1945 anti-Jewish riots in Egypt

Balfour Day riots
Part of November 1945 anti-Jewish riots
Location	Alexandria and Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt
Date	2–3 November 1945
Target	Egyptian Jews
Attack type	Violent pogrom, massacre
Deaths	5 Egyptian Jews killed
Injured	300 wounded
Perpetrators	Young Egypt Party, Muslim Brotherhood

The Balfour Day riots, took place between 2 and 3 November 1945. The riots began as anti-Jewish demonstrations on the 28th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. Rallies were organised by the right-wing Young Egypt Party and Hassan al-Banna's Muslim Brotherhood.

Five Egyptian Jews and one Muslim policeman were killed in Alexandria, hundreds were injured in both Alexandria and Cairo, and an Ashkenazi synagogue was burned down. The Greek Orthodox patriarchate, Catholic churches and a Coptic school were also damaged in the riot. The police reacted quickly but were unable to prevent much of the violence. However further demonstrations planned for the following day were largely suppressed.

Following the riots, King Farouk of Egypt denounced the violence and met with Rabbi Chaim Nahum, whilst Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha also denounced the violence and visited a number of the riot sites, although Nukrashi cast blame on Zionists for having "provoked such violent reactions."

Aftermath

Jewish exodus from the Muslim world
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Gudrun Krämer writes that: "Yet in spite of the Balfour Day riots of November 1945 and some isolated incidents occurring in their wake, the mass of the Egyptian population did not show signs of anti-Jewish feeling. The anti-Zionist campaign of militant nationalist and Islamic groups with its anti-Jewish overtones did not seem to affect the general public, nor did it lead to any government action directed against Egyptian Jews."

Numerous acts of violence against Egyptian Jews followed in the later years, including the 1948 bombings of Jewish areas, which killed 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200, while riots claimed many more lives. In 1949, a bombing in the Cairo Jewish quarter killed 34 and wounded 80. During the 1950s, the Jews of Egypt were subjected to political instability due to ongoing Israeli-Egyptian conflict (particularly the Suez Crisis) and suffered sporadic violence, leading to the exodus of most of the community.

Citations

^ The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914-1952, Gudrun Krämer, p162-163
The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, Joel Beinin, American Univ in Cairo Press, 1 Jan 2005 - History - 329 pages
Kramer, p.163
The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914-1952, Gudrun Krämer, page 208
Mangoubi, Rami, "A Jewish Refugee Answers Youssef Ibrahim", Middle East Times, October 30, 2004.

v t e Major revolts and riots in modern Egypt
Major events before 2010	Urabi revolt (1879–1882) 1919 Egyptian revolution Helwan riots (1945) 1945 anti-Jewish riots in Egypt Cairo fire (1952) 1952 Egyptian revolution Corrective Revolution (1971) 1977 Egyptian bread riots 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 2000 Kosheh lynchings 2005 Alexandria riot 2008 Egyptian general strike
Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014)	2011 Egyptian revolution 2011 Maspero demonstrations Sinai insurgency (2011–present) 2012–2013 Egyptian protests 2013 Egyptian coup d'état Post-coup unrest in Egypt (2013–2014) Timeline of terrorism in Egypt (2013–present)
2017–present	2017 Warraq Island protests 2019 Egyptian protests Egyptian National Action Group 2020 Egyptian protests

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