
1465 – 3rd Fez Pogrom, Morocco (11 Jews left alive)
1492 – Jews massacred in Touat Morocco
1517 – 1st Safed Pogrom, Ottoman Palestine
1517 – 1st Hebron Pogrom, Ottoman Palestine and
1517 – Marsa ibn Ghazi Massacre, Ottoman Libya
1521 – Pogroms and expulsions of Jews in Belgrade by the Ottomans
1577 – Passover Massacre, Ottoman empire
1588 – 1629: Mahalay Pogroms, Iran
1608 – Persecution of Jews of Taroudat by the Berbers
1630 – 1700: Yemenite Jews were considered “impure” and thus forbidden to touch a Muslim or a Muslim’s food. They were forced to humble themselves before a Muslim, to walk to the left side, and greet him first. They could not build houses higher than a Muslim’s or ride a camel or horse, and when riding on a mule or a donkey, they had to sit sideways. Upon entering the Muslim quarter, a Jew had to take off his foot-gear and walk barefoot. If attacked with stones or fists by Islamists a Jew was not allowed to defend himself.
1656 – Jews expelled from Isfahan
1660 – 2nd Safed Pogrom, Ottoman Palestine
1670 – Mawza expulsion Yemen
1679 – 1680: Sanaa Massacres, Yemen
1700 – Further massacres in Yemen
1747 – Mashhad Massacres, Iran
1785 – Tripoli Pogrom, Ottoman Libya
1790 – 92: Tetouan Pogrom. Morocco (Jews of Tetouan stripped naked, and lined up for Muslim perverts)
1800 – New decree passed in Yemen, that Jews are forbidden to wear new clothing, or good clothing. Jews are forbidden to ride mules or donkeys, and were occasionally rounded up for long marches naked through the Roob al Khali dessert.
1805 – 1st Algiers Pogrom, Ottoman Algeria
1808 – 2nd 1438: 1st Mellah Ghetto Massacres, North Africa
1815 – 2nd Algiers Pogrom, Ottoman Algeria
1820 – Sahalu Lobiant Massacres, Ottoman Syria
1828 – Baghdad Pogrom, Ottoman Iraq
1830 – 3rd Algiers Pogrom, Ottoman Algeria
1830 – Ethnic cleansing of Jews in Tabriz, Iran
1834 – Safed Pogrom, Ottoman Palestine
1839 – Massacre of the Mashadi Jews, Iran
1840 – Damascus, ritual killings (Muslims, along with French Christians kidnapped, tortured, and killed Jewish Children for entertainment), Ottoman Syria
1840 – Blood libels introduced to the Muslim world from Europe.
1844 – 1st Cairo Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1847 – Dayr al-Qamar Pogrom, Ottoman Lebanon
1847 – Ethnic cleansing of the Jews in Jerusalem, Ottoman Palestine
1848 – 1st Damascus Pogrom, Syria
1850 – 1st Aleppo Pogrom, Ottoman Syria
1854 – Pogrom in Demnate , Morocco
1860 – 2nd Damascus Pogrom, Ottoman Syria
1862 – 1st Beirut Pogrom, Ottoman Lebanon
1866 – Kuzguncuk Pogrom, Ottoman Turkey
1867 – Barfurush Massacre, Ottoman Turkey
1868 – Eyub Pogrom, Ottoman Turkey
1869 – Tunis Massacre, Ottoman Tunisia
1869 – Sfax Massacre, Ottoman Tunisia
1864 – 1880: Marrakesh Massacre, Morocco
1870 – 2nd Alexandria Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1870 – 1st Istanbul Pogrom, Ottoman Turkey
1871 – 1st Damanhur Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1872 – Edrine Massacres, Ottoman Turkey
1872 – 1st Izmir Pogrom, Ottoman Turkey
1873 – 2nd Damanhur Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1874 – 2nd Izmir Pogrom, Ottoman Turkey
1874 – 2nd Istanbul Pogrom, Ottoman Turkey
1874 – 2nd Beirut Pogrom, Ottoman Lebanon
1875 – 2nd Aleppo Pogrom, Ottoman Syria
1875 – Jerba Island Massacre, Ottoman Tunisia
1877 – 3rd Damanhur Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1877 – Mansura Pogrom, Ottoman Egypt
1882 – Homs Massacre, Ottoman Syria
1882 – 3rd Alexandria Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1890 – Tunis Massacres
1890 – 2nd Cairo Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1890 – 3rd Damascus Pogrom, Ottoman Syria
1891 – 4th Damanahur Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1897 – Tripolitania killings, Ottoman Libya
1903 / 1907 -Taza & Settat, pogroms, Morocco
1901 – 1902 – 3rd Cairo Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1901 – 1907- 4th Alexandria Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1903 – 1st Port Sa’id Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1903 – 1940: Pogroms of Taza and Settat, Morocco
1907 – Casablanca, pogrom, Morocco
1908 – 2nd Port Said Massacres, Ottoman Egypt
1910 – Shiraz blood libel
1911 – Shiraz Pogrom
1912 – 4th Fez, Pogrom, Morocco
1917 – Baghdadi Jewish Inquisition, Ottoman empire
1918 -1948: law passed making it illegal to raise an orphan into Judaism, Yemen
1920 – Irbid Massacres: British mandate Palestine
1920 -1930: Arab riots, British mandate Palestine
1921- 1st Jaffa riots, British mandate Palestine
1922 – Djemba Massacres, Tunisia
1928 – Ikhwan Massacres, Egypt, and British mandate Palestine.
