Jews of Mesopotamia-- Iraq

Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Iraq had been called Mesopotamia.  Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land. That's where Babylonia and Ur lie and where Abraham was from.                  

        Iraq's Jews and their history: The rise of Islam in the early seventh century CE, and then the founding of Baghdad in 762, which would become the capital of the ‘Abbasid caliphate, placed the Jews of these communities at the heart of developing Islamic civilization. Over a few centuries, Jews began to speak Arabic instead of Aramaic, and they wrote works in Hebrew and Arabic in Hebrew script. The introduction of paper and its adoption by Jews altered intellectual, literary, and talmudic production.

The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws and live in cities under an organized government—notably Uruk, from which "Iraq" is derived. The area has been home to successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BCE. 

The area has been home to successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the center of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires. It was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Seljuk, Mongol, Timurid, Safavid, Afsharid and Ottoman empires.                                   

Iraq was conquered by the Arabs in 637 when its large and ancient Jewish community favored and even assisted the Arab advance in the hope that it would afford them deliverance from Sassanid persecution.  Shortly after the Arab occupation, Jews expelled from Arabia settled in Kufa.  For centuries, Iraq continued to be the center of Jewish life.  

The authority of both the Exilarch and the Gaon was recognized throughout the Diaspora.  Jews from all parts of the world submitted their religious problems to the gaonim whose answers were accepted as binding.  

Jewish strife was accentuated by newly-founded sects that were the Issawites (adherents of a seventh century messianic leader who claimed to be divinely charged with the restoration of the Jews to political independence), Yudganites (Judghan in 8th century was disciple of Abu Isa al Ispahani, founder of the Issawite sect, and especially by the rise of Karaism. (The Karaites were a Jewish sect rejecting the Oral Law.  It originated in the 8th century in and around Persia).   In the 10th and 11th centuries, the gaonate experienced a flourishing period with Saadyah as gaon of Sura, and Sherira and Hai in Pumbedita, but with the cessation of the gaonate and the closing of the 2 famous academies (Pumbedita in 1040, Iraq lost her central position in the Jewish world, although geonim are recorded in Babylonia as late as the 13th century.  

Because of heavy taxation on cultivated land, Jews tended to leave agriculture and live in the larger towns, especially Bagdad, Basra and Mosul, where they became traders and craftsmen.  Some were financiers or participated in international commerce.  

Benjamin of Tudela visited Iraq in 1170 and found places with up to 15,000 Jewish inhabitants.                                  

Then the Mongols invaded the land in the 2nd half of the 13th century who were free of religious prejudice and with them there, the condition of the Jews improved.  Jews were then no longer discriminated against because of their faith, making the highest state offices open to Jews.  However, the Mongols were converted to Islam, and the Jews again faced discrimination from them as well.  

In 1291, Saad ad-Daula, the influential Jewish administrator and physician was assassinated and then followed by a general attack on the Jews of Iraq. The historian Wassaf says that Sa'ad cured Arghun of an illness, and, having thus gained his confidence, informed the Ilkhan of the corruption among the officials at Baghdad. At the same time he impressed Arghun with his own ability by his knowledge of the Mongolian and Turkish languages, and by his intimate acquaintance with the conditions existing in the province. He was soon made general controller of the finances of Baghdad, and then of the whole empire, becoming grand vizier.                                   

        The Last Jews of Iraq :Alan Yentob investigates a 2,600-year-old community, now almost disappeared. Once they thrived as a third of Baghdad's population, now only seven Jewish people remain.  

At the end of the 14th century, Timur was invaded and Jews suffered severely like the rest of the people.  Next in line were the Turks who conquered the land in 1534 and this bettered the Jews' position.  Maltreatment of Jews did occur at the whim of local administrators.  Turkish domination lasted with slight interruption until 1917 when the British took over.                      

      Rioting against Jews:The seeds of the Farhud had been sown two months earlier. On April 1, a pro-Nazi coup d’état overthrew the pro-British Iraqi government and seized power. The coup was staged by Rashid Ali al Gaylani, an Arab nationalist and former Iraqi prime minister, supported by four army generals, and aided by Fritz Grobba, a former German ambassador to Iraq. This dangerous group was further stoked by the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al Husseini, who deeply hated the Jews. Anti-Semitic propaganda began to appear in the daily newspapers and in broadcasts on Radio Baghdad. It was intended to inflame the Muslim population and rally support for the new regime.

The country today known as Iraq was a region of the Ottoman Empire until the partition of the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century due to having lost in WWI. 

 In April 1920 the British Mandate of Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of Nations. A British-backed monarchy joining these vilayets into one Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of Iraq.

 The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932. The attainment of Iraqi independence in 1932 was accompanied by persecutions of the Jews.  Hundreds of Baghdad Jews were killed and wounded in a pogrom during the revolt of Rashid Ali in 1941.         

                                The Farhud – the riots against the Jews of Iraq:

IBRAHIM YOUSSEF SHALEH, the leader of Iraq’s Jewish community of 370

 What happened in the Arab countries was in effect ethnic cleansing. While the Nakba is marked every year with demonstrations and wide media coverage, the Jewish disaster does not merit any public or media notice.  During Shavuot, Iraqi Jews will commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the “Farhud” – the riots that took place on Shavuot, June 1-2, 1941. In the riots reminiscent of Kristallnacht in Germany, 179 Jews were murdered, hundreds more wounded and much Jewish property looted. 

                                                                                             

Iraqi troops participated in the 1948 attack on Israel on the central front.  Despite their defeat, Iraq never concluded an armistice agreement with Israel. The great majority of Iraqi Jews subsequently left the country, chiefly for Israel in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.  Their property in Iraq was confiscated.  123,500 Jews have reached Israel since 1948.  Those that remained were subject to severe restrictions, especially after the Six Day War of 1967 when the treatment of Iraqi Jews led to international protests.  The Jewish population in  1991 was about 150, chiefly in Bagdad, where one synagogue still operated. 

                                               

                                                                               His Excellency

                                           Muhammad Najib Ar-Ruba'i b: 14 July 1904

 was the first President of Iraq (Chairman of Sovereignty Council) from July 14, 1958 to February 8, 1963.

Together with Abdul Karim Qassim, he was one of the leaders of the coup that toppled King Faisal II in 1958.   On October 7, 1959 there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him by twenty-two-year-old Saddam Hussein.

In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 1968 until 2003. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, sparking a protracted war which would last for almost eight years, and end in a stalemate with devastating losses for both countries.  

1980 was the year I made aliyah and moved to Israel.  One of the male teachers I taught with was from Iraq.  Some of his friends or relatives were hung.  It's good he got out.  

                                              

The male line of the Jews of Iraq seem to favor J1 (cohen gene) and E1.  https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/iraq/dna-results

Resource: 

https://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2013/03/iraq-americans-mistake-couldnt-have.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/the-farhud-the-riots-against-the-jews-of-iraq-313251