Malben (, a Hebrew-language acronym for ) was an agency for the care of aged, weak, and disabled immigrants in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Created in 1949 by the efforts of the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Advert Where and how does this article resemble an WP:SOAP, advert and how should it be improved? See: Wikipedia:Spam (you might trthe Teahouseif you have questions). American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a J ...

(JDC) and the

United Jewish Appeal The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

(UJA), it operated until 1975, when all its facilities and programs were transferred to the Israeli government and local authorities.https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/malben "MALBEN", ''Jewish Virtual Library'', referring to ''

Encyclopedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

''"Malben Programs in Israel, 1950s-1960s"
JDC archives1960s: Helping the New State of Israel Care for its Most Vulnerable Citizens
History of JDC; JDC Archives

Background

Following the establishment of the State of

, the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

had led to the sharp increase of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in the region, expressed, e.g., in anti-Jewish riots in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

. Nearly the entire Jewish population of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, 31,000 persons, immigrated to Israel within a few years. The JDC and Israel organized

Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post–World War II operation by the U.S. War Shipping Administration (WSA) to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European (ETO), Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Libert ...

, the June 1948 airlift of 50,000

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

ite Jews to Israel. In all, more than 300,000 Jews left North Africa for Israel. Thousands more

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i and

Kurd Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

ish Jews were transported through

Operation Ezra From 1951 to 1952, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah airlifted between 120,000 and 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel via Iran and Cyprus. The massive emigration of Iraqi Jews was among the most climactic events of the Jewish exodus from the Muslim World. ...

, also funded by JDC. This massive ''

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

'' included large numbers of incapacitated people, adding to the numbers of the

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

families and those arriving from the displacement camps. These included huge numbers of people sick with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

acquired in Nazi ghettos and concentration camps, as well as in Middle East ghettos. All these overwhelmed the capacities of the newborn state, and the Israeli government asked JDC for assistance.

Activities

Malben established about a hundred of institutions for elderly and disabled new immigrants, including homes for the aged (''moshav z'kenim''), hospitals, tuberculosis

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

s, sheltered workshops, and rehabilitation centers. Many of these were based on converted army barracks and other available buildings. After the direct emergency needs were handled, Malben started to cooperate with municipal and regional authorities to expand the direct services. In addition indirect measures to help aged and disabled people to live a normal life, such as cash relief, loans, etc. In 1964 a

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

consultant surveyed the needs of children with disabilities by the request of JDC, and as a result a number of Children Development Centers were created. During 1949-1968 Malben helped some 250,000 or nearly 20% of 1.3 million new immigrants spending $164 million.

Background

Activities

References

Further reading