This is part V of a 5 part series this week concerning Jews who emigrated from Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948.
Part I - Introduction, A Summary of Allegations Made and Information Omitted, Statistics, Notes on Israeli Laws Passed Immediately after Israeli Independence Regarding Palestinians and Their Possessions, Land Ownership in Israel Today
Part II - Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen/Aden, Libya
Part III -Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco
Part IV - Lebanon, Syria
Part V - Egypt, Iraq, Closing Notes
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If you are interested in my feelings about Israel and Palestine please read Just Me and I/P.
Egypt
In 1948 Egypt was a kingdom ruled by Farouk I of Egypt.
Egypt was a British Protectorate from 1914 to 1922. Following the 1919 popular uprising against British rule, Britain ended the protectorate in 1922 and the Kingdom of Egypt became nominally independent.
The British retained control of key government functions, continued to occupy Egypt militarily, and insisted that the status of Sudan remain unchanged. Sudan was technically under the joint administration of Egypt and Britain, but in reality it was under British control.
In 1932 and 1933 the Egyptian government conducted a campaign offering Egyptian citizenship to any resident of Egyptian territory who wanted it. Some Egyptian Jews were among those who took advantage of the offer and became Egyptian citizens. After 1933 it was still possible, though more difficult, for stateless residents of Egypt to become Egyptian citizens.
Also, due to the colonial politics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was quite easy for Egyptians, especially those who were educated or well-off, to obtain British, French, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, Greek or German citizenship and many did, including some Egyptian Jews.
This was advantageous because foreign nationals in Egypt were not subject to Egyptian law. They were subject to a mixed system of laws based on the laws of the countries they were citizens of. This was due to the capitulations the Ottoman Empire and Egypt had made to European and other countries between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Many foreigners also immigrated to Egypt, including European Jews, and retained their citizenship when they did.
In 1937 Egypt, the U.S. and most of the countries in Europe signed a treaty to end the capitulations. The treaty stated that everyone, foreign, Egyptian or stateless, would come under the jurisdiction of Egyptian law and courts in 1949.
The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty signed by Egypt and Britain in 1936 gave Egypt a greater degree of independence but the British continued to exert a great deal of influence, primarily because Egypt was dependent on Britain financially.
In the treaty Britain agreed to withdraw its troops from all Egyptian territory except for the area around the Suez Canal, to supply and train Egypt's army, and to defend Egypt in times of war. The treaty was to be valid for 20 years, after which Britain would withdraw all its troops from Egypt.
During World War II Britain used the terms of the treaty to turn Egypt into its military base in the Middle East and many British and other Allied forces were stationed there.
In February, 1942 the British surrounded Abidin Palace and forced King Farouk to replace the Prime Minister.
Also in 1942 Axis forces invaded Egypt from Libya but were halted and then pushed back by Allied forces in two major battles at El Alamein.
In 1944 Walter Guinness, Britain’s Resident Minister in Egypt, was assassinated in Cairo by members of the Zionist paramilitary group Lehi, which is commonly known as the Stern Gang or Stern Group.
The situation of Jews in Egypt was generally good during this period. There were many large Jewish owned businesses, large numbers of Jewish professionals, and some Jews served in the Egyptian government. Cairo’s Maccabi Sports Club was the largest sports association in Egypt.
The growth of unemployment after World War II caused by the reduced demand for Egyptian products after the war ended, Britain’s continued interference in Egyptian affairs, and the presence of large numbers of British troops in Egypt caused growing discontent, nationalism and anti-British and anti-Western sentiment in Egypt.
These erupted into anti-British and anti-Zionist riots in the Jewish Quarter and European sections of Cairo and Alexandria on November 2, 1945. Six Jews were killed, a synagogue was burned, several Jewish community buildings were damaged, and Jewish businesses were among the dozens of businesses which were looted. The Egyptian government then placed guards at the entrance to the Jewish Quarter and increased security in the European sections of Cairo.
On February 21, 1946 protests by students and workers against working conditions, growing unemployment, the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, and the continued British presence and interference in Egyptian affairs developed into riots and hundreds of high school and university students were killed when British troops and Egyptian police opened fire on them while they were trying to cross the Abbas Bridge in Cairo.
In 1947 the Company Law was passed by the Egyptian government. The law required that 90% of the laborers, 75% of the white collar employees, and 40% of the boards of directors in corporations be Egyptian citizens, and was to be phased in over three years.
The law was passed partly due to the upcoming end of the capitulations which had been negotiated in 1937 and partly due to high unemployment in Egypt which increased dramatically when many businesses closed after World war II because demand for Egyptian products decreased as Europe recovered from the war and European production restarted.
As a result many foreign nationals in Egypt, including many Jews, lost their jobs or found it difficult to find new jobs because they did not have Egyptian citizenship.
An article in the Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora Issue 35.2 (2009) describes the effect this had on Greek Egyptians.
Greek attempts to return to the workforce were frustrated in other ways, most notably in the Egyptian government's introduction of laws which reinforced the position of Egyptian citizens in the labor market. One of these laws was the Company Law, passed in July 1947. Its main aim was to find employment for the everincreasing Egyptian labor force which could be absorbed neither by the public nor by the agricultural sector. The law specified that the proportion of Egyptian employees in any joint-stock company had to amount to 75 per cent of its total employees within three years (1950). For the workers, the percentage should reach 90 per cent.
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Due to this new distinction between Egyptians and foreigners in the labor market, the issue of the acquisition of Egyptian citizenship by Greek citizens re-emerged. This option, if not encouraged by the Greek state, was certainly tolerated. Nevertheless, the situation in the country was not favorable for those who wished to obtain Egyptian citizenship, since the assimilation of foreigners was certainly not a matter of priority for the Egyptian state.
Consequently, the most appropriate solution to the problem of unemployment as it emerged in the post-war years seemed to be emigration. The poorer of Greek-Egyptians were the first to leave. They moved either on their own initiative or in an organized manner. The self-employed in the technical field, laborers, and the destitute were mostly involved in this movement. Many of them were veterans of WWII, who opted to leave Egypt. Along with them, some small capital owners and small tradesmen, who having foreseen the difficult economic conditions, decided to emigrate and invest their savings in another country. In addition, more and more employees affected by the 1947 Company Law would join those leaving. These were the members of the so-called middle class, which constituted the backbone of the Greek community.
There are no accurate numbers for the size and the pace of the emigration movement during the late 1940s. The available reports point out that a significant number of Greek-Egyptians was leaving and that the predictions for the future were not optimistic. Despite the encouraging public declarations issued by the community authorities, a deep sense of pessimism prevailed. In 1948, the Greek Chamber of Commerce sent a confidential report to the city's Greek General Consulate ascertaining that " ... no matter how things develop, there is little hope for long-lasting and profitable prospects for the foreigners in Egypt."
It is reported that about 75,000 Jews lived in Egypt in 1948.
About 40% of the Jews in Egypt were stateless; they had not become, or had not been able to become, Egyptian citizens. About 30% were Egyptian citizens, and about 30% held a foreign nationality.
The number of Jews in Egypt is reported to have gradually decreased to about 40,000 in 1952.
The Egyptian government declared martial law on May 14, 1948. Under this martial law between 700 and 1,000 Jews were among those arrested, and emigration was restricted; those who were foreign nationals had little or no difficulty, while those who were Egyptian citizens or stateless Egyptians were generally not allowed to emigrate.
A number of homes, businesses and bank accounts which belonged to Jews were seized and a small number of Jews who had foreign nationality were expelled from Egypt under this martial law. A number of Jews, especially those who lived near Abidin Palace, were forced to move.
The Egyptian government also arrested hundreds, some say thousands, of people who were considered to be opponents of the government, ranging from Communists to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, under this martial law.
The Israeli bombing of Cairo during the war caused an anti-Zionist reaction in some Egyptians. A few Jewish areas in Cairo were bombed in 1948 and 1949 killing an estimated 50 Jews. Most of this was believed to have been instigated by the Muslim Brotherhood and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated the Egyptian Prime Minister on December 28, 1948.
Public anger slowly subsided and essentially ended in the summer of 1949. The enforcement of martial law slowly decreased. Seizures stopped, and much of the seized possessions, property and bank accounts were returned. Restrictions on emigration were lifted, and martial law was lifted in 1950.
Also during this period the Capitulations ended in 1949, and the Company Law of 1947 came fully into effect in 1950 with the end of the three year transition period.
As anti-Zionist sentiment in Egypt decreased anti-British sentiment increased and groups of anti-British workers and students engaged in guerrilla warfare with British forces.
The number of Jews in Egypt is reported to have remained stable until 1956.
On January 26, 1952 anti-British protests which were triggered by the killing of 50 Egyptian policemen by British troops the previous day in a battle in Ismailia developed into widespread riots in Cairo and large areas of the city were burned and ransacked.
The 1952 riots, rising nationalism, and growing discontent with King Farouk led to the July 23, 1952 coup in Egypt. The Free Officers Movement, led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser forced the king to abdicate, proclaimed his infant son the new king, and took control of the government. Muhammad Naguib then became the Prime Minister of the new government.
On June 18, 1953 the monarchy was abolished and the Republic of Egypt was established with Muhammad Naguib as its president. The new government proclaimed a policy of reconciliation with religious minorities and President Naguib visited the Grand Temple of Cairo on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah in 1953.
In the summer of 1954 a secret cell of Egyptian Jews and undercover Israeli agents was discovered in Cairo when one of them was arrested while trying to plant a bomb in the Rio Theatre. The cell had been in place for many years and had planted five other bombs in Cairo in July, 1954.
Their mission was to discredit Nasser's regime and destabilize Egypt’s relations with the U.S. and Britain by bombing British and American institutions and businesses.
In October, 1954 Britain and Egypt reached an agreement on the removal of British troops from the Canal Zone as had been agreed to in 1936. Britain agreed to a phased evacuation of British troops over the next 20 months. The military base was to be maintained and Britain had the right to return for seven years. The treaty also confirmed that ownership of the Suez Canal Company, the owners of the canal, was to revert to the Egyptian government on November 16, 1968.
In November, 1954 following growing disagreement with Nasser, President Naguib resigned and Nasser became the President of Egypt.
Political instability in Egypt caused by the growth of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Communist Party in Egypt, and by Nasser’s ambitions, led to the preparation of a new constitution in January, 1956. The new constitution established a new single party system, and in June, 1956 a referendum was held on Nasser's nomination to be president under the new constitution. It was approved by an overwhelming majority.
On July 18, 1956 Britain completed the withdrawal of its troops from the Suez Canal Zone.
The number of Jews in Egypt is reported to have decreased to about 15,000 in 1958.
On July 26, 1956 Egypt took control of the Canal Zone, nationalized the Suez Canal Company, and announced that the stockholders in the company would be paid for their shares according to that day's closing stock price on the Paris Stock Exchange. This had a string negative effect on the British and French economies and on British military interests in the region.
In October, 1956 Britain, France and Israel reached a secret agreement to invade Egypt, take control of the Suez Canal and, if possible, topple the government of President Nasser.
On October 29, 1956 Israel invaded the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. The British and French then joined the invasion. Egyptian forces resisted but the combined British, French and Israeli forces soon occupied the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip.
The operation was a military success but a political disaster for Britain, France and Israel. Intense international pressure, especially U.S. pressure, forced them to withdraw from the areas they had occupied. British and French withdrawal was completed in December, 1956 and Israeli withdrawal was completed in March, 1957.
