Sir Martin Gilbert is one of Britain's most distinguished historians who was given the honour of being Sir Winston Churchill's official biographer.

'In Ishmael's House', his 82nd book, Sir Martin makes accessible to his international English speaking readership the often neglected comprehensive and colourful history of Jews in Muslim lands: The spectrum is wide: Afghanistan, Algeria, Buhara, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iraq (including Kurdistan), Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Ottoman Turkey, Palestine (in the period under Muslim rule), Syria, Tunisia and Yemen (including Aden).

If this list frightens the potential reader, thinking that such a vast span of material is likely to be heavy going - the reverse is true. Gilbert's account reads like a collection of best seller-stories which grip the reader with its large number of vivid vignettes, memoirs, letters, poems and personal testimonies charting both the peaks and troughs of Jewish fortunes and misfortunes for fourteen centuries under Islamic rule.

'In Ishmael's House' is based on meticulous historic research side by side with
eye-witness accounts of those who were born, grew up and felt that those countries were their own, only to find out through bitter experience that the wheels have often turned against them in a most tragic way. Sir Martin has interviewed many of these people, some of them very elderly, to preserve their memories for prosperity.

The book takes us right back to a period preceding the prophet Muhammad in the Arabian Peninsula, where Jews had already lived and thrived for centuries. One such place, was the oasis near Medina, Khaibar, where their main occupations were commerce, crafts and palm trees.

Sir Martin, while writing his chapter on Khaibar, shows how past historical memories remain a living factor in today's Middle Eastern politics and in current Arab-Jewish relations.

The Muslim history of Khaibar in the collective Muslim memory is based on the fight between Mohammad and the Jews of Khaibar in 629 C.E. The Jewish tribe which occupied the area, Banu Nadir, are alleged to have incited hostilities against Mohammad.

The book opens describing how the defeat of the Jews and their expulsion from Khaibar and their sources of livelihood in 629 C.E. has affected the minds of many Muslims until today. Many extremist Muslims see in that defeat of the Jews at the hand of their prophet, a prediction for the permanent fate of the Jews under Islam.

The historical examples given by Gilbert are fascinating yet chilling in the context of today's world powers seeking permanent peace in the area: For example:
'On 7th August 2003 Amrazi Bin Nurhasin, one of the Indonesian Bali bombers entered the courtroom for sentencing, having been found guilty of causing the death of more than 200 people (none of them Jews). In front of the judges and the cameras, with the world media attention on him, he shouted out in Arabic: "Jews, remember Khaibar. The army of Mohammad is coming back to defeat you". Another shocking example is contained in the charter that Hamas, promulgated in 1988. "The day of judgement will not come about until the Muslims fight and kill the Jews. The Jews will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say to all Muslims...there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!"

From the beginning, Jews under Islam became Dhimmis - citizens of inferior status with many restrictions and additional taxes imposed upon them. But against this, one must not forget that despite their official Dhimmi status, for long periods Jews often enjoyed protection, prosperity and superior status as financiers, statesmen, medical doctors etc. These advantages and achievements which Jews had in different eras and in different places under Islam are also very well by documented Sir Martin.

The book takes us through a journey into the history of two peoples; the Jews and the Muslims. Both claim to be descendants of one father, Abraham. This history veers between periods of rivalry and periods of protective and privileged status - depending on different Muslim rulers at any one time, towards their Jewish subjects.

Of particular interest are the chapters dealing with the effects of Zionism on both the Muslim rulers and the Jewish communities in Arab lands. In Iraq for example, Zionism was treated in the same way as communism, anarchism and immorality for which the individual served seven years imprisonment. Iraqi Jews frequently tried to escape, smuggling themselves out via Iran towards their destination, Israel. By the end of 1951, over 113,000 Jews had left Iraq with only some 6,000 remaining.

Sir Martin also takes us to Israel in its first years of statehood and the acute problems of absorption. He reveals how the Israeli establishment attempted to absorb and support the newcomers from Muslim Lands doing all in their power to allocate to them equal opportunities in the new state. But reading Sir Martin's account one realizes the endless problems that the 'Olim' from Arab lands had to face.

Jews who had to flee their countries leaving all their possessions and properties behind rightly feel that the international community has been preoccupied with the issues of the Arab refugees from Palestine, totally ignoring the plight of the many Jews who had to leave Arab countries.
This year, the Knesset approved a law instructing the Israeli government to protect the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab countries in all forthcoming peace negotiations. There is another issue that Gilbert looks at and it is the Jews who still remain in Muslim lands. His survey goes from one Arab country to another today and gives a fascinating picture of this aspect as well.

The exodus and dispersal after 1947 of 850,000 Jews living in Muslim lands was a cruel ending to a 1400 year story of remarkable perseverance and considerable achievement. But the real message that comes through is that the Jews who left Muslim lands, and their descendants can feel pride at what they and their forebears achieved in so many Muslim regions over so many centuries.

This event is organized by the Spiro Ark jointly with Harif and Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue. Tuesday 5th October 7:30 pm at Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, Norrice Lee.
To ensure your place book your tickets now:
www.spiroark.org or email education@spiroark.org or call Tel: 020 7723 9991.