THE JEWS IN LEBANON

Some say they might be as few as 40 left. Others believe that there are still many, but they changed their names and now they pray in secret and avoid speaking Hebrew. I started to be interested in the story when I read this on Charles' blog.

I broke into the Beirut synagogue.

It wasn't hard. The gate has a lock on it, but it was knocked down, and the security guards no longer patrol the place as vigilantly. The Ottoman era buildings around the synagogue have been destroyed, and the edifice poses no security risk to the Prime Minister's Grand Serail or Future Movement leader Saad Hariri's future residence.

My friend and I climbed over the trees growing in the courtyard and walked into the main hall, decorated with 6-point stars. The front of the synagogue was desecrated. The holy documents were intentionally removed, but the other ornamental structures were destroyed.

When I met Charles, a Lebanese American, a friend of another friend of another friend, I had no idea he was the owner of Lebanese Political Journal, a blog I've always found interesting.
There were some 20 000 Jews in Lebanon in 1948. Official records list like 200 after 2003.

1948 Jewish population: 20,000
2003: Fewer than 100

When Christian Arabs ruled Lebanon, Jews enjoyed relative toleration. In the mid-50’s, approximately 7,000 Jews lived in Beirut. As Jews in an Arab country, however, their position was never secure, and the majority left in 1967.

Fighting in the 1975-76 Muslim-Christian civil war swirled around the Jewish Quarter in Beirut, damaging many Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues. Most of the remaining 1,800 Lebanese Jews emigrated in 1976, fearing the growing Syrian presence in Lebanon would curtail their freedom of emigration. Most Jews went to Europe (particularly France), the United States, and Canada.

In the mid-1980's, Hezbollah kidnapped several prominent Jews from Beirut — most were leaders of what remained of the country's tiny Jewish community. Four of the Jews were later found murdered. Nearly all of the remaining Jews are in Beirut, where there is a committee that represents the community. Because of the current political situation, Jews are unable to openly practice Judaism.

In 2004, only 1 out of 5,000 Lebanese Jewish citizens registered to vote participated in the municipal elections. Virtually none of those registered remains in the country. The lone Jewish voter said that most of the community consists of old women.

The community has turned into a legend. Source of stories and secrets. Apparently there are a few shope owners in Downtown and on the Corniche as I could read in different Lebanese newspapers. They pray at home, as the synagogue has been vandalized during the 2006 war. There is also a Lebanese man, Aaron-Micaël Beydoun, a young muslim guy who started a blog on the issue a few years ago.