Egyptian Political Scientist: Country Must Acknowledge ‘Vengeful, Oppressive’ Expulsion of Jews

TEL AVIV – An Egyptian political scientist called upon his country to address the forced “displacement, oppression, and collective punishment” of Egyptian Jews in the 1950s and 1960s.

In a column for Egyptian daily Al-Shuruq translated by MEMRI , Hamzawy called the expulsion an “odd thing” and noted that many exiled Jews continue to have deep emotional connections to Egypt.

Hamzawy writes that the majority of Jews left for Europe and the US, while only a handful sought refuge in Israel. He emphasizes that his viewpoints are not concerned with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that he is writing purely from a human perspective.

“The strange thing about them is that in successive generations they have preserved their Egyptian identity, defining it as an emotional connection, a cultural identity, and a constant interest in the homeland that was,” writes Hamzawy.

He notes that Egyptian Jews today have strong memories of their homeland, but while many of them are positive, others recall the unfairness of being “collectively punished with displacement and unwillingly embroiled in issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

These negative memories include the “vengefulness, greed, exploitation, and denial of their rights that they encountered from other Egyptians.”

He ended by appealing to Egypt to “discuss the facts” surrounding the expulsion and establish a “culture of remembrance” in the country