Commemoration held for 850,000 Jews expelled from Arab lands

More than 200 people commemorated Jews who were expelled from Arab lands, on the second annual day of remembrance. 

Hosted at Britain’s oldest working synagogue, Bevis Marks, the event on Monday marked the expulsion of approximately 850,000 Sephardic Jews following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

Despite some Jews having lived in Arab lands for over 2,000 years, some were asked to leave their homes, with others being deported, and facing violence.

The commemoration was run by Harif (a Sephardi research project) and co-hosted by the S&P Sephardi community. It was supported by the Israeli Embassy.

 Rony Yedidia-Clein, Director of Public Diplomacy at the Israeli Embassy, said: “There is still time to speak the truth, to make sure that the stories of the Jewish refugees are not forgotten, and to ensure their history lives on through their descendants and through all Jewish people”.