JIM Wober claims that in the 1950s Jews were expelled from Arab countries such as Iraq, implying that this somehow counterbalances the Nakba when three quarters of the Palestinian population were expelled by Zionist militia in 1947-8 (War 1948, September 6).

However, there is some evidence that Zionist agents assisted in precipitating the departure of 125,000 Jews from Iraq.

A key factor was the bombing of the Masouda Shem-Tov synagogue and other Jewish targets in Baghdad in between April 1950 and June 1951.

Naiem Giladi, an Iraqi Jew who joined the Zionist underground in Iraq and later regretted his role, claimed that the bombs were set off by Zionist agents.

The allegations against Israeli agents had “wide consensus” amongst Iraqi Jews in Israel. Giladi also stated that Israeli prime minister Ben Gurion negotiated with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri as-Said, authorising him to take possession of the property and assets of Iraqi Jews if he agreed to send them to Israel.

Giladi made these allegations in his book Ben Gurion’s Scandals: How the Haganah and the Mossad Eliminated Jews.

The fact is, Jews in the Arab countries lived side by side with their Arab neighbours in relative harmony for hundreds of years until the creation of the state of Israel.

SABBY SAGALL
Chair, Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
(Writing here in a personal capacity)