Posted on 05/28/2009 7:46:06 AM PDT by SJackson
Iraq's Last Jews - Stories of Daily Life, Upheaval and Escape from Modern Babylon Edited by Tamar Morad, Dennis Shasha and Robert Shasha Introduction by Prof. Shmuel Moreh Palgrave-Macmillan 211 pp., $75.99 (hardcover)
How does one explain the reason why a prosperous community of 140,000 people, with a history and heritage of 2,600 years, uproots itself en masse, and leaves Iraq, the country which it helped modernize in all areas - government and politics, economy, medicine, education, literature, poetry and music? An explanation for this extraordinary historical phenomenon is found in Iraq's Last Jews.
This book includes testimonies of 19 Jews (men and women) as well as of an Iraqi Shi'ite, who personally experienced the events that occurred in Iraq during the last century.
The main reasons that brought about the escape of the Jews from Iraq may be summarized as follows:
• the xenophobia of the nationalistic Sunni leadership, which did not tolerate minorities, including Shi'ites, Christians and Kurds, especially if they had substantial financial means and social standing;
• anti-Semitism, which existed in newly independent Iraq (and in other Arab countries), which was sponsored by Nazi Germany and led by the German ambassador, Dr. Fritz Grobba, who was supported by fanatical religious leaders, such as Haj Amin el-Husseni (who escaped from Palestine under British Mandate and continued his anti-Jewish activities in Iraq).
The climax of the anti-Jewish activities in Iraq, was the Farhud - the uprising against the Jews on Shavuot of 1941 - during which 135 men, women and children were murdered, hundreds were injured and much property was looted. This uprising ultimately brought about the escape and the mass emigration of the Jews from Iraq. The longing for Zion among Iraqi Jews directed many of them to Mandate Palestine and later on to Israel, while a minority opted to immigrate to other countries such as the United States, Canada, England and Australia. Today, the number of Iraqi Jews residing in Israel is 244,000, while 40,000 are distributed elsewhere in the world.
The catastrophe of the Jews of Iraq occurred for no obvious reason. The anti-Jewish policy of its governments left them with one option - to escape and leave behind all their personal and communal property. Unlike the Palestinians, the Jews of Iraq did not wage a war against Iraq nor did the Jews in other Arab countries. They were the scapegoats of political conflict in their own countries. Israeli governments throughout the years, for reasons which are not clear, did not include this catastrophe of the Jews of Arab countries as part of their political agenda nor was it included in the educational program, as in the case of the Nakba of the Palestinians. This enabled Arab propagandists to portray the Palestinians as the only victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The testimonies are personal and include a broad description of Jewish life in Iraq spanning the comfortable day-to-day life, mainly during British rule, the sufferings and persecutions once Iraq became independent and finally the escape to Eretz Yisrael, through the assistance of the Zionist underground movement, which was established after the Farhud.
They are also authentic and can be the basis for writing the history of the Jews of Iraq in the last century. The introduction, written by Prof. Shmuel Moreh, provides historical background and explains how the Jewish community survived for 2,600 years, in Babylon and later in Iraq.
The extraordinary history of Dhiaa Kassem Kashi, the young Shi'ite, who suffered from oppression in Iraq and was forced to escape in the 1980s, is a vivid example of the sufferings of the non-Sunni communities in the country. He longs for the good relations that existed between his family and his Jewish neighbors. Needless to say, there were Muslims who did not agree with the policy of hatred toward the Jews; however, their voices at the time were not heard. The Jews in Iraq suffered from the struggles between the Sunnis and Shi'ites, as today Israel is at the center of the conflict between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Arab countries.
The timing of the publication of this book is critical, since firsthand testimonies of Jews who lived in Iraq are dwindling (two of the Jews included in the book were not fortunate enough to see its publication). In this respect, special acknowledgment should be given to the Jewish Babylonian Heritage Center in Or Yehuda, for its important work in collecting and documenting personal testimonies of Iraqi Jews.
