 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 450,000 [1] [2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Or Yehuda, Givatayim, Kiryat Gat | |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew, Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, Baghdad Jewish Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Orthodox Judaism |
Iraqi Jews in Israel, also known as the Bavlim (Hebrew for "Babylonians"), are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Iraqi Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 450,000. [3]
Since the destruction of the First Temple there was a connection between Babylonian exiles and the Land of Israel. [4] According to the Al-Yahudu Tablets, a collection of tablets from the sixth century BCE, multiple Jews were given names reflecting their families desire to return to Zion. [5]
By the end of the 19th century, political Zionism entered the consciousness of the Jews of Iraq and Zionist activity began. [6] [7]
In 1914, the first Zionist organisation was founded by Menashe Hakim, Maurice Fattal and Raphael Horesh under the name "Zionist Association of Baghdad", [8] to promote the Zionist cause in Mesopotamia. The short-lived organisation collapsed in November of that year when the Ottoman Empire declared war on Britain.
In the 1920s, after Britain conquered Iraq from the Ottoman Empire, transportation between Iraq and Palestine became much more common. Although at this point Iraqi Zionists were mostly unorganized, they were well funded by a few wealthy philanthropists. [9] In 1920, the first major Zionist organization was founded under the name "Jewish Literacy Society." [10] It published a Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic journal called Yeshurun. [11] On March 5, 1921, a branch of the Jewish Literary Society founded a separate Zionist association known as "The Mesopotamian Zionist Society." [12] A revived "Zionist Association of Baghdad" would later merge with this Society in 1924. [8]
In contrast to the elite class of Iraqi Jews who remained unattracted to Zionism, it received considerable support from poorer Jewish citizens who demonstrated their support in multiple public gatherings. [9] These demonstrations led to condemnations by British officials and Arab authorities who warned against public activities. [13] Until 1929, there was no official ban against their activities and Zionist organizations continued to exist discreetly. In 1923, a branch of Keren Hayesod was established in Baghdad. [14] Reuben Battat, an Iraqi-Jewish judge, handed a decision down in favor of allowing a property transfer from Jewish philanthropist Gourji Shemtov to the Keren Hayesod in 1923. [15] This decision was used against him 26 years later, when he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of being a Zionist. [16] [15]
Alfred Mond's 1928 visit to Baghdad led to the first anti-Zionist demonstration in the city. [17] Multiple Jews were injured in attacks related to the protests. [18] There were other short lived Zionist organizations such as "Agudat Ahi'ever" (1929), "Histadrut ha-No-ar ha-Ivri" (1929), and "Maccabi" (1929–1930). Palestinian Jewish teachers were brought in to teach Hebrew and Jewish history. [9] Some AIU schools in Baghdad during this time organized Hebrew literary societies which promoted Zionism. [19]
After the 1929 riots, the Iraqi government began a campaign against Zionism. Palestinian Jewish teachers were expelled, and Iraqi Zionist leaders were arrested. [9]
During the 1930s, Nazi influence was widespread in Baghdad, due to presence by the German legation as well as Arabic broadcasts from Berlin. [20] Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf was translated into Arabic by Yunis al-Sabawi and published in local Baghdadi newspapers. [21] Following a military coup in 1941, a pro-Nazi government gained power in Iraq. One day after an armistice between Iraq and Britain, began a two-day pogrom.
Days before the pogrom broke out, members of the Al-Muthanna Club went around marking Jewish homes with red paint. [22] The massacre began on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and throughout the rampage hundreds of Jews were murdered, [23] thousands were wounded, while thousands of Jewish shops and synagogues were plundered. [24] It was estimated by Iraqi-Jewish leaders that around 2,500 families, which accounts for 15% of Baghdadi Jews, suffered directly as a result of the pogrom. [25] Some of the leaders behind the Farhud pogrom blamed Jews for British imperialism in Iraq while others perceived Baghdadi Jews as Zionists or Zionist sympathizers. [25]
The effect the Farhud had on the Iraqi Jewish community was tremendous. [26] It added a sense of anxiety among Baghdadi Jews which heavily influenced their relationship with Iraq. [27] It shed a light on the plight of Jews in Arab countries, leading to Iraqi Jews being included in Zionist plans for immigration to establish a Jewish state. [20]
Following the 1947 Partition Plan for Palestine and Israeli independence in 1948, a wave of anti-Semitism hit Iraq. [28] All Jews working in the government were removed from their positions, [29] hundreds were arrested on dubious charges of being Zionists or Communists. [30] On October 23, 1948, wealthy Jewish businessman Shafiq Ades, who was an outspoken Anti-Zionist, was publicly hanged in Basra after being accused of selling weapons to Israel and the Iraqi Communist Party. No evidence was provided during the three-day trial showing Ades sold weapons to Israel and the judge presiding over the case was a member of a pro-Nazi party. [31] The general sentiment among Iraqi Jews following his killing was that if Ades could be executed by the state, any Jew could. [18] After the establishment of Israel in 1948, Iraq forbade Jews from emigrating to Israel. Even with the restrictions, the Iraqi Zionist underground was smuggling around 1,000 Jews every month to Israel via Iran. [26]
On May 19, 1950, 150 Jews were airlifted out of Iraq. At first it was called "Operation Ali Baba," however it became known by Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, for the prophets who led Babylonian Jews out of exile to the Land of Israel. [29] Within days of the first operation, over 30,000 Iraqi Jews registered to leave which meant they had to leave within 15 days. [32] The ones who weren't able to leave within 15 days were considered stateless refugees, and many lived homeless in the streets of Baghdad. In response, the Iraqi government announced that it was prepared to move them to concentration camps if they were not removed swiftly. [29]
From 1950–1952 between 120,000 and 130,000 Jews were airlifted out of Iraq to Israel. [33] Once the operation was over, only 6,000 Jews remained in Iraq. [34]
Languages:
In the 20th century, approximately 900000 Jews migrated, fled, or were expelled from Muslim-majority countries throughout Africa and Asia. Primarily a consequence of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the mass movement mainly transpired from 1948 to the early 1970s, with one final exodus of Iranian Jews occurring shortly after the Islamic Revolution in 1979–1980. An estimated 650000 (72%) of these Jews resettled in Israel.
