Language:
English
Year of publication:
2002
Titel der Quelle:
Jewish Culture and History
Angaben zur Quelle:
5,2 (2002) 70-94
Keywords:
Jews History 1945-
;
Zionism
;
Israel Aliyah
;
Iraq Emigration and immigration
Abstract:
Two factors led to the emigration of 120,000 Jews from Iraq to Israel: the policy of the Iraqi government and the pressure of the Zionist underground in Iraq. A sequence of disastrous events which began in the 1930s - among them a massacre of Assyrians by the Iraqi Army in 1933, dismissals of Jews from administrative positions in 1934-36, and a pogrom in Baghdad in June 1941 - raised doubts concerning the future of the Jewish community in Iraq. The partition of Palestine brought about a rise in popular anti-Jewish sentiments in Iraq, which exacerbated the internal tensions in the country. Trying to calm the unrest, the government adopted a policy of repression and discrimination against the Jews. This policy, especially the execution of the Jewish millionaire Shafik Ades in September 1948, completely shattered the confidence of the community. The Zionist underground provided a solution for the Jewish problem, which coincided with the policy of the Iraqi regime seeking to resolve a domestic crisis.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink