About this talk

Up until the 17th century, most Jews lived under Muslim rule. Many cities in the Middle East and North Africa were heavily Jewish: Baghdad in the early 20th century was more Jewish than New York or Warsaw.

Jews, known as Sephardim or Mizrahim, lived continuously in the Middle East and North Africa for almost 3,000 years. Yet, in just 50 years their indigenous communities outside Palestine almost totally disappeared as more than 99 percent of the Jewish population fled.

What remains of this ancient heritage? What were relations between Jews and Muslims like? What was the impact of European colonialism, and what are the causes of the Jewish mass exodus?

Lyn Julius, author of the best-seller UPROOTED: How 3,000 years of Jewish civilisation in the Arab world vanished overnight, will answer these questions and give a historical overview of this fascinating, but neglected subject. She will also  explain why the Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa are central to understanding the Middle East conflict today.

About Lyn

The British-born daughter of Iraqi-Jewish refugees, Lyn Julius is a journalist, speaker, blogger and founder of Harif, the U.K. association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. Her work has appeared in JNS News, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Jewish Chronicle, Fathom, The Article, The Guardian, and more. Her book Uprooted: How 3,000 Years of Jewish Civilisation in the Arab world vanished overnight was published in 2018 (Vallentine Mitchell) and has been translated into Norwegian, Portuguese and Arabic. A Hebrew translation is in progress.