Farhud was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, immediately following the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War. The riots occurred in a power vacuum that followed the collapse of the pro-Nazi government of Rashid Ali while the city was in a state of instability. The violence came immediately after the rapid defeat of Rashid Ali by British forces, whose earlier coup had generated a short period of national euphoria, and was fueled by allegations that Iraqi Jews had aided the British. More than 180 Jews were killed and 1,000 injured, although some non-Jewish rioters were also killed in the attempt to quell the violence. Looting of Jewish property took place and 900 Jewish homes were destroyed.
The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
The history of the Jews in Iraq is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BCE. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities.
From 1951 to 1952, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah airlifted between 120,000 and 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel via Iran and Cyprus. The massive emigration of Iraqi Jews was among the most climactic events of the Jewish exodus from the Muslim World.
Amba or anba is a tangy mango pickle condiment of Baghdadi Jewish origin. It is typically made of pickled green mangoes, vinegar, salt, turmeric, chilies, and fenugreek. It is somewhat similar to savoury mango chutneys.
Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5716, passed by the Knesset in January 1956, granting the organization a unique fundraising status. It is a registered corporation of the State of Israel.
Baghdad Jewish Arabic or autonymhaki mal yihud or el-haki malna is the variety of Arabic spoken by the Jews of Baghdad and other towns of Lower Mesopotamia in Iraq. This dialect differs from the North Mesopotamian Arabic spoken by Jews in Upper Mesopotamian cities such as Mosul and Anah. Baghdadi and Northern Mesopotamian are subvarieties of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic.
Naeim Giladi (18 March 1926 – 6 March 2010) was an anti-Zionist Iraqi Jew, and author of an autobiographical article and historical analysis titled "The Jews of Iraq". The article later formed the basis for his originally self-published book Ben-Gurion's Scandals: How the Haganah and the Mossad Eliminated Jews.
As an organized nationalist movement, Zionism is generally considered to have been founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. However, the history of Zionism began earlier and is intertwined with Jewish history and Judaism. The organizations of Hovevei Zion, held as the forerunners of modern Zionist ideals, were responsible for the creation of 20 Jewish towns in Palestine between 1870 and 1897.
Shafiq Ades was a wealthy Iraqi-Jewish businessman of Syrian origins. After a short show trial in 1948, he was executed by hanging on charges of selling weapons to Israel and supporting the Iraqi Communist Party.
The history of the Jews in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, in India, began in the late eighteenth century when adventurous Baghdadi Jewish merchants originally from Aleppo and Baghdad chose to establish themselves permanently in the emerging capital of the British Raj. The community they founded became the hub of the Judeo-Arabic-speaking Baghdadi Jewish trading diaspora in Asia.
The Anti-Zionist League in Iraq was an organization in Iraq, active in 1946. The organization was founded by a group of Jewish members of the Iraqi Communist Party in 1945.
The 1950–1951 Baghdad bombings were a series of bombings of Jewish targets in Baghdad, Iraq, between April 1950 and June 1951.
Yaakov Mutzafi was a rabbi and kabbalist. The last spiritual leader of the ancient Jewish community of Iraq, he moved to Israel ahead of the Jewish masses when they were finally airlifted there in 1952.
Rabbi Shelomo Bekhor Ḥutzin, also known as the Rashbaḥ, was an Baghdadi Jewish posek, liturgical poet, journalist, translator, and publisher.
Midrash Bet Zilkha was an important Bet Midrash in Baghdad which was renowned among Eastern Jewry from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. Many of the great Babylonian rabbis of modern times arose from its halls, and rabbis from across the Arab world pursued advanced studies there.
Arthur Menachem Hantke was a jurist, lawyer and economist, one of the leaders of Zionist movement in Germany and one of the leaders of the Zionist fundraising organization Keren Hayesod.
Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center is a museum and research center in Or Yehuda, Israel.
MirS.Baṣrī was an Iraqi Jewish writer, economist, journalist, and poet. Among many public positions he held, Basri served as the head and central leader of Baghdad's Jewish community.
Fear of a renewed outburst of this kind (of the Farhud) menaced over the community until its eventual dissolution. The Farhud shocked the community to the core, and in effect marked the beginning of a process which was to end with the emigration of the vast majority of Iraqi Jews. … The situation of the Jews grew increasingly grave as the decision on the fate of Palestine approached. Immediately after the establishment of the State of Israel, the Iraqi government adopted a policy of anti-Jewish discrimination, mass dismissals from government service, and arrests. …. The Jews felt the ground burning under their feet. At the end of 1949, Jews began to flee to Iran, and thence to Israel, in such large numbers that all efforts by the Iraqi government to halt their flight proved fruitless. … the Denationalization Law on March 1950…. The Jews took advantage of the law, and by the end of 1952, most of them had emigrated to Israel, practically bringing to a close the history of the community
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