Here is a superb insight, thanks to scholar and journalist David Collier, into the grim reality of dhimmitude in Islamic lands.
The subordinate status of Jews and other “people of the book” in Sharia states is based on the Qur’an: “Fight against those do not believe in Allah or the last day, and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, even if they are among the people of the book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (9:29)
This is what that state of “willing submission” looked like.
“No! The Jews were not ‘living happily’ in Arab lands,” David Collier, January 29, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
According to the anti-Israel narrative, Jews and Arabs lived peacefully together – until of course the ‘Zionists’ arrived to spoil the ‘beautiful’ relationship.
This is one of the most offensive rewrites of history. It may be true that the Jews had a worse time in Europe – a deflective phrase I have even heard academics use – but let’s face it, is the industrial slaughter of 6 million Jews really the bar we want to measure things by?
The reality is that Jews in Islamic lands knew their place. Jews in Islamic lands were often third class citizens, with special taxes to pay, and a myriad of degrading rules to live by. Even looking a Muslim in the eye could result in death. This from Algiers (current Jewish population = zero) in the 19th century:
Sometimes, specific periods of acceptance or calm in nations such as Morocco are held up as examples – but this too is deceptive. Whilst a few Jewish families may have been given privileges now and again – the majority still lived in perpetual fear, and at the mercy of the Muslim majority population that surrounded them. Jews could be brutally attacked – but dared not complain.
Whilst doing research I have stumbled on numerous newspaper reports laying out the horror of the treatment of Jews in Islamic lands. All of them long before Israel’s war of Independence in 1948. I intend to create country-specific pages on the website to let others use them as a reference – part of a wider plan to greatly bolster the historical evidence available on this site. A depository of truth to help do battle with the revisionists. For now, I will just give an example or two from each country.
This is what it was really like for Jews living under Muslim rule:
Morocco
Jewish population was once 265,000. Today it is about 3000. This report is a description of the forced expulsion in 1807 of a Jewish community in Mogadore Morocco – and the theft of all their property.
Random acts of violence against Jews persisted wherever Jews resided. These reports are of a massacre in Tetuan (1858) and the pillage of a Jewish settlement at Tameslouht in 1889.
The next two give a taste of the status of Jews in Morocco, a report from Tangier in 1825 and Mogador in 1864:
There is evidence of persistent persecution throughout the 19th century. This continued into the 20th century, with this report of an attack at Fez, occurring in 1912, just five years before the Balfour declaration:
I have provided several examples of attacks and the level of persecution in Morocco because it is generally considered the ‘most favourable’ of the nations, with some almost describing a romantic, utopian existence. Reading the above the bitter truth is clear for all to see.. For the other Jewish communities throughout the Middle East and North Africa, I will restrict the evidence here to just one or two examples (the country pages when uploaded will contain multiple examples from each)….
There is much more. Read the rest here.
mg says
I happened to open an old article on David Littman, the husband of Bat Y’eor, and a fine historian in his own right. “His recently published magnum opus, L’Exil Au Maghreb. La Condition Juive Sous L’Islam 1148-1912. [Presses De L’Université Paris-Sorbonne] Paris, 2010. 792pp.], written in collaboration with Dr. Paul Fenton, will likely remain the definitive sourcebook and analysis of the plight of Jews in North West Africa [Maghreb] under Islam between 1148-1912.” The whole crux of the creation of the neologism, ‘Islamophobia’ is amongst all the other things, to erase any and all discussion of what Islam is and has done, to all others, and demands doing to all others. May this writer and others maintain that oh so necessary reportage of what is so very much needed- facts, truth and the freedom of speech to engage and use them.
commonsense says
+1
Hoi Polloi says
Yes, it was time well spent.
somehistory says
Everything about islam is based on lies…a big lie, sourced by satan the devil.
mozlums can’t even live at peace with other mozlums, and since they hate Jews and threaten death at every turn, it’s always been a big lie that they lived “peacefully” with anyone at any time.
