Jewish life in the Moslem world has frequently been precarious. And while Arab spokesmen claim their fight is with Zionism. not Jews. the Jewish minority has always provided a convenient scapegoat for Arab humiliation in the chronic wars with Israel. As a result. hundreds of thousands of Jews have fled their native Arab lands. and. since 1948. a oncethriving community of more than 800.000 has dwindled to about 100.000 Many of the Jews who remain there were forbidden to leave by the authorities for fear they would emigrate to Israel. Indeed. more than half a million Arab Jews have emigrated to Israel. and Israeli officials often argue that they represent a fair exchange for the Palestine Arab refugees. Still others were simply unwilling to leave their ancestral homes and property behind. But in the wake of last summers sixday war with Israel. a new wave of antiJewish fervor has swept across much of the Arab world. threatening ultimately to eliminate even this tiny remnant. In Syria. the fanatic Baathist regime has set up a 2.4mile radius beyond which the Jews of the Damascus ghetto may not venture. The Jews telephones are tapped. their mail censored. and they dare not communicate even with relatives in nearby Beirut. Though Jewish leaders who were arrested at the outbreak of the war have been released and Jewish shops reopened. work permits are difficult to obtain for Syrias 3.000 Jews. and they are banned from buying land. dealing in imports and. worst of all. from leaving the country. Egypts 2.500 Jews fare no better. Though President Gamal Abdel Nasser cabled them his greetings during the recent Jewish New Year. the recipients considered it a rather poor joke.
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work permits emigrate emigrated refugees