The Egyptian government’s reaction was intense.
All British and French citizens were expelled and all of their possessions were seized; many of these were Egyptian Jews.
About 1,000 Jews were arrested, many Jews were not allowed to leave their homes, many Jewish businesses were seized, many Jews were forced out of their jobs, and laws were passed which made it easy for the government to revoke Egyptian citizenship.
Many of the remaining Egyptian Jews and stateless Jews left; some were expelled, including most of those who had been arrested, some were officially harassed into leaving, and some left because the situation was too insecure for them to stay. Many were able leave with only a few of their possessions.
A large number of foreign nationals who found the situation to be too insecure also left; some of these were also Egyptian Jews. However, due to their being foreign nationals they were generally able to leave with their possessions.
Conditions began to slowly improve in 1957. The amount of possessions those leaving could take with them slowly increased, a few laws were cancelled, seizures slowed, some possessions were returned, and emigration slowed.
However, feelings of unease among the Jews in Egypt continued.
The number of Jews in Egypt is reported to have decreased to about 13,500 in 1960, to about 7,000 in 1961 and then to 5,000 in 1962.
In 1960 Egypt inaugurated its first five-year development program and began pursuing an increasingly socialist agenda. Following this in July 1961 government decrees brought virtually all economic activity in Egypt under government ownership or control.
Also in 1961 Egypt experienced major failures in is main export crops, cotton and rice, which caused a major drop in its foreign exchange earnings.
The number of Jews in Egypt is reported to have gradually decreased to about 2,500 in 1967 and then to have decreased to about 800 in 1970.
In the 1967 Six-Day War, which began with a large-scale surprise Israeli attack on Egypt, Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula to Israel and Israel also occupied the Gaza Strip.
Following the war there were mass arrests of Jews in Egypt. Most of the male Jewish population was imprisoned. Over a period of three years they were very slowly released and with the help of the Spanish Embassy more than two thirds of the Jews who had been in Egypt before the war were allowed to leave on the condition that they renounce their Egyptian nationality, leave all their assets behind and pledge never to return.
Since 1970 the number of Jews in Egypt is reported to have gradually decreased and to be about 200 currently.
On March 26, 1979 Egypt and Israel signed the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and the state of war between these two countries ended.
* Notes:
Immediately after the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War, there were between 12,000 and 16,000 Palestinian refugees in Egypt. In 1948 the Egyptian government created the High Committee for Palestinian Immigrants and it established three temporary camps for the Palestinian refugees in Egypt.
After an armistice agreement was signed between Egypt and Israel in February, 1949 Egypt assumed the administration of the Gaza Strip, and placed it under the control of the All-Palestine Government. Palestinians who did not have familial or business ties to Egypt were transferred to refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. About 7,000 Palestinian refugees were allowed to remain in Egypt.
The government of King Farouk did not allow the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to operate in Egypt, but after the 1952 coup Palestinian refugees in Egypt were given equal status with Egyptian citizens.
About 200 more Palestinian refugees came to Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis. In 1962 the situation in the Gaza Strip was growing worse and the Egyptian government allowed about 5,000 Palestinian refugees, especially those with higher education, to come to Egypt to work in the public sector.
Immediately after the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War, there were also about 200,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip. Initially they were aided by the local Palestinians, the Egyptian High Committee for Palestinian Immigrants, and the Egyptian Army. Soon afterwards the International Committee of the Red Cross began providing aid and the U.N. began organizing aid efforts.
In 1950 the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which had been established on December 8, 1949, began operations in the Gaza Strip and administered eight Palestinian refugee camps there. Most of these had been established before UNRWA began operations in the Gaza Strip.
Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War an armistice agreement between Egypt and Israel was signed on February 24, 1949. In the agreement the armistice line was agreed to be the border between Israel and the strip of land along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea which Egypt had occupied during the war and then from there southwards along the internationally recognized border between Egypt and Israel. Egypt retained control of this strip of land, which became known as the Gaza Strip.