Since the beginning of islam, mozlums have raped and slaughtered their way through the centuries; they have never been, and will never be, peaceful with anyone.
islam/mozlums are a continuation of the original enemies of the Jews…
James Lincoln says
somehistory says,
“Everything about islam is based on lies…a big lie, sourced by satan the devil.”
Yes.
And based upon that premise, muslims are capable of the whole spectrum of evil – including some forms of jihad that they haven’t even thought of yet.
somehistory says
Thank you, James, and you are so right.
Linde B. says
Thank you for this excellent reference.
It sure blows the lid off the propaganda
that everyone in US public high schools learn in World History about the “5 Great
Religions” (Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Hindu, Buddhism). When that unit
focuses on Islam, my class was taught “Islam is the religion of peace.” BUT now
thanks to learning what really happened,
I propose a new slogan: “Islam is the
religion of pieces.” (“Pieces” referring to
how Muslims are taught to kill a human.)
Positively barbaric and narcissistic. 😈
Siddi Nasrani says
No Islam. know Peace.
No Peace, know Islam.
tim gallagher says
The idea that islam has ever got on peacefully with any non-Muslims has always seemed ludicrous to me. You read the Koran, not that I got far with that turgid, repulsive book, and it is full of nothing but raging, obsessive hatred for non-believers and calls for murderous violence against the hated non-believers. Muslims have always invaded and spread the religion by violent methods. I read a description by a historian of islam as a “martial religion”. Peace and tolerance and islam have never been found together and they still are not in any country where Muslims are in power. Bravo to Collier for getting the truth out there. There is so much bullshit being spread about how islam is peaceful and some fools seem to actually buy the bullshit.
Devasur says
Not martial religion more like bandit religion. As Islam or muslims didn’t invent any martial arts. Infact it is the ancient religions which emphasised on chivalrous martial traditions.
tim gallagher says
You are right, Devasur. I thought that martial was an unusual description that the historian used., but at least he was saying that islam is warlike and I believe that that is what he meant. i’m pretty sure that the historian was a French historian and, from memory, it was in a book which covered the entire history of the world, can’t recall the title, by a conservative Australian historian named Geoffrey Blainey. I read parts of the book because I like Blainey’s view of things and because i am an Australian and the description of islam as being “martial’ stuck in my mind. I would use far more ferocious language to describe islam and can find nothing good about it at all. As you say, a vicious bandit religion is a better description
Hoi Polloi says
“inclined or disposed to war; warlike” is the sense in which I see martial generally used and islam certainly is those.
Hoi Polloi says
Whereas bandit, in English, is more concerned with theft, a subset of the violent intent and practice of Islam: “a robber, especially a member of a gang or marauding band.”
DHZ says
The main cause of Islamophobia is epistemophobia.
Aum says
Insightful.
But Sad.
I do feel powerless in the direction we are heading.
Scotsman48 says
I have heard islamic scholar say that islam has never been a religion of peace as they have came to the point of where they are today through conquest, forced conversions, slaughter,and oppression, nothing to do with peace.
Perhaps Robert Spencer can tell us where the words.. tolerance… compassion… understanding… or love.. are in the Quran because I couldn’t find them and Robert knows that Book a lot better than I ever will.
”There is no fun in islam”.. Khomeini ..
VictorMc says
The closest you will get is Morocco. I don’t know the current stats. but they have many Jews there in government upwards and downwards. It is a Kingdom far better than the so-called ‘democracies’
I know many Moroccans and they have no known problems there.
OLD GUY says
Sadly these attacks on non-muslim/islamic people take place daily across the world. Many of these attacks are buried by the media and local officials. If the attack is attributed to a muslim the question of mental health or authorities don’t know why he/she attacked the jewish or christian person or group. But if a Quran is burnt it is front page news world wide, strange don’t you think?
Siddi Nasrani says
Do you ever get that feeling that Satan is running the show ?
somehistory says
satan’s anger and his evil are readily apparent in islam, and mozlums accommodate his every desire.