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Spain is inviting back Jews expelled from the country in the 16th
Century. Just don't mention the Muslims
Our cousins in Madrid and Lisbon simply don't want Muslims to come to Europe
ROBERT FISK
Sunday 4 May 2014
Lost lands are littered with the homes of those who lived there.
Armenian houses in south-eastern Turkey. Abandoned Palestinian homes
in Israel. German property in what was the Sudetenland and Prussia.
There are Greek homes around Smyrna ` now Izmir ` and down the west
coast of Ireland lie the roofless cottages of those who died or
emigrated in the Great Famine. Michael Barry, an Irish engineer and
railwayman, has recorded the broken homes of the Moriscos ` `little
Moors' ` of Spain, the very last Muslims to be driven out of Andalusia
in 1613. His photographs of arched stone walls, roofless cabins and
broken timbers in Atzuvieta in Valencia look eerily similar to the
wreckage of the 19th-century peasant houses of his own country.
The year of darkness, of course, was 1492, when the Moorish kingdom of
Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella. Christian power was
restored to the lands in which Muslims and Jews had lived together for
hundreds of years and had rescued some of the great works of classical
literature ` by way of Baghdad ` for us to study. Save for those who
converted to Christianity or died at the stake ` at least 1,000 Jews,
perhaps as many as 10,000, among them ` the entire Muslim and Jewish
communities were thrown out of Spain and Portugal by the early 17th
century. They scattered, to Morocco, Algeria, Bosnia, Greece and
Turkey. Which is why the glories of Andalusian architecture can still
be found in north Africa. The Sephardic (Spanish) Jews spoke Ladino,
which was still understood in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war of the
1990s. In just over 100 years, the Christian monarchy of Spain had
expelled half a million Muslims and between 200,000 and 300,000 Jews.
There are now around 3.5 million Sephardic Jews in the world. Their
ancient homes also still exist in Spain.
But now Spain and Portugal want to make amends, so we are told. They
will give citizenship ` full passports ` to the descendants of
families expelled from their countries. The government regards the
expulsions as `a tragedy', or ` in the words of Spain's justice
minister ` a `historical error'. It was, of course, an ethnic
cleansing, a massive crime against humanity, but don't let's expect
too much from our Spanish and Portuguese friends, as there are,
unfortunately, a few problems. For example: Muslims need not apply.
Jewish descendants of those expelled from the Iberian peninsula in the
15th and 16th centuries can claim a passport which will allow them to
travel freely in 28 EU countries. Many of those expected to apply live
in Israel. They are being given a `right of return' ` a right which
Israel does not, of course, grant to the former Arab inhabitants of
Palestine who were driven from their homes after the creation of
Israel. Spanish and Portuguese officials preferred not to dwell on
such matters ` nor to explain why they have chosen to discriminate
racially between those who were expelled from their lands 600 years
ago.
The tragedy of Andalusia lasted for more than a century and there were
Muslim rebellions ` put down with Christian brutality ` which, so
comes the double-speak from Spain, may have disqualified the Muslims
from Madrid's generosity. In popular imagination, expulsion in time of
war ` and this might apply to the Palestinians ` somehow doesn't quite
equal the wholesale expulsion of peoples on purely racial grounds.
Thus, so this theory goes, the Jewish descendants of 15th century
Spain have more rights than their Muslim brothers. A dodgy argument.
But there are other problems. It seems that approval of Jewish
requests for citizenship in many cases will have to be approved by
local Jewish community groups; thus, any refusals cannot be laid at
the door of the Madrid government. And Jewish columnist Micah Halpern,
who describes himself as an expert on `terrorism' (sic) and `Islamic
fundamentalism', has harshly condemned the whole fandango. The Spanish
and Portuguese are not apologising to the Jews ` as they certainly
should ` but merely offering them passports. There will be no attempt
to pay compensation. And Muslims expelled from Spain in 1609, as Mr
Halpern notes, are excluded.
But so far as he is concerned, the so-called `generous' offer from
Spain and Portugal is not being made for reasons of conscience, but
because Jews are `good with money' and will help the economies of
these two bankrupt nations. `This is a decision based on economic
need,' he writes. `And that is why no invitation was extended to
Muslims. The return of Muslims would mean that tens of millions [sic]
of people could claim citizenship but they would not be bringing in
money.' This is a bit odd. Tens of thousands of Muslims are extremely
wealthy and could also bring large sums of money to Spain and
Portugal. Spanish Muslim groups have long campaigned for citizenship
rights for the descendants of Muslims who were expelled or forced to
convert at the same time as the Jews. No, the real reasons for their
racism is that our cousins in Madrid and Lisbon simply don't want
Muslims to come to Europe, let alone become citizens. And they can
rely on the fact that very few Jews who take up their offer, many now
living in America as well as Israel, will actually come to live in
Spain. Muslims might well do so.
Mr Halpern writes of the German apologies for the Holocaust and
America's regrets over slavery. Oddly, he does not mention the
Armenians who are denied apologies from Turkey. But he concludes by
saying that all Spain and Portugal can hear `is the clinking of
money'. A simplification, I suspect. Spain and Portugal simply want to
ensure that the Muslim expulsion is permanent. Andalusia was one of
the wonders of what we now call multi-culturalism. The Spanish don't
want it back. `Everything declines,' wrote the poet Salih bin Sharif
al-Rundi of Seville in 1248, `after reaching perfectionŠ'
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/spain-is-inviting-back-jews-expelled-from-the-country-in-the-16th-century-just-dont-mention-the-muslims-9322518.html
Century. Just don't mention the Muslims
Our cousins in Madrid and Lisbon simply don't want Muslims to come to Europe
ROBERT FISK
Sunday 4 May 2014
Lost lands are littered with the homes of those who lived there.