Since the book is in English, it provides for the first time a good glimpse of the history and the plight of the Iraqi Jewish community to a broad range of readers. Many of the descendents of the Jews of Iraq in Israel and other countries reached prominent positions in a range of fields - government, economy, science and the arts - due in part to their great heritage. The book is highly recommended for readers interested in exploring this unfortunately neglected part of Jewish history.
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I recently read “Last Days In Babylon” by Marina Benjamin.
Same subject matter, but I picked it up at the Dollar Store.
Sometimes you can find good stuff there!
According to this author, Jews and Muslims lived in relative harmony until it all went wrong.
It was an interesting read, because it is so hard to picture that situation ever being the case when you observe their relationship in the modern era.
Relative harmony in a Muslim country being an acknowledged 2nd class status.
No right of return for the Jews of Arab nations! Why shouldn’t the Jews have the same rights as the Arabs of Palestine!
True.
But at least a long time ago, it didn’t seem like they were actively trying to kill all the Jews, according to the author.
IIRC, she is affiliated with the NYT & probably can’t be trusted though. She seemed a bit idealistic when describing it all.
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Thanks go to SJackson for posting this.a prosperous community of 140,000 people, with a history and heritage of 2,600 yearsJust adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
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That came up briefly relative to Iraq, but was a non starter. Unfortunate, because there were Israeli ex-pats who would have been willing to invest in the early days. It's an interesting question though, should the US be encouraging and financing the creation of states with overtly racist and/or antisemitic policies
Nah, truth is almost every single book written by Mizrahim says basically the things you read in this one. Anyway, doesn’t really matter anymore.
A first Iraqi Jew has recently reclaimed a house because the house was confiscated in Ba3th times. She had to pose as a Christian, of course, or else she would have been chased out of Iraq at best.
Many Iraqis are preoccupied with the idea that Jews are coming to buy land & there was a bunch of nasty graffiti warning against it.
I’ve always wondered what the pro-Iraqi war Jews thought of this. Do they realize that the Iraqis generally hate our Jewish guts?
oh & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhP6kETD-Ag
Muslim Iraqi goes to visit Jewish Iraqi musicians in Israel.
There aren't that many, in the US Jews were the largest demographic against the Iraq war, in the 70% plus range. I did raise the issue here when, post victory, some Iraqi Jews wanted to invest in Iraq, but were rejected, and when Iraqi Jews were de facto denied the vote since they couldn't vote anywhere, but it wasn't well received. Personally I don't think the US should be advocating and particularly not establishing governments with apartheid like laws. That's particularly important in the West Bank and Gaza, but was an issue in Iraq too. And I've suggested that if you allow Muslim governments to persecute Jews, Christians won't be far behind. But that's not always accepted even by pro-Israel Americans.
Notice how the well-being of Iraqi Jews, those inside of Iraq (yes, there are) & out, was never a consideration to anyone. The little help they get from Israel consists of some money from their relatives & offers to remove them if they wish. Never to demand that their rights be respected as any other Iraqi. They depend entirely on their Muslim neighbors or spouses. No one even entertains the idea of expatriate Iraqi Jews going to Iraq, even if it’s just to reclaim a house. Iraqi Jew-hatred is indulged & deemed acceptable.
All Jews in Muslim countries are treated by the West & Israel with the assumption that they shouldn’t be there in the first place. When something bad happens to them, it is mentioned only as a reason why they must leave & an illustration of why Muslims are bad. The idea of demanding & forcing Muslim countries to respect them doesn’t even occur to anyone. As if Muslims are well within their rights to mistreat Jews & it’s the Jews’ fault for being there in the first place. If it happened in the West, there would be outcries for the government to rectify the situation. But when it comes to Jews in Muslim lands, they all seem to agree that Jews deserve poor treatment if they dare to stay in their countries. It’s always Jews the ones who need to be removed, never the oppressors. Same principle is being applied in Judea & Samaria now.
I post stories on Mizrahim but never on Lebanese Jews because it’s too emotional for me & I will grow fangs if I read mocking & derisive comments about the small things they try to achieve (rebuilding the main synagogue, changing their registered religious affiliation from “Israeli” to Jewish). Jew-haters hiss that Jews deserve what they get if they don’t leave, & the West - & Israel - agrees.
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