The Jewish Refugees From Arab Countries

The Jewish community of approximately 150,000 people in Iraq existed for 2600 years. They lived peacefully amongst their Arab neighbours, mainly in Baghdad, and accounted for a third of the city’s population. Under the influence of Nazi propaganda for 9 years, and a British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War, Iraqi soldiers and citizens blamed the Jews for their troubles. Riots known as the Farhud (violent dispossession) erupted in Baghdad and, like the pogroms of Europe, the Jews were targeted. 180 Jews were killed and 240 were wounded. 586 Jewish businesses were looted and there were 99 Jewish homes destroyed.  

In 1948, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Said, told the British that if their proposed United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was not satisfactory, severe measures would be taken upon all Jews in Arab countries. Iraq’s Foreign Minister followed that up stating that “any injustice imposed upon the Arabs of Palestine will disturb the harmony among Jews and non-Jews in Iraq; it will breed inter-religious prejudice and hatred.” 

Iraq was placed under martial law in 1948 and Zionism was declared illegal. Jews were no longer allowed to hold positions within the civil service, quotas were established on Jews holding university positions and Jewish businesses were boycotted. One of the most important Jewish businessmen in the country, Shafiq Ades (who happened to be anti-Zionist) was arrested and publicly hanged for allegedly selling products to Israel. This was a turning point for the Jews of Iraq. Many were forced to flee and leave all of their possessions behind.  

Following the Six-Day War, hundreds of Jews were imprisoned on charges of spying for Israel. About 50 of them were executed following show trials and there was an infamous public hanging of 14 men in Tahrir Square, 9 of whom were Jewish, after which a procession of a hundred thousand Iraqis marched past to observe the bodies. It is estimated that by the year 2003, 35 Jews remained in Baghdad. 

Dr. Caroline Bassoon-Zaltzman is an endocrinologist who immigrated to Montreal in her teens in 1976. She graduated from McGill University with a medical degree in 1985 and moved to Toronto in 1989. A Jewish refugee from Iraq, she speaks to groups and educates people about the Jewish refugees from Arab countries, particularly form her birthplace of Iraq. There were two particular incidences that she describes as having inspired her to tell the story of Iraqi Jewry.