[crycleascentyv]

http://www.thejewishweek.com/feature...ck_jews_africa

From news article:
The recent upheaval in northern Africa, which has toppled the long-ruling governments in Tunisia and Egypt, have focused attention on those Arab countries — and on their dwindling Jewish communities, usually less known in the United States than European Jewry.

In recent months a synagogue in Tunisia was burned, part of a larger wave of arson. The president of Tunisia’s Jewish community last week told The Jerusalem Post that Tunisian Jews feel safe under the new government. “There’s been nothing against the Jews,” Roger Bismuth said, “but the fear does exist that someone might take advantage of it.”
The Jewish Week discussed this subject with Tunisian-born Sarah Taieb-Carlen, author of “The Jews of North Africa: From Dido to de Gaulle” (University Press of America).

Q: Hundreds of thousands of Jews lived in the Arab lands of north Africa in the middle of the last century. Most left, fled, when Israel was created. How many Jews are left in these countries now, and what type of life do they lead?

A: In Morocco, 8,000 to 10,000 Jews. In Algeria, none. Tunisia: 3,000 to 4,000. In Libya, none. In Egypt, less than 100. In Lebanon maybe 30. In Iraq, maybe 40. In Syria, none. In Yemen, less than 200. In general, they feel they should be as inconspicuous as possible.

In the streets, men do not wear a kipah and women dress very modestly. In quiet times, life is normal and Jews go through their daily routine like everyone else. Apart from the synagogue, there is no Jewish institution: no Jewish school, no Jewish social club, no Jewish community center. Socializing usually takes place among family or friends, most often Jewish friends.