Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s

260 Pages·2004·2.41 MB·English

by  Esther Meir-Glitzenste

ZIONISM IN AN ARAB COUNTRY
Jews in Iraq in the 1940s
ZIONISM IN AN ARAB
COUNTRY
Jews in Iraq in the 1940s
ESTHER MEIR-GLITZENSTEIN
Foreword
ANITA SHAPIRA

LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2004 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York,
NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis
or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to
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Copyright © 2004 Esther Meir-Glitzenstein
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Meir-Glitzenstein, Esther Zionism in an Arab
country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s 1. Jews—Iraq—History—20th century 2. Zionism—Iraq—
History—20th century 3. Jews—Migrations I. Title 956.7’004924
ISBN 0-203-34406-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN - (Adobe e-Reader Format)
ISBN 0-7146-5579-1 (hbk)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meir-Glitzenstein, Esther. [Tenu’ah ha-
Tsiyonit vi-Yehude ‘Irak, 1941–1950. English] Zionism in an Arab country: Jews in Iraq in the
1940s/Esther Meir-Glitzenstein foreward, Anita Shapira. p. cm. Rev. translation of: Tenu’ah ha-
Tsiyonit vi-Yehude ‘Irak, 1941–1950. includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Jews-
History-20th century. 2. Zionism-Iraq. 3. Iraq-Ethnic relations. 4. Palestine-Emigration and
immigration-History-20th century. 5. Iraq-Emmigration and immigration and History-20th
century. I. Title. DS 149.5.I72M4513 2004 956.7'004924–dc22 2003062611
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher of this
book.
Dedicated with love to my mother, Tzivya née Hacham, and my late father, Mordechai
Glitzenstein
Contents

Acknowledgements vii
List of Illustrations viii
List of Abbreviations ix
Foreword by Anita Shapira x
Preface xi

Introduction: The Evolution of the Iraqi Jewish Community in the 1

Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

PART I: ZIONISM IN IRAQ, 1941–1949

Chapter 1. Relations between the Jews, British and Arabs in Iraq in the 1940s 10
Chapter 2. The Reversal in Zionist Policy vis-à-vis the Jews of Islamic 32

Countries
Chapter 3. National Encounter and Culture Clash: The Emissaries and the 49

Jews of Iraq
Chapter 4. The Hehalutz Movement in Iraq 64
Chapter 5. Young Women in the Zionist Movement 90
Chapter 6. The Zionist Struggle for the Jewish Street 104
Chapter 7. Legal and Illegal Aliyah 131
Chapter 8. The Haganah 146

PART II: PREPARING TO LEAVE IRAQ

Chapter 9. A Community Trapped: Iraqi Jewry during the War of 160

Independence
Chapter 10. The Zionist Movement in Iraq during the Persecutions 179
Chapter 11. From Emigration to Expulsion: The Mass Immigration of Iraqi 195

Jewry to Israel
Conclusion 213

Bibliography 219
Index 224
Acknowledgements
The first version of this book was published in Hebrew by Am Oved Publishers and Tel
Aviv University in 1993, and it was based on a doctoral dissertation written in Tel Aviv
University under the supervision of Professor Anita Shapira. The changes that have
occurred in Zionism historiography since the book was published, new research studies
on Israel and the Jews in Islamic countries, my own recent research on the subject, and
new insights that I have gained, prompted me to take another look at the book and at its
structures and main theses. I changed the structure of the book, shortened it, added new
chapters and updated it.
I would like to thank the Koret Foundation in San Francisco for its generous assistance
and also the Iraqi Jews’ Educational Development Fund in Israel, especially Mr Oved
Ben-Ozer.
I owe thanks to Professor Avishai Braverman, the president of BenGurion University;
and to the rector, Professor Nahum Finger. I also owe thanks to Dr Ofer Shiff, the
director of the Ben-Gurion Research Center at Sde Boker Campus, and to Dr Tuvia
Friling, the former director, without whose assistance this book could not have been
published.
List of Illustrations

1. An alley in the Jewish Quarter in Baghdad.

2. King Faisal I.

3. The Jewish senator, Menahem Daniel.

4. Rabbi Sasson Kadoorie, the president of the Jewish community.

5. The famous lawyer, Yosef el-Kabir.

6. Abraham el-Kabir, the director-general of the Treasury.

7. Enzo Sereni, the founder of the ‘Hehalutz’ movement in Iraq.

8. The family of Rahamim Sehayek. The first emissaries lived in the

family house.

9. Some members of the ‘Hehalutz’ movement in Basra, 1943.

10. A bicycle excursion in Baghdad.

11. Members of the Aliyah Committee in Basra, 1950.

12. Zionist activists (from left to right): the emissaries, Shmuel Moriya

and Shlomo Hillel, and the wireless operator, Eliyahu Shani.

13. Zionist emissaries in Iraq, 1950. Standing (from left to right): Naim
Bekhor, Yerahmiel Asa, Yoav Goral. Kneeling: Mordechai Ben
Porat and Rafael Zurani.
All photographs are courtesy of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, Or-Yehuda.
List of Abbreviations
BCE Before Common Era
BJHC Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre
CID Criminal Investigation Department
CZA Central Zionist Archives/Jewish Agency Executive
DP Displaced Person
FO Foreign Office, London
IZL The National Military Organization [Irgun Zvai Le’umi]
PRO Public Records Office, London
UN United Nations
UNSCOP United Nations Special Committee on Palestine