Jews in the Arab Union

From JSC Archives
Jump to navigationJump to search

Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים yehudim; Arabic: اليهود al-yahūd) constitute the second- or third- largest ethnic group in the Arab Union, after Arabs and Berbers (many ethnologists consider Berbers as part of the Arab ethnic group). The December 2020 census counted 10,713,248 Jews in the Arab Union, more than in any other country.

The great majority of the Arab Union's Jewish population lives in the Palestinian Arab Republic (approximately 7.5 million or nearly a third of the population), which is the location of the historic Land of Israel, the ancient homeland of the Jews. An additional 3.2 million live in the other 19 republics of the Arab Union, with the largest population outside Palestine being in Egypt (1.1 million), followed by Morocco (600,000), Tunisia (400,000) and Lebanon (300,000); the final approximately 800,000 Jewish citizens are spread roughly evenly across the remaining 15 republics, for an average of nearly 54,000 per republic.

Due to the Arab Union's secular regime and the constitution that backs it, Jews (as well as all other ethnic, religious and/or linguistic minorities) are afforded the same rights and privileges as Arabs, with all citizens treated equally before the law as well as in public and private life, including freedom to worship as one sees fit or not worship, freedom from discrimination in public, in the workplace and when accessing government or other public services, equal opportunity in employment and education, freedom from harassment and hate crimes, etc. There are several laws in place, both at the federal and republican levels, which guarantee these rights, and those persons or institutions practicing discrimination can face serious, even criminal consequences.