Dividing south from north: French colonialism, Jews, and the Algerian Sahara

Colonialism's role in defining Jewish identity in Algeria is exposed, revealing that the Crémieux Decree of 1870, which granted citizenship to northern Algerian Jews, excluded southern Jews due to strategic colonial interests rather than religious criteria. This study demonstrates that France's military sought to legally isolate 'southern Algerian Jewry' post-1882 conquest of the M'zab Valley, not for Jewish-specific reasons but to safeguard a protectorate relationship with Ibadite leaders and maintain strategic stability. The research reconstructs colonial policies and their impact on Jewish identity, showing how it was an exogenous creation shaped by imperial power dynamics rather than inherent or historical factors.

Stein, S. A. (2012). Dividing south from north: French colonialism, Jews, and the Algerian Sahara. The Journal of North African Studies, 17(5), 773–792. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2012.723429