Israel withdrew its forces from the areas on the Egyptian side of the armistice line which it had occupied during the war, and Egypt withdrew its forces from the areas on the Israeli side of the armistice line which it had occupied during the war.
A demilitarized zone, which was to be the location of the bilateral armistice committee, was also established on both sides of the border around Uja al-Hafeer.
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Iraq
In 1948 Iraq was a kingdom ruled by a Regent, Crown Prince Abdullah of Hejaz, on behalf of his nephew King Faisal II of Iraq who was only thirteen years old at the time.
Iraq was put under the administration of Britain as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia in 1920.
In 1921 Britain chose Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi to be the King of Iraq. He was from the Arabian Peninsula and was essentially unknown in Iraq, but he had previously been the King of Syria for four months in 1920 before being forced out by France before their mandate of Syria began.
Faisal had supported and fought with the British in World War I against the Ottoman Empire and had participated as an Arab representative in the multiple peace talks and conferences which followed the war.
In 1919 Faisal and Chaim Weizmann signed the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement as part of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The agreement called for Arab-Jewish goodwill and cooperation in developing a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in the remainder of the Arab regions of the former Ottoman Empire.
In 1925 the British-controlled Iraq Petroleum Company (then the Turkish Petroleum Company) was granted a full and complete concession of Iraq’s oil for a period of seventy-five years. The Iraqi government had tried to obtain 20% ownership of the company but the British would not agree and the company remained completely under British control. Iraq would not take ownership of its oil until the 1970s.
In 1930 Iraq and Britain signed a treaty which stated that Britain would grant Iraq full independence and end its mandate, and that for 25 years the British would have almost unlimited rights to base military forces in Iraq and would have the unconditional and unlimited right to move troops into or through Iraq.
On October 3, 1932 the treaty came into effect, the Kingdom of Iraq became independent, and Britain ended its mandate. However, British troops remained and Britain continued to exert a great deal of influence in Iraq.
King Faisal died in 1933 and his 19-year-old son was crowned King Ghazi I.
The new king was an ineffectual leader and Iraq remained under the strong influence of Britain.
In 1936 a military coup overthrew the Iraqi government but did not depose the king. The military wanted reforms and was able to achieve several by the time their control ended less than a year later when the leader of the coup was assassinated and a pro-Monarchist Prime Minister and government were appointed. This coup was the beginning of the Iraqi military’s involvement in the governing of Iraq.
Anti-British, Iraqi nationalist and Arab nationalist sentiments began to grow in the years after King Faisal died. In the mid and late 1930s Nazi Germany tried to encourage these sentiments and established contacts with some Iraqi military officers through its embassy in Bagdad.
In 1937 Britain removed many of its troops from Iraq. Only enough British forces to protect the oil fields and a small force of Iraqis under British command, called the Iraq Levies, remained.
In a bizarre coup in December, 1938 a small group of strongly anti-British Iraqi/Arab nationalist army officers, led by Colonel al-Sabbagh, overthrew a pro-Monarchist government to install a pro-British former Prime Minister, Nuri as-Said, who wanted to replace an increasingly erratic king.
In April, 1939 King Ghazi was killed in a car crash, some suspected that he was killed by the Prime Minister, and his four-year-old son was crowned King Faisal II. His uncle, Emir Abdullah of Hejaz, became Regent.
When World War II started in September, 1939 Iraq was a mixture of; a boy king, a pro-British but weak Regent, pro-British sentiment, anti-British sentiment, Iraqi nationalism, Arab nationalism, very strong British influence in the Iraqi government, an economy controlled by the British, and Nazi Germany’s attempts to influence the Iraqi military.
Soon after the war started, Prime Minister Nuri as-Said severed diplomatic relations with Germany and deported German officials, but he did not declare war on Germany. He also announced that Iraqi armed forces would not be deployed outside of Iraq.
