The government on Sunday said it would open state archives on the mass immigration to Israel from North Africa in the early years of the state after a television series documented systematic, historical racism toward the newcomers. Families allege that newborn children were taken from immigrants from Yemen by state authorities, who told their families the babies had died. The mass immigration ended when Morocco gained independence from France in 1956, but clandestine immigration continued and another 30,000 Jews secretly made their way to Israel in 1956-1961. Most of the newcomers from North Africa were housed in transit camps in development towns on Israel’s periphery. Jews of North Africa origins now make up roughly half of Israel’s Jewish population.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 25, 2018 15:45 UTC