Despite an appalling record of human rights violations, Saddam Hussein's
regime has rarely threatened the physical safety of Iraq's Jews in recent
years. Nonetheless, the murder in October 1998 of two Jews in the Baghdad
synagogue, while not publicly condoned by the Iraqi authorities, has increased
concern for the dwindling Jewish community. Within the context of growing
international isolation and increasing hostility towards the United States,
antisemitism in the state-controlled Iraqi media continues to surface primarily
in the context of anti-Israel or anti-US commentary, although such statements
appear to have diminished somewhat over the last three years.
Demographic data
Total population: 21 million
Jewish population: 100
Minorities: despite the fact that they dominate the ruling elite, Sunni Arabs comprise only some 30 per cent of the total population; Shi'ite Arabs make up 55 per cent, and 18 per cent are Kurds
Political data
Political system: presidential republic
Government: Despite a series of continuing domestic challenges, political power in Iraq remains concentrated largely in the hands of President Saddam Hussein and a single party, the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party. Among Saddam Hussein's foremost supporters are his own tribal federation of albu-Nasir, which hails from the area of Tikrit, and the Sunni Arab population of Iraq, residing in a triangle between Baghdad, Mosul and the Syrian border. Tribal support has been diminishing in recent years and internal dissent has prompted a number of unsuccessful plots to topple the current regime. In response, the Iraqi dictator has used harsh measures to eliminate potential opposition among civilian, military and tribal leaders as well as members of his family and clan.
Controversy was sparked in 1997 by Iraq's refusal to co-operate with UNSCOM personnel responsible for monitoring the production of chemical and biological weapons. In 1998, as Iraq continued to fail to comply with UN resolutions, allied forces of the United States and Britain launched a series of military strikes against Iraq, and the United States increased support, including funding, for Iraqi exile and other opposition groups. Saddam Hussein introduced draconian measures to prevent the economic collapse of the country, such as the amputation of hands as a punishment for theft and 'economic crimes'. The government crackdown on all opposition has involved mass arrests, torture and executions, mainly of Shi'ites and Kurds, but also of dissidents in the Sunni Arab community, including hundreds of army officers.
Economic data
Iraq's eight-year war with Iran (1980-8), its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the 1991 war against a US-led coalition, and the massive Shi'ite and Kurdish uprisings that followed have ravaged the economy. Much of the country's industrial and agricultural infrastructure has been destroyed and very many people now face severe food shortages and rocketing inflation. The imposition of United Nations sanctions has exacerbated economic hardship.
Under Ottoman rule, which began in the sixteenth century, the Jewish community in Iraq was fairly prosperous. The advent of British rule in 1917 enabled Jews to become involved in local government, but when Iraq became independent in 1932 discrimination against Jews became institutionalized. During the 1930s and up to the anti-British and pro-Nazi Rashid Ali revolt of May 1941, anti-Jewish sentiments among Iraqi intellectuals, army officers and politicians were intensified by Nazi influence in Baghdad, as well as by the Jewish-Arab conflict in mandatory Palestine.
In June 1941 a wide-ranging pogrom took place: 129 Jews were murdered, many hundreds were wounded and much Jewish property was looted and destroyed.
In August 1948 many Jews were imprisoned on charges of 'Zionism' and a few were executed for espionage on trumped-up charges. In early 1950 Jews were allowed to leave for Israel, but were required to relinquish their Iraqi citizenship and forfeit their assets. The virulent anti-Jewish atmosphere in Baghdad and the introduction of anti-Jewish laws persuaded approximately 120,000 Jews to emigrate in 1950-1. Under the republican rule of General 'Abdal-Karim Qasim (1958-63), many Jews were released from prison and deported. The situation of the Jews deteriorated during the periods of Ba'ath rule and the rule of the Arif brothers (1963-8).
Following the 1967 Six Day War Jews were subject to severe restrictions and were forbidden, for example, to leave their home towns. Some 300 Jewish business-owners and community leaders were arrested and tortured for 'espionage' or for 'economic support for Israel', and all Jewish communal property was seized by the government.
When the Ba'ath Party came to power, it conducted an espionage trial and the public hanging of thirteen young Jews. By 1971 about forty Jews had either been executed or had died under torture, and many more were jailed. In the summers of 1970 and 1971 hundreds of Jews were smuggled out of Baghdad by Kurds loyal to Mullah Mustafa al-Barazani, through de facto independent Kurdistan to Iran, and on to Israel. Because of increasing international pressure, most of Iraq's remaining Jews were eventually allowed to leave the country in 1972-3.
During the 1991 war against Iran and the Kuwait crisis, antisemitic themes
were commonplace in the regime's war propaganda. Most conspicuous were claims
that the Persian enemy had an ancient alignment with the Jews, dating back
to the era of the Persian empire of Cyrus and his successors.
Both Shi'ite Arabs and Kurds (together comprising 73 per cent of the population) are generally hostile to the ruling regime dominated by Sunni Arabs. The regime continues to launch military attacks on Shi'ites living in the southern marshes, to divert humanitarian supplies destined for them to the security forces, and to block the supply of food, medicine and other goods to the Kurdish minority in the north.
Two members of Iraq's dwindling Jewish community were shot dead in October 1998 during an attack on the only active synagogue in Baghdad. The Iraqi authorities, including President Saddam Hussein, condemned the attack and arrested the perpetrator, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian.
The political links between Israel, the Jews and the USA are often emphasized in speeches and articles. It has been frequently claimed that the USA and Europe are controlled by 'Jewish finance' and that the Allied attack on Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait was a 'Jewish-Zionist plot'.
Many antisemitic statements originate in a publication entitled Babel, which is owned by Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday.
Arabic translations of classical antisemitic texts such as The Protocols
of the Elders of Zion and Hitler's Mein Kampf are widely available
in Iraq.
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Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee
© JPR 1999
