Iraq

From JudaismWiki

IRAQ. Jews in Iraq constitute the oldest Jewish community in the world aside from Israel. Iraq, the Babylonia of the Bible and the Talmud, was the Jews’ first land of exile, to which they were driven from Palestine by Nebuchadnezzar after he had destroyed the First Temple in 597 B.C.E. The Babylonian Talmud was composed there. But due to repeated unrest and disorder in the country caused by a series of wars, Jews steadily emigrated to India and to Persia where they created communities, known as Baghdad Jews, which still exist today. In the 7th century, Arabs conquered the country. Under Harun-al-Rashid’s rule from 786 to 809, the scholars and leaders of the Talmudic academies began to make contact with the various Jewish communities in Europe. Their influence extended to Jews in both Europe and North Africa.

In 1534, Turkey conquered that area which today comprises the land of Iraq and ruled it until 1917 when Great Britain won it. In 1932, the independent kingdom of Iraq was established. Both under the British mandate and under Iraqi sovereign rule, Jews lived in comparative freedom. A good number enjoyed prosperity and even wealth, especially in the capital city of Baghdad. About 50,000 Jews resided there, representing approximately 20 percent of the population.

Spiritually, the Jewish community in Iraq had deteriorated since its original growth and development. The Alliance Israélite Universelle played a significant educational role in Iraq early in the 20th century by founding a broad network of schools.

In 1948, the outbreak of the Arab war against the newly established State of Israel was marked by legal plunder and persecution of Iraqi Jews. The “great exodus” of Jews followed in 1951 and 1952. Of the 130,000 Jewish inhabitants who were in Iraq in 1948, fewer than 350 have remained. The remnants of the Iraqi Jewish community are settled mainly in Baghdad. Anti-Jewish feeling has heightened with the unrest in the Middle East. Jews have lost property rights, and mass trials have been held to uncover “Zionist spy rings.”

In February 1991, Iraq launched a missile attack on Israel which caused extensive damage in the Tel Aviv area. Miraculously, loss of life was minimal. After the swift victory of the Allied forces against Iraq, the political situation in that country is uncertain. After the defeat of Saddam Hussein, it was hard to determine whether any Jews were left in Iraq, but before the outbreak of the war, there were about 120 Jews left.