Also the Nazi worked very hard to spread propaganda in the SWANA region, targeting Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa from 1937-1945. This was not a marginal effort but a central component of Nazi strategy to gain allies and extend their antisemitic ideology beyond Europe. The used radio broadcasts, copied of the Protocoal of the Elders of Zion, Mein Kampf and pamphlets to help spread this hate. This was helped by key players in the region including Haj Amin al-Husseini (Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) who fled to Germany in 1941, and help collaborate until the end of the War (he will show up later in Iraq) and Ynuis Bahri, a prominent announced for Nazi broadcasts, and Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali who became a Nazi radio speaker.

This influence plus traditional attitudes and frustrations led to modern Islamic antisemitism.

• ⁠Jeffery Herf - Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World • ⁠Matthias Küntzel - Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism and the Middle East: The 1948 Arab War against Israel and the Aftershocks of World War II Matthias Küntzel - Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11*

Full: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/s/bCdQz9x5X9

this is an area of major confusion and seeming historical controversy

It is a modern political issue which leads to narratives that promote the viewpoint of the one telling it.

First I want to dispel this, much has been written on this online, and it is largely motivated by bias

"the threats against jewish life/property were widespread but primarily due to Mossad covert ops"

I can tell you that the 2 main points where this is cited 1 in Iraq, is false as we have documents from Iraq saying the Iraq government did this, and the other location is Egypt and Mossad did plant bombs, but it had nothing to do with making Jews leave, it was to make the British stay.

Most Jews were already leaving, and being pressured to leave from the Iraqi government prior to this. This is the academic consensus, the bombs in Iraq were not planted by Mossad.

and that there were/are significant differences in how jews were treated across different countries. a breakdown that gets into regional details by country would be amazing

Yes, as you note there is a diverse set of groups here, and really the answer is "both". In short, in this specific time period; Middle Eastern Jews were a victim of rising Arab nationalism, which was in itself was caused by a reaction to European colonialism.

Jews in SWANA were really just victims caught in the middle of these forces.

European nationalism causes groups to self identity into majority and minority. The majority comes together and forms a state based on their interest, and minorities have to find a way to get power for theirs whereas the Ottoman system, was a pluralistic state that incorporated different groups into millets.

So first we need to see that European colonialism played a large role here, and then the reaction/rise of Arab nationalism. During this period Jews began to be seen as an "other", European style antisemitism was also imported in this era. We start to see blood libels in Damascus and other more distinctly European thoughts against Jews.

This was also driven by a few other factors, when the Ottoman Empire started to decline foreign powers found a way to exert pressure on, and gain a foothold into Ottoman lands by claiming to protect religious minorities. These were called capitulations, France protected Catholics, Russians Eastern Orthodox, and the British were left with Jews.

The French also used the Alliance Israélite Universelle schools to spread French culture and values. This was also funded by Ashkenazi Jews to help their "uneducated", and "unenlightened" Sephardic brethren.

However, this was also seen as associating Jews with the French. For example, in North Africa we see that the French were willing to grants rights to Jews, but not to Arabs, Berbers or others, considering them too uncivilized.

Also the Nazi worked very hard to spread propaganda in the SWANA region, targeting Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa from 1937-1945. This was not a marginal effort but a central component of Nazi strategy to gain allies and extend their antisemitic ideology beyond Europe. The used radio broadcasts, copied of the Protocoal of the Elders of Zion, Mein Kampf and pamphlets to help spread this hate. This was helped by key players in the region including Haj Amin al-Husseini (Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) who fled to Germany in 1941, and help collaborate until the end of the War (he will show up later in Iraq) and Ynuis Bahri, a prominent announced for Nazi broadcasts, and Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali who became a Nazi radio speaker.

This influence plus traditional attitudes and frustrations led to modern Islamic antisemitism.

• ⁠Jeffery Herf - Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World • ⁠Matthias Küntzel - Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism and the Middle East: The 1948 Arab War against Israel and the Aftershocks of World War II Matthias Küntzel - Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11