Jews and Judaism in Pakistan
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Jews (Urdu: یہودی ) are a very small group in Pakistan. Various estimates suggest that there were about 2,500 Jews living in Karachi at the beginning of the twentieth century, and a smaller community of a few hundred lived in Peshawar. There were synagogues in both cities and reportedly the one in Peshawar still exists, but is closed.
In Karachi, the Magain Shalome Synagogue was built in 1893 by Shalome Solomon Umerdekar and his son Gershone Solomon (other accounts suggest that it was built by Solomon David, a surveyor for the Karachi Municipality and his wife Sheeoolabai, although these may be different names for the same people). The synagogue soon became the center of a small but vibrant Jewish community, one of whose leaders, Abraham Reuben, became a councilor on the city corporation in 1936. There were various Jewish social organizations operating in Karachi, including the Young Men’s Jewish Association (founded in 1903), the Karachi Bene Israel Relief Fund and the Karachi Jewish Syndicate which was formed to provide homes for poor Jews at reasonable rates.
Some Jews migrated to India at the time of indpendence but reportedly some 2,000 remained, most of them Bene Yisrale (or Bene Israel) Jews observing Sephardic Jewish rites. The first real exodus from Pakistan came soon after the creation of Israel, which triggered multiple incidents of violence against Jews in Pakistan including the synagogue in Karachi being set to fire. The Karachi synagogue became the site of anti-Israel demonstrations, and the Pakistani Jews the subject of public mistrust.
Ayub Khan's era saw the near-disappearance of the Pakistani Jewry. The vast majority left the country, many to Israel, but some to India or the United Kingdom. Reportedly, a couple of hundred Jews remained in Karachi, but out of concern for their safety and as a reaction to increasing religious intolerance in society many went "underground", sometimes passing themselves off as Parsees. According to a website on Jewish history, many of the Karachi Jews now live in Ramale and have built a synagogue there called Magain Shalone. The Magain Shalome synagogue in Karachi’s Rancore Lines area, became dormant in the 1960s and was demolished by property developers in the 1980s, to make way for a commercial building. Reportedly, the last caretaker of the synagogue, a Muslim, rescued the religious artifacts (bima, ark, etc.) from the synagogue, but it is not clear where he or those artifacts are now.
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[edit] Before 1947
Before 1947 there were about 2,500 Jews living in Pakistan and most of them lived in Karachi. Most of these Jews had migrated from Persia (Iran) and they lived as tradesman, artisans, poets, philosophers and civil servants. Their mother tongue was Marachi which indicated their Bene Israel origin.
In 1893, the first official synagogue was build in Karachi and by 1936, Abraham Reuben became the city's first Jewish councilor on city corporation.
Jews were treated with tolerance and respect, and variety of associations existed to serve the Jewish community in Pakistan such as:
- Young Man's Jewish Association: It was founded in 1903 and whose aim was to encourage sports as well as religious and social activities of the Bene Israel in Karachi.
- Karachi Bene Israel Relief Fund: Established to support poor Jews in Karachi
- Karachi Jewish Syndicate: Formed in 1918 and whose aim was to provide homes to poor Jews at reasonable rents.
Jews also had a small community in the northern city of Peshawar in the Northwest Frontier Province and which was served by to synagogues.
[edit] 1947-1968
Relations with Jews continued to be tolerant after the foundation of Pakistan. But violent incidents occurred against Jews in Pakistan after the creation of Israel, which gave rise to the feelings of insecurity within the Jewish community. The synagogue in Karachi was burned, and Jews were beaten. More attacks on Jews occurred after the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948, 1956 and 1967. The Jews migrated to India, Israel and United Kingdom. The small Jewish community in Peshawar ceased to exist by the 1960s, and both synagogues were closed.
By 1968, the Jewish population in Pakistan had decreased to only 250 people and almost all of them were living in Karachi and were being served by one synagogue. Pakistan did not establish relations with Israel out of Muslim solidarity with Arab states.
[edit] 1969-1999
In his address as chair of the Second Islamic Summit in 1974, Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto asserted: “To Jews as Jews we bear no malice; to Jews as Zionists, intoxicated with their militarism and reeking with technological arrogance, we refuse to be hospitable.”
The media in Pakistan have provided extensive coverage of the political and personal career of the cricket star Imran Khan. Since Khan's marriage in 1996 to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British industrialist and politician, Sir James Goldsmith, Khan was accused of acting as an agent of the "Jewish lobby." Jemima Khan publicly denied that her parents were Jewish. An Egyptian newspaper distributed in Pakistan accused Khan of receiving large sums of money for his election campaign from the "Jewish lobby." Following complaints from Khan, the deputy editor of the newspaper retracted the story and published an apology.
Since India established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992, the Pakistani media have repeatedly referred to the “Zionist threat on our borders,” and occasionally combine both anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. This is particularly common in the Islamic press, but also occurs in mainstream publications. Some of the hatred may be partially attributed to the fact that Israel helped India with military supplies during the Kargil War. Israel had also provided intelligence reports during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, in which incidentally an Indian Jew, J.F.R. Jacob, was one of the military masterminds in liberating East Pakistan
[edit] 2000-Present
Jews from Iran used Pakistan as a transit point to migrate to India. However the Iranian government discovered the secret route and closed the passageway in 2000.
The tiny Jewish community in Karachi maintains a low profile. Magen Shalome, built by Shalome Solomon Umerdekar and his son Gershone Solomon, Karachi’s last synagogue, was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a shopping plaza. Most of the Karachi Jews now live in Ramla, Israel, and built a synagogue they named Magen Shalome. Some Jewish families do remain, but they prefer to pass themselves off as Parsis due to the intolerance for Jews in Muslim Pakistan.
Developments in the Middle East peace process such as the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza strip lead to the first high level meeting between Israeli and Pakistani foreign ministers. President Musharraf has also praised and thanked the Jewish Community in USA for their solidarity and support for Muslims after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
[edit] Sources
Above material is based on an article of Prof. Adil Najam of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, published in Pakistan's newspaper The Daily Times. 1
