That's not right. Look up the history of. Jews in Yemen, for instance.

However, it was pretty much true, depending on the whims of whoever was leading the Empire at the time, that the Ottoman Empire was generally a pretty good place, compared to Europe certainly, for Jews, they welcomed the expelled Jews of Spain for example, and many Jews could become rich and had the same rights as anyone else. It's the 19th century when it changed, originally mainly Christian Arabs apparently, who were the initial driving force in anti semitism in the Ottoman Empire and the ME. In Baghdad, in 1828, Jews were massacred. In 1840, in Damascus, the Jewish population as a whole was accused of murdering a Christian and a Muslim and using their blood to make matzah- it was a common accusation in Europe fwiw. Many Jews were tortured, two died due to torture, others converted out of fear. Jews were massacred in Barfurush un 1867. In 1864, 500 Jews were killed in Marrakech. In the 1860s, Libyan Jews were subject to a specific tax. In 1869, 18 Jews were killed in Tunis, and an Arab mob looted Jewish homes and stores, and burned synagogues, on Jerba Island. In 1875, Jews were massacred in a city in Morocco, and on that week, all over Morcco, Jews had their homes, shops etc destroyed. In 1897, Jews were killed and synagogues destroyed in Libya again.

However, Medieval times under Muslim rule were pretty good for Jewish history, probably the best time and place to be a Jew. Not all good, there have been continual pogroms, like in 1066, where all Jews in Granada were killed. In some countries under Muslim rule, Jews would be segregated, like in Morocco, from the 1400s onwards. Until, that is, all the Jews were expelled from Morocco and the then Muslim Spain (thankfully the Ottoman Empire took most of them). Morocco was generally a shit place to be a Jew though, Fez in 1465 killed every single Jew bar eleven- thousands and thousands of Jews. That triggered other pogroms and massacres against Jews across Morocco around then too.

Later on, things got worse. All Jews were either expelled, killed or forced to convert to Islam in a city near Tehran, will look it up after this. That was in 1656. Problem was, the Jews didn't have to pay jizya, the Jew tax, so five years later, Jews were once again allowed to practice or return to Judaism, as long as they wore a bright patch. They also lost a lot of their basic rights.

Later on, in the 1660s-1680s, in Yemen, Jews had law after law passed discriminating against them more and more. Because they weren't considered pure, they couldn't touch a Muslim, or touch a Muslim's food. They weren't allowed to walk on a Muslim's right side, they weren't allowed to build a house higher than a Muslim's, they weren't allowed to ride a camel or a horse, if they DID ride they could ride a mule, but they had to sit side saddle. They WERE allowed into the Muslim quarter...as long as they were barefoot. If they were attacked by Muslims, even if they were being stoned or beaten up to the point of serious injury or worse, they could beg for help or try to flee. No retaliation, no defending yourself. It culminated in the Exile of Mawza, where every single Jew was exiled to a barren desert and left to die, essentially. In 1666, previously, every Jew had to forcibly convert to Islam, those who didn't and refused to were then forced to stand naked in the sun for three days straight, no food, no water. This was Yemen, that was a death sentence for many of them. The Exile of Mawza was for a couple of large cities, with thousands of Jews in, and every Jew who hadn't converted in those cities was forcibly death marched for eleven days straight, with barely and food and water, by soldiers. Many died. They couldn't bury them. When they reached Mawza, it was so hot they couldn't physically even bury the corpses. They were all starving, all dehydrated, all exhausted. If you were old, young, ill, pregnant or even just not in the very best of shape, you were dead. They were allowed back eventually, because the non Jews complained they couldn't buy the right farming equipment- which had been made mainly by Jews at the time.

Up until the 1870s least, the 'Persian Jews' were attacked, and weren't allowed to respond or defend themselves. They couldn't go out in the rain in case the Jewish dirt made Muslims impure, they couldn't look at the objects in a Muslim shop, if he even touches the things for sale, the owner could make him pay whatever price he chose. If a Muslim burgled their house, or even entered it, they couldn't defend themselves, attack them or do anything to stop their belongings being stolen or destroyed, their house being burnt down etc, unless they wanted to be killed that is.

I have a European (Ashkenazi) family and I've learnt mostly their history in Europe, but my step dad is Yemeni in origin so I'm interested in Sephardi and Mizrahi history. I think mostly Jews were treated a lot better under Muslims than under Christians.