Prime Minister as-Said also allowed Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who was wanted by the British, to come to Iraq after the French had forced him out of Lebanon on October 13, 1939.
British and French losses at the beginning of the war, and the fact that both the U.S. and Turkey remained neutral, led to growing support in Iraq that Iraq should also remain neutral, especially among those who were anti-British, Iraqi nationalists, Arab nationalists or influenced by Nazi Germany.
In March, 1940 the pro-British Prime Minister, Nuri as-Said, lost the support of the anti-British, Iraqi/Arab nationalist military officers who had put him in power and he resigned.
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani then became the Prime Minister of Iraq. He was a strongly anti-British Iraqi/Arab nationalist and was in contact with Mohammad Amin al-Husayni. He refused to allow Allied troops to cross through Iraq or to sever ties with Italy. He also established contact with Germany through the German Ambassador in Istanbul.
Britain, which still controlled Iraq economically, imposed severe economic sanctions on Iraq. Public support for al-Gaylani decreased, pressure from the pro-British Regent increased and al-Gaylani resigned on January 31, 1941. A former military officer, who had also previously been the Minister of Defense, was then appointed to be the Prime Minister as a compromise acceptable to the involved groups.
Two months later on April 1, 1941, the small group of strongly anti-British Iraqi/Arab nationalist army officers who had been interfering in Iraqi politics for the past three years, along with Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, overthrew the government and took control of the monarchy in a coup. Mohammad Amin al-Husayni is also believed to have been involved in planning the coup.
The leaders of the coup had planned to assassinate the Regent but he had learned about their plan the night before the coup and had fled to a British army base.
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani became the Prime Minister, formed a new government, appointed a new Regent and arrested many pro-British citizens and politicians. The leaders of the coup wanted to end the influence which the British still exercised over Iraq and believed that Britain was so weakened that it would accept their demands.
The British, in response, began to transport forces to Iraq. The new Iraqi government requested military assistance from Germany and Italy, and a small amount arrived. On May 2, 1941 a war between Iraqi and British forces began.
By May 29, 1941 the coup leaders and Prime Minister knew they were defeated and fled as British forces approached Bagdad. Mohammad Amin al-Husayni also fled. The leader of the coup, Colonel al-Sabbagh, was later arrested in Turkey, extradited to Iraq and executed in 1945.
The war ended on May 31, 1941 with the surrender of the Iraqis, represented by the Mayor of Bagdad, but British forces did not immediately enter Bagdad. Some say this was because there were many more Iraqi troops in Bagdad than British troops near it and the British wanted to wait until more British troops arrived, while others accuse the British of staying out of Bagdad because they wanted the situation in the city to deteriorate so badly that they would be seen as saviors when they entered.
On June 1, 1941 riots broke out in Bagdad. Jews were attacked and 120-200 were killed, and Jewish homes and community buildings, including Synagogues, were burned. The riots ended the next day when the local police were able to establish some control, killing several rioters in the process, and when the British forces entered the city and fully restored order.
The Regent returned and a pro-monarchist government was appointed. The government arrested hundreds of people who had been involved in the coup and the riots, many of them were imprisoned and eight were executed.
British troops fully reoccupied Iraq and the occupation continued until October, 1947.
Iraq during World War II was relatively calm and the economy was relatively strong due to the demand for Iraqi goods during the war. However, the number of urban poor grew considerably.
Mossad and the Hehalutz were active in Iraq during World War II and Iraq was seen as part of an alternate escape route from Europe for European Jews.
After World War II ended most of the supporters of Nazi Germany who had been arrested and imprisoned during the war, especially in 1941, were released and began promoting Nazism and anti-Semitism again.
Also following the war the economy suffered. Inflation and unemployment increased. Strikes and protests were called and demonstrators were killed during clashes between unions and the police. The Communist Party grew and in 1947 the leaders of the party were arrested and sentenced to death, but the sentences were later reduced to life in prison.
