Prof. Lawrence H. Schiffman

Displaced Iraqi Jews, 1951

The Jews petitioned for Iraqi citizenship. They should have paid a high price for this immediately, if not for the fact that King Faisal (of the Faisal-Weizmann agreement) did not hold it against them. From 1920 or 1921 until King Faisal’s death in 1933 the Jews enjoyed a period of prosperity and became increasingly important.

However, immediately following King Faisal’s death, things took a downward turn for the Jews. The Mandate had ended in 1932. Iraq had been admitted to the League of Nations, and, in 1934, anti-Jewish harassment started, as the new government was motivated by Arab nationalism. In the Arab nationalist environment, Jewish life was impossible, as Arab national-ism differs from traditional Islamic shariya (law) and does not allow for the existence of Judaism. This was not altogether clear at first; Jews were even represented in the original parliament in 1925. (This, incidentally, is the irony of present-day Iran. Between 20 and 25,000 Jews remain in Iran, practicing religion, praying in synagogues, and eating in kosher restaurants. This is due to the fact that the country follows Islamic law and, as such, although they declare their hatred for Israel, they are bound to allow… Continue reading →

Sulaiman the Magnificent, courtesy of Woudloper, Wikimedia Commons

Part IX

In 1405, Turkish tribes conquered the region; the Safavids had control of the region from 1508 to 1534, when the Ottomans replaced them. The Ottoman rulers brought with them the dawn of a new day for Jewish community in the region. Sulaiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman sultan, entered Baghdad in 1534. The Jewish community in the area had deteriorated significantly over the previous centuries and stood at roughly 3,000. We can only speculate as to the reasons for this.

This new era was a positive one for the Jewish community. The ruler appointed to Baghdad in 1705 was quite benevolent and began to modernize Baghdad. Documentation exists which proves that in 1733 Baghdad’s Jews fought on the side of the Ottomans against Persian invaders. Unfortunately, plagues throughout this period (1743–1831) reduced the population.

Beginning in 1780, the Ottomans assigned good rulers to Iraq. In the middle of the 19th century, Jews in Islamic-dominated areas began to modernize, due to internal forces and the Alliance Israélite Universelle, which set up modern schools in the region. This led to Jews being fully involved in economic and even political leadership. Jews, as a… Continue reading →