Colonial and Imperial Legacies, National Transformations: Jewish Minorities in 1950s to 1970s Morocco and Turkey

This article explores the experiences of Jewish minorities in Morocco and Turkey and examines how these experiences shaped patterns of identification within postcolonial and post-Ottoman contexts. While Jews from the Middle East and North Africa have been widely studied, comparative research across groups remains limited. Drawing on life-story interviews, comparative historical analysis, and secondary sources, the study highlights variations in minority strategies, identity negotiation, and political adaptation. The findings reveal that Moroccan Jewish identity was shaped by geographical distinctions and the Israel–Palestine conflict, which heightened feelings of alienation, whereas Turkish Jews navigated the norms of kayadez and experienced neither decolonization pressures nor large-scale emigration during the same period. Social class and educational differences further influenced individual experiences, illustrating the nuanced ways participants adapted to socio-historical and political challenges. By comparing these populations, the article sheds light on the diverse strategies of survival, negotiation, and identity formation employed by minority groups in response to the postcolonial and post-Ottoman nation-building and political transformations.