On November 18, 1945, following on the Tripolitania riots earlier that month, a mob broke into the Great Synagogue of Aleppo on al-ʿĪd al-Kabīr, damaged ritual objects, and beat up two elderly men who were studying there.

Far more serious rioting took place in the wake of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 for partitioning Palestine, approved on Friday, November 29, 1947. On Sunday, the Arab inhabitants of Aleppo went on strike in protest against the resolution, and the city’s Jews locked themselves in their homes. The next day, soldiers were sent to protect the Great Synagogu…