Class 2: Jews, Empire, and Modernity in the Middle East and North Africa

French and British Encroachment into the Middle East

In the first half of the nineteenth century, European encroachment into the Middle East and North Africa came in many forms, including military conquests, such as the French invasions of Egypt (1798–1801) and Algeria (1830–1962). But it also came through diplomatic coercion premised on British and French military strength, which had origins in prior centuries but expanded as the Ottoman Empire weakened. 

Citizenship, Protection and the Protégé System

The British, French, and other Western European powers forced the hand of Ottoman and other authorities on various issues, including the growth of what has been referred to as the protégé system, which granted European protection and privileges to some members of minority groups, including both Christians and Jews. While sometimes done in the name of protecting beleaguered minorities, many European policies actually aimed at positioning their governments to better gain economically from the resources and markets of the Middle East and North Africa. Though the protégé system had earlier roots, it was in the nineteenth century that it became a major cause of resentment in the Islamic world, leading to ineffective Ottoman attempts to end it.

These policies created both opportunities and dilemmas for religious minorities in the region. Some MENA Jews were able to receive citizenship or passports of European countries even if they had no family connection to the country, positioning them well to retain or obtain an elite economic status. In most places, only a small minority of Jews received such privileges, but in French Algeria, all Jews (excluding those living in the Mzab region in the northern Sahara) received French citizenship with the Crémieux Decree of 1870. This period also saw what might be considered a broadening urban Jewish middle class in some countries, but many Jews continued to occupy lower economic strata and often lived in Jewish neighborhoods or quarters, known as mellahs or harat al-yahud. Some Mediterranean cities, particularly in Egypt, Algeria, and Libya, saw the migration of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe as well as other parts of the Islamic world. Egyptian cities in particular became home to many European and Syrian Jews in the decades after the British occupation began in 1882, and Algerian cities attracted Moroccan and Tunisian Jews after the Crémieux Decree.

The nineteenth century saw Western European Jewish elites and their institutions use their influence to shape and, in their view, uplift Jews of the region. Changes came in multiple forms, including attempts to protect MENA Jews from persecution, direct economic aid, encouraging the conferral of status of various kinds, and, especially, education. The description of this medal from 1840 explains the context of a particularly pivotal moment known as the Damascus affair, which ushered in an era of greater European Jewish attention to MENA Jewish matters.

The Alliance Israélite Universelle and Jewish Education

Perhaps the most widespread institution that spread European ideals and culture to Jews throughout the region was the Alliance Israélite Universelle, the focus of these letters. Founded by French Jews in Paris in 1860, it established a broad network of schools throughout the Middle East and North Africa that sought to Westernize the region’s Jews, in part through the teaching of French language and culture. Jews from the Mediterranean region participated in AIU efforts for diverse reasons and AIU schools differed considerably across time and space. In part because of these schools, French would go on to play a central role in the lives of many MENA Jews for generations, even for many who never lived under French colonial rule. This learning and acculturation to European ideas often gave MENA Jews certain advantages in the transregional economy, but it also sometimes widened divides between Jews and Muslims locally. 

Colonialism, Westernization, and Local Relations

In other lands under direct and indirect British, French, Italian, or Spanish rule, MENA Jews were often more likely to adapt to European cultural and linguistic norms than the Muslim population. Some of the effects of this on Jewish families in Algeria, northern Morocco, and Iraq are illustrated in The Bensaïd Family, “Dressing Sepharad,” and Baghdad, Yesterday, respectively. While many Jews were not especially engaged with European culture, in the minds of many of the region’s Muslims, Jews and other minorities became disproportionately associated with colonial and Western powers, which would have relevance in future struggles over decolonization.