1934 Constantine riots

1934 Constantine riots
LocationConstantine, French Algeria
DateAugust 3–5, 1934
TargetAlgerian Jews
Deaths25 Jews, 3 Muslims
InjuredRoughly 200

The 1934 Constantine riots were an incident of antisemitic[1] violence in the Algerian city of Constantine, targeting the local Jewish population.[2][3][4] A mob of around 300 local Algerians[5] attacked the Jewish quarter and targeted Jewish businesses and homes over a period of several hours, with the violence spreading to nearby towns.[1] The French colonial authorities did little to rein in the violence.[5]

It is uncertain what the exact cause of the riots was, but various accounts suggest that the riots were triggered by an altercation between a Jewish man and some Muslims at the Sidi Lakhdar Mosque in Constantine.[6][7] Multiple sources report that 25 Jews and 3 Muslims died over the course of the three-day riot, and several Jewish establishments were pillaged.[6][8] The events have been described as a pogrom.[9][10][5]

  1. ^ a b Cole, Joshua (18 October 2012). "Constantine before the riots of August 1934: civil status, anti-Semitism, and the politics of assimilation in interwar French Algeria". The Journal of North African Studies. 17 (5): 839. doi:10.1080/13629387.2012.723432. The apogee of anti-Semitism in interwar colonial Algeria came on the weekend of 3–5 August1934 when rioting in Constantine left 28 people dead (Ageron 1973, Attal 2002, Cole 2010).
  2. ^ Sharon Vance (10 May 2011). The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint. BRILL. p. 182. ISBN 978-90-04-20700-4. Muslim anti Jewish riots in Constantine in 1934 when 34 Jews were killed
  3. ^ Stein, Rebecca (2005). Palestine, Israel, and the Politics of Popular Culture. Duke University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8223-3504-2.
  4. ^ Levy, Richard (May 24, 2005). Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 139. Between August 3 and 5, 1934, Muslim mobs went on a rampage in the Algerian city of Constantine, attacking Jews and Jewish property. In the attack, 25 Jewish men, women, and children were killed, most from having their throats cut or their skulls crushed, and 26 more were injured, according to official statistics. More than 200 Jewish-owned stores were ransacked. The total property damage to homes, businesses, and synagogues was estimated at over 150 million Poincare francs. Some 3,000 people, one quarter of Constantine's Jewish population, were in need of welfare assistance in the aftermath of the pogrom. During the rampage, anti-Jewish incidents were recorded in the countryside of the Department of Constantine, extending over a 100-kilometer radius. Jews were murdered in Hamma and Mila, and in Ain Beida, Jewish homes and businesses were looted. During much of the rioting, the French police and security forces stood by and did little or nothing to stop the rioters.
  5. ^ a b c Bensoussan, Georges (2019). Jews in Arab countries: the great uprooting. Studies in antisemitism. Translated by Halper, Andrew. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-253-03857-9.
  6. ^ a b Cole, Joshua (2012). "Constantine before the riots of August 1934: civil status, anti-Semitism, and the politics of assimilation in interwar French Algeria". The Journal of North African Studies. 17 (5): 839–861. doi:10.1080/13629387.2012.723432. S2CID 143595241.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ McDougall, James (2017). A History of Algeria. Cambridge University Press. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-521-85164-0.
  9. ^ The Sentinel⁩⁩, 23 August 1934 — ⁨The Constantine Pogroms ⁩
  10. ^ Julius, Lyn (2017). Uprooted : How 3000 Years of Jewish civilisation in the Arab world vanished overnight. London: Vallentine Mitchell. p. 61. ISBN 9781910383650.