Armenian houses in south-eastern Turkey. Abandoned Palestinian homes
in Israel. German property in what was the Sudetenland and Prussia.
There are Greek homes around Smyrna ` now Izmir ` and down the west
coast of Ireland lie the roofless cottages of those who died or
emigrated in the Great Famine. Michael Barry, an Irish engineer and
railwayman, has recorded the broken homes of the Moriscos ` `little
Moors' ` of Spain, the very last Muslims to be driven out of Andalusia
in 1613. His photographs of arched stone walls, roofless cabins and
broken timbers in Atzuvieta in Valencia look eerily similar to the
wreckage of the 19th-century peasant houses of his own country.
The year of darkness, of course, was 1492, when the Moorish kingdom of
Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella. Christian power was
restored to the lands in which Muslims and Jews had lived together for
hundreds of years and had rescued some of the great works of classical
literature ` by way of Baghdad ` for us to study. Save for those who
converted to Christianity or died at the stake ` at least 1,000 Jews,
perhaps as many as 10,000, among them ` the entire Muslim and Jewish
communities were thrown out of Spain and Portugal by the early 17th
century. They scattered, to Morocco, Algeria, Bosnia, Greece and
Turkey. Which is why the glories of Andalusian architecture can still
be found in north Africa. The Sephardic (Spanish) Jews spoke Ladino,
which was still understood in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war of the
1990s. In just over 100 years, the Christian monarchy of Spain had
expelled half a million Muslims and between 200,000 and 300,000 Jews.
There are now around 3.5 million Sephardic Jews in the world. Their
ancient homes also still exist in Spain.
But now Spain and Portugal want to make amends, so we are told. They
will give citizenship ` full passports ` to the descendants of
families expelled from their countries. The government regards the
expulsions as `a tragedy', or ` in the words of Spain's justice
minister ` a `historical error'. It was, of course, an ethnic
cleansing, a massive crime against humanity, but don't let's expect
too much from our Spanish and Portuguese friends, as there are,
unfortunately, a few problems. For example: Muslims need not apply.
Jewish descendants of those expelled from the Iberian peninsula in the
15th and 16th centuries can claim a passport which will allow them to
travel freely in 28 EU countries. Many of those expected to apply live
in Israel. They are being given a `right of return' ` a right which
Israel does not, of course, grant to the former Arab inhabitants of
Palestine who were driven from their homes after the creation of
Israel. Spanish and Portuguese officials preferred not to dwell on
such matters ` nor to explain why they have chosen to discriminate
racially between those who were expelled from their lands 600 years
ago.
The tragedy of Andalusia lasted for more than a century and there were
Muslim rebellions ` put down with Christian brutality ` which, so
comes the double-speak from Spain, may have disqualified the Muslims
from Madrid's generosity. In popular imagination, expulsion in time of
war ` and this might apply to the Palestinians ` somehow doesn't quite
equal the wholesale expulsion of peoples on purely racial grounds.
Thus, so this theory goes, the Jewish descendants of 15th century
Spain have more rights than their Muslim brothers. A dodgy argument.
But there are other problems. It seems that approval of Jewish
requests for citizenship in many cases will have to be approved by
local Jewish community groups; thus, any refusals cannot be laid at
the door of the Madrid government. And Jewish columnist Micah Halpern,
who describes himself as an expert on `terrorism' (sic) and `Islamic
fundamentalism', has harshly condemned the whole fandango. The Spanish
and Portuguese are not apologising to the Jews ` as they certainly
should ` but merely offering them passports. There will be no attempt
to pay compensation. And Muslims expelled from Spain in 1609, as Mr
Halpern notes, are excluded.
But so far as he is concerned, the so-called `generous' offer from
Spain and Portugal is not being made for reasons of conscience, but
because Jews are `good with money' and will help the economies of
these two bankrupt nations. `This is a decision based on economic
need,' he writes. `And that is why no invitation was extended to
Muslims. The return of Muslims would mean that tens of millions [sic]
of people could claim citizenship but they would not be bringing in
money.' This is a bit odd. Tens of thousands of Muslims are extremely
wealthy and could also bring large sums of money to Spain and
Portugal. Spanish Muslim groups have long campaigned for citizenship
rights for the descendants of Muslims who were expelled or forced to
convert at the same time as the Jews. No, the real reasons for their
racism is that our cousins in Madrid and Lisbon simply don't want
Muslims to come to Europe, let alone become citizens. And they can
rely on the fact that very few Jews who take up their offer, many now
living in America as well as Israel, will actually come to live in
Spain. Muslims might well do so.
Mr Halpern writes of the German apologies for the Holocaust and
America's regrets over slavery. Oddly, he does not mention the
Armenians who are denied apologies from Turkey. But he concludes by
saying that all Spain and Portugal can hear `is the clinking of
money'. A simplification, I suspect. Spain and Portugal simply want to
ensure that the Muslim expulsion is permanent. Andalusia was one of
the wonders of what we now call multi-culturalism. The Spanish don't
want it back. `Everything declines,' wrote the poet Salih bin Sharif
al-Rundi of Seville in 1248, `after reaching perfectionŠ'
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/spain-is-inviting-back-jews-expelled-from-the-country-in-the-16th-century-just-dont-mention-the-muslims-9322518.html