1928 – Jewish orphans sold into slavery, and forced to convert to Islam by Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen
1929 – 3rd Hebron Pogrom British mandate Palestine.
1929 – 3rd Safed Pogrom, British mandate Palestine.
1933 – 2nd Jaffa riots, British mandate Palestine.
1934 – Thrace Pogroms, Turkey
1934 – 1st Farhud Massacres, Iraq
1936 -3rd Jaffa riots, British mandate Palestine
1936 – 2nd Farhud Massacres, Iraq
1941 – 3rd Farhud Massacres, Iraq
1942 – Mufti collaboration with the Nazis. plays a part in the final solution
1942 – Struma disaster, Turkey
1942 – Nile delta Pogroms, Egypt
1938 -1945: Arab collaboration with the Nazis
1945 – 4th Cairo Massacres, Egypt
1945 – Tripolitania Pogrom, Libya
1947 – Aden Pogroms
1947 – 3rd Aleppo Pogrom, Syria
1948 – “Emptying ” of the Jewish quarter of Damascus, Syria
1948 – 1st Arab Israeli war (1 out of every 100 Jew was killed)
1948 – Oujda & Jerada Pogroms, Morocco
1948 – 1st Libyan Inquisition of Jews
1951 – 2nd Libyan Inquisition of Jews
1955 – 3rd Istanbul Pogrom, Turkey
1956 – 1st Egyptian Inquisition of Jews
1965 – 5th Fez Pogrom, Morocco
1967 – 2nd Egyptian Inquisition of Jews
1967 – Tunis riots, Tunisia
2023 – October 7 Hamas pogrom
The response to the Hamas massacre was different to any of the massacres and events identified above. On October 7 the Jews did not remain passive. They fought back and the scale of their defensive challenge was totally miscalculated by the perpetrators. In times past Israel would have responded with forceful restraint conditioned by pressure from external players. The geopolitical situation however necessitated the total defeat of Hamas and is being actively encouraged by those engaged in combating the sponsors of Hamas, the totalitarian theocracy of Iran. The gravest miscalculation has been by the Iranians who never thought that Israel would be given such military flexibility to destroy their proxy in Gaza. The clearest evidence of this was the expediency with which the USA and the United Kingdom sent their warships into the area as a warning to Iran to control their proxies in Yemen and Lebanon forbidding them to exacerbate the conflict. We have only witnessed modest support from Iranian proxies for Hamas – the occasional rocket fired from long distance and easily shot down by the American fleet. Hezbollah has contained itself to sporadic rocket launches as a sign of moral support for Hamas. Such support has been totally ineffective and worthless.
The world of Islam is split between support for non-Arab Shia Iran and the rest lead by Sunni Saudi Arabia. The Palestinians have a history of duplicity, biting the hands that feed them and their day of reckoning has come. No more unconditional Arab support. The Saudis would love to see the Palestinians defeated given the close political proximity of Hamas to Iran and the Saudis battling the Iranian proxy, the Houthis in Yemen. The Egyptians feel similarly given Hamas tried to overthrow the Egyptian government with the help of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Bahrainis and the United Arab Emirates remember only too well the support the Palestinians gave to Saddam Hussein when he tried to overthrow the Gulf rulers.
Syria has killed more than 5,000 Palestinians during their current civil war – perversely no global outrage on behalf of the Palestinians. Additionally, the Trump inspired Abraham Accords have created a new regional economic and military Israeli Arab dynamic.
Israel has been given the green light by Iran’s Arab enemies to destroy Hamas, and the USA and the United Kingdom together with the more hawkish European Governments have endorsed this strategy. Street demonstrations lead by antisemitic activists however has been vociferously opposed to Israel’s actions resulting in an exceptional increase in antisemitic attacks in numerous cities. This needs containment or the pressure on Israel’s ability to finish what Hamas started will be jeopardized.
Those Jews who are anti-Zionist, peace activists and even supportive paradoxically of the ’Palestinian cause’ were not spared from the butchery on October 7. You see, to indoctrinated haters such as the Palestinians, a Jew is a Jew is a Jew. And the pro-Palestinian politics, ideology or support those Jews had for the Palestinians proved to be an absolute irrelevance. There was no get out of jail free card for those Jews as Hamas verified on October 7. The Jewish State of Israel is ironically the safest place for the world’s remaining Jews. The October 7 pogrom was indeed different from all the others. There was a dynamic challenge that will certainly lead to the obliteration of the perpetrators. As Menachem Begin put it – “I am not a Jew with trembling Knees”.
