Summary
Prime minister of Egypt who denounced the November 1945 anti-Jewish riots yet, in 1948, imposed martial law, interned opponents including hundreds of Jews, placed Jewish property under administration and dissolved the Society of Muslim Brothers before being assassinated by one of its members — held in Chapter 3 of The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry personally responsible in large part, through anti-Semitism and political ineptitude, for the state’s failure to protect Egypt’s Jews in 1948 (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1161-1165, 1173-1200).
Details
- Prime Minister al-Nuqrashi, King Faruq and Arab League secretary general ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Azzam Pasha all denounced the violence against Egyptian Jews in November 1945; the prime minister visited some of the riot sites, though Egypt’s leading figures opposed the assaults largely from fear that such attacks might destabilize the regime and strengthen their opponents (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1161-1163).
- After the riots, Chief Rabbi Haim Nahum wrote to al-Nuqrashi protesting the violence, while affirming that the community had been enjoying equal rights (Chapter 3, note 10) (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1165-1166).
- According to Maurice Mizrahi, al-Nuqrashi blessed the Egyptian Jewish reconciliation delegation that travelled to the United States after the partition plan, though the chapter judges it unlikely he was seriously committed to the mission (Chapter 3, note 13) (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1171-1172).
- On May 15, 1948 al-Nuqrashi “seized the opportunity to repress his internal opposition by imposing martial law”; Zionism became illegal and the internments and property administrations of 1948 followed under his government, which “lacked the courage, vision, and popular mandate that would have been required to articulate a bold and principled stand” (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1175-1185).
- On December 8, 1948 he officially dissolved the Society of Muslim Brothers and the state sequestered its assets; in retaliation a member of the Society assassinated him on December 28 (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1191-1193).
- On several occasions he lectured the British ambassador, Sir Ronald Campbell, on his belief that all “Jews were potential Zionists, but that anyhow all Zionists were communists, and he looked at the matter as much from the point of view of communism as from the point of view of Zionism” (Chapter 3, note 27). “Al-Nuqrashi apparently believed this nonsense. His personal anti-Semitism and political ineptitude may be a good part of the explanation for the government’s disingenuous proclamations, inconsistent and excessive security measures, and failure to physically protect the Jews of Egypt in 1948” (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 1195-1198).
Related pages
The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, Hasan al-Banna, Muslim Brotherhood, Haim Nahum