• Amin Israil, the grandson of an Iraqi Jew who settled in Sudan and whose family later converted to Islam, and his daughter Salma view old family pictures at their home in Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan's Al Jazirah state. Like elsewhere in the Arab world, Sudanese Jews bore the brunt of growing anti-Israel sentiment amid conflict with the Jewish state. Decades later, their descendants see a recent rapprochement between their country and Israel as an opportunity to connect with their origins. AFP
    Amin Israil, the grandson of an Iraqi Jew who settled in Sudan and whose family later converted to Islam, and his daughter Salma view old family pictures at their home in Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan's Al Jazirah state. Like elsewhere in the Arab world, Sudanese Jews bore the brunt of growing anti-Israel sentiment amid conflict with the Jewish state. Decades later, their descendants see a recent rapprochement between their country and Israel as an opportunity to connect with their origins. AFP
  • A view of grave markers at the 800-square-metre Jewish Cemetery in Sudan's capital Khartoum. The Jewish community in Sudan, like those of other Arab states, dwindled in the latter half of the 20th century, as tensions surrounding the 1948 creation of Israel permeated the region. AFP
    A view of grave markers at the 800-square-metre Jewish Cemetery in Sudan's capital Khartoum. The Jewish community in Sudan, like those of other Arab states, dwindled in the latter half of the 20th century, as tensions surrounding the 1948 creation of Israel permeated the region. AFP
  • A broken grave marker in the Jewish Cemetery in Khartoum. AFP
    A broken grave marker in the Jewish Cemetery in Khartoum. AFP
  • Salma Amin Israil, great-granddaughter of an Iraqi Jew who settled in Sudan and whose family later converted to Islam, and Yosar Basha, another Sudanese woman descended of Jewish origins, chat at Ms Israil's home. AFP
    Salma Amin Israil, great-granddaughter of an Iraqi Jew who settled in Sudan and whose family later converted to Islam, and Yosar Basha, another Sudanese woman descended of Jewish origins, chat at Ms Israil's home. AFP
  • Inscriptions in the Hebrew alphabet and English on a grave at the Jewish cemetery in Khartoum. AFP
    Inscriptions in the Hebrew alphabet and English on a grave at the Jewish cemetery in Khartoum. AFP
  • The Jewish community in Sudan was one of the smallest in the Middle East. AFP
    The Jewish community in Sudan was one of the smallest in the Middle East. AFP
  • Dr Mansour Israil, the grandson of an Iraqi Jew who settled in Sudan and whose family later converted to Islam, outside his home in the neighbourhood once known as "the Jewish quarter" in Omdurman, the Sudanese capital's twin city across the Nile river. AFP
    Dr Mansour Israil, the grandson of an Iraqi Jew who settled in Sudan and whose family later converted to Islam, outside his home in the neighbourhood once known as "the Jewish quarter" in Omdurman, the Sudanese capital's twin city across the Nile river. AFP
  • A grave at the Jewish Cemetery in Khartoum. Sudan’s Cabinet voted on April 6, 2021 to repeal a 1958 law mandating a boycott of Israel. AFP
    A grave at the Jewish Cemetery in Khartoum. Sudan’s Cabinet voted on April 6, 2021 to repeal a 1958 law mandating a boycott of Israel. AFP
  • Graves at the cemetery in Khartoum. In October 2020, Sudan and Israel agreed to normalise relations in an accord sponsored by the US. AFP
    Graves at the cemetery in Khartoum. In October 2020, Sudan and Israel agreed to normalise relations in an accord sponsored by the US. AFP

MENA

The dwindling Jewish community in Sudan - in pictures

Sudan's Jewish community, made up of no more than 250 families at its height in the 1940s and 50s, had virtually disappeared by the late 70s

The National

April 07, 2021

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