In January, 1948 Iraq and Britain signed a new treaty which gave the British even more rights and influence in Iraq. This provoked huge demonstrations and the police fired on the demonstrators, killing many. The Regent then repudiated the treaty but demonstrations and strikes continued until martial law was declared on May 14, 1948.
Up to 1948 Jews in Iraq generally, except most notably for the riots in 1941, lived their lives, went to school and worked like most of the people in Iraq. There were poor Jews and rich Jews. Some were farmers, some were laborers, some were white-collar workers, some were professionals, and some were businessmen.
It is reported that about 135,000 Jews lived in Iraq in 1948.
The number of Jews in Iraq is reported to have decreased to about 110,000 in 1950 and then to about 12,000 in 1952.
On May 14, 1948 martial law was declared, Zionism was added to the anti-Communist laws which had been enacted in Iraq in 1938, and a series of repressive anti-Communist, anti-Zionist, and anti-dissident laws and decrees followed.
Thousands of people were arrested and tried; Communists, union leaders, dissidents and others the government saw as opposition, and Jews. Many were sentenced to prison and some were executed, including the leaders of the Communist Party, whose death sentences had previously been commuted to life sentences.
Many Jews were fired from their jobs, some Jews had their property seized, and some Jews were forced to pay high fines and excessive taxes.
Using the networks Mossad and the Hehalutz had established during World War II Jews began leaving Iraq illegally through Iran.
During 1949 a degree of calm returned and martial law was lifted in December, 1949.
In March, 1950 a law was passed that would permit Jews to emigrate if they gave up their Iraqi citizenship. Those who wanted to leave were not required to give up their property in this law.
By March, 1951 about 105,000 Jews had registered but only about 35,000 had been transported. The Zionist and Israeli organizations which had been active in Iraq since at least 1942 and the JDC did most of the organizational work in Iraq for the airlift.
Following the expiration of the March, 1950 law another law was passed in March, 1951 to extend it. This law also placed the remaining property of departing Jews under the control of a government appointed custodian.
By January, 1952 a total of about 123,000 Iraqi Jews had been airlifted out of Iraq, or airlifted out of Iran after having crossed into Iran, in the operation which is known as ‘Operation Ezra and Nehemiah’ or had left Iraq by other means before the airlift began.
The increasing political, social and economic instability in Iraq, the riots of 1941, the release of Nazi Germany supporters after World War II and their subsequent promotion of Nazism and anti-Semitism in Iraq, fear and unease caused by the events of 1948 and 1949, the urging of pro-Zionist groups, and the desire not to be separated from friends and family were all factors in this mass departure from Iraq.
The number of Jews in Iraq is reported to have decreased to about 9,000 in 1953 and then to about 6,000 in 1954 and then to have remained stable until 1965.
After the airlift the general situation for Jews in Iraq normalized. An American Jewish Committee report describes the condition of Jews in Iraq in early 1958.
The remnant of the Jewish community in Baghdad was among the minute group of prosperous middle- and upper-middle-class merchants, commercial agents, and white-collar workers. Since the country required technicians, administrators, and teachers for its vast prospective economic development and expansion, the Jewish and other minority groups were a valuable national asset.
In July, 1958 the Kingdom of Iraq was overthrown by the military, led by Abd al-Karim Qasim, and the Republic of Iraq was founded. Most of the members of Royal Family were executed, as was Nuri as-Said, the very pro-British eight-time Prime Minister. Shortly after he was buried his body was disinterred by an angry mob, his corpse and dragged through the streets of Baghdad, where it was hung up, burned, and mutilated.
Under the government of Abd al-Karim Qasim the situation of Jews in Iraq continued to improve and minorities were granted full equality in the Republic of Iraq’s new constitution.
