Where Have All the Jews Gone? Mass Migration from Independent Uzbekistan · 207Sepharadi) were given official permission to establish schools, run after-
school activities, organize adult education programs, and run summer
camps. Impressed by the Jews’ religious freedoms and by the lively array
of Jewish community activities, visitors were also puzzled. If Bukharan
Jews were faring well—in spite of the media attention devoted to their
oppression—why were they leaving? These tourists generally turned to
an analysis of the economic situation for answers.^25
Two such reports were published by participants in a trip organized
by the American Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations
in 1997. The visit was political in nature, aimed at strengthening ties be-
tween Uzbekistan and Israel. Eager to further this relationship, President
Islam Karimov met with the group personally and delivered a statement
about the warm, long-standing relationship between his country’s Jews
and their Muslim neighbors. In addition, local government officials were
given instructions to monitor the group’s itinerary, which was carefully
organized to convey the message that local Jews dwell in comfort and
security.
Living in Samarkand at the time, I was witness to a flurry of activity in
the city in the days prior to the visit. Carrying out the order of the mayor,
city officials paid several visits to the synagogue located in the “new
city,”^26 to ensure that the building’s wooden floors were scrubbed, the
rugs cleaned, the windows washed, and the walls given a fresh coat of
paint. This effort to spruce up the Jews’ physical surroundings extended
beyond the synagogue property. The street was refurbished with a new
layer of pavement, and all homeowners (Jewish and Muslim alike) who
lived nearby were instructed to have the exterior of their homes painted.
The group’s state-sponsored itinerary did not include a visit to the
winding, unpaved residential streets of the Jewish quarter, located in Sa-
markand’s historic “old city.” However, a local Jew—spontaneously and
of his own accord—offered to give an informal tour of this neighborhood
during a few unscheduled hours. Given a glimpse of living conditions
there, participants were shocked and dismayed. In an article that one of
the visitors wrote upon her return, she explained that she was “led...
through back alleys... where the city’s poorer Jews live.... The horrid
living conditions in the ghetto, with its open sewers... made it clear
that pride was one of the few possessions these people had left.”^27 An-
other described her surprise upon entering the Jewish neighborhood to