1947 anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo

In late 1947, following the United Nations vote on November 29 in favor of partitioning British Palestine, anti-Jewish violence broke out across parts of the Middle East and North Africa. In Aleppo, Syria, a mob attack on the city's Jewish population began on December 1, 1947, two days after the UN vote. At the time, Aleppo's Jewish community numbered around 10,000 people and had a history in the city spanning roughly two thousand years.

According to accounts cited in the historical record, Syria had gained independence from France in April 1946, after which the new Syrian government began measures affecting the Jewish minority, including dismissing Jewish clerks from the former French bureaucracy and undermining Jewish-owned businesses. On November 30, 1947, the Syrian government closed the city and ordered residents to remain in their homes, which prevented violence that day. However, on December 1, the government is described as having abetted and organized Arab residents of Aleppo to attack the Jewish population.

Estimates of the death toll vary but are commonly put at around 75 people killed, with several hundred more wounded. Historian Yaron Harel has written that extensive looting and property damage occurred, but that soldiers and police "prevented the mob from injuring and murdering Jews," while researcher Jacob Freid's estimate of about 75 killed and several hundred wounded is also cited. Ten synagogues, five schools, an orphanage, a youth club, numerous Jewish shops, and roughly 150 houses were burned or destroyed, with property damage estimated at approximately US$2.5 million.

A notable episode of destruction occurred at the Central Synagogue of Aleppo. Syrian soldiers were stationed there early on December 1, nominally to protect the building. Jewish community leaders met with Aleppo's mayor, who pledged protection, though this assurance was met with skepticism. In the afternoon, a crowd gathered outside the synagogue chanting anti-Jewish slogans, and by late afternoon the crowd attacked, with some of the soldiers originally posted to guard the site joining the mob. Torah scrolls, ceremonial arks (Hekhalot), and tefillin were destroyed and burned; firefighters who arrived reportedly added kerosene and diesel to the flames rather than extinguishing them. The crowd then moved on to attack and burn Jewish homes, and rioting continued until the following morning, when Syrian authorities brought it to an end.

During the unrest, the Aleppo Codex, a medieval manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, went missing and was feared destroyed; it later resurfaced in Israel in 1958 with about 40 percent of its pages missing.

In the aftermath, roughly half of Aleppo's Jewish population fled the city. Wealthier Jewish residents left within a day of the riots, with many others departing in smaller groups over subsequent months. On December 22, 1947, the Syrian government enacted a law forbidding Jews from selling their property. As of 2012, no Jewish residents remained in Aleppo.