In 1963 Abd al-Karim Qasim was overthrown in a bloody coup by members of the Iraqi Baath Party in the Iraqi military because they believed he was allowing the Communist Party to become too powerful. General Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr became the new Prime Minister and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif became president.
Some anti-Jewish policies are reported to have reappeared following this coup. It is reported that it became difficult for Jews to buy and sell property and that some Jews lost their jobs. What is not clear is whether this was specifically directed at Jews or was experienced by the general population of Iraq during this period.
The number of Jews in Iraq is reported to have decreased to about 4,000 in 1966 and then to about 2,500 in 1967.
On April 13, 1966, President Abdul Salam Arif was killed in a plane crash and his brother Abdul Rahman Arif succeeded him as president. His administration was considered to be ineffective and indecisive.
Following the 1967 Six-Day War Jews in Iraq were placed under repressive restrictions, their bank accounts were frozen, their phones were cut, many lost their jobs, travel was restricted, and they were constantly followed by the police.
The number of Jews in Iraq is reported to have remained stable until 1970 and then to have decreased to about 500 in 1972.
In July, 1968, President Abdul Rahman Arif was overthrown in a bloodless coup by Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr, who then became the president. His relative, Saddam Hussein, was in charge of the National Security Bureau.
Repression in general increased immediately under the new regime. Many Jews, along with many non-Jews, in Iraq were arrested and tortured and many, including some Jews, were executed.
In March, 1970 the Iraqi government agreed to a peace plan with Iraqi Kurds to end the intense fighting between Iraqi and Kurdish forces which had been going on for nine years in Iraqi Kurdistan. At the same time the government of Iraq unexpectedly lifted travel restrictions on Jews in Iraq.
This made it possible for some of the Jews in Iraq to travel to the newly peaceful Iraqi Kurdistan and from there cross the border into Iran while a few others were able to leave the country legally.
Since 1972 the number of Jews in Iraq is reported to have gradually decreased and to be about 100 currently.
The repression of Saddam Hussein is well-known and millions of Iraqis were subjected to it, including some of the small number of Jews who were still in Iraq.
* Notes:
Immediately after the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War, there were between 4,000 and 5,000 Palestinian refugees in Iraq. Initially the refugees were housed in Military camps and assisted by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. In 1950 the Iraqi government created the Palestinian Refugees Affairs Department in the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The Palestinian Refugees Affairs Department housed the refugees in large buildings such as old empty hotels. Each family was given one room. If the family had more than six members they were given two rooms. The department supplied food and clothes to the refugees. Refugees who were able to usually rented a home.
The refugees were generally from rural backgrounds and had difficulty adapting to living under these conditions in cities and could usually only find work as manual laborers because of their lack of education and training.
In 1964 Iraqi labor laws were applied to Palestinian refugees in Iraq and in 1969 they were able to obtain scholarships, bank loans and mortgages.
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Closing Notes
In 1948, and for many years afterwards, Arab and Muslim countries experienced a long period of upheaval, instability and economic, social and political hardships which resulted from the continuing effects of World War II, the turmoil of the end of the colonial era, the Cold War, growing nationalism and Arab nationalism, and from the series of insurrections, wars of independence, rebellions, coups, revolutions, civil wars, and Arab-Israeli wars which occurred in the region during this period.
It is undeniable that in this upheaval and instability anti-Jewish events which were both tragic and unjustifiable occurred which caused some of the Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries following Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948 to have to do so truly as refugees.
This needs to be recognized and effective mechanisms need to be established which would investigate and resolve claims for compensation or restitution made by Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries who wish to pursue them and which would also arrange for the repatriation of Jewish refugees and their families from Arab and Muslim countries who wish to be repatriated.
However, it also has to be recognized that the simplistic allegations that all of the 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 were refugees who were forced to flee their homes and that all of them had their possessions forcibly seized from them are not in any way historically correct.
Most importantly these unfounded allegations cannot be used as a premise to negate Palestinian claims regarding right of return, repatriation, restitution and compensation.
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