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Wizdom
18-10-03, 13:46
Baghdad's Jews: On their last leg
By Lawrence Smallman in Baghdad

Saturday 18 October 2003, 11:46 Makka Time, 8:46 GMT


Nidhal represents the last of her vanishing community



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The Jews of Baghdad trace their presence in Iraq to the court of Nebuchadnezzar and ancient Babylon.


But a history that spans 2600 years is unlikely to last another 20.

The community that once boasted numerous synagogues and played a major role in the skilled trades have lost all hope.

There are less than 20 Jews living in Baghdad, almost all to be found in the al-Bitawin district. Down from over 125,000 less than 60 years ago.

End of an era

Nidhal Salhi, the community's youngest member, is in her late forties.

She could never marry as there were no eligible men under the age of 70. So did she ever think of leaving?


Nidhal (centre) has some friends
but few community members


"I was born here, I was brought up here, all my friends are here – why on earth should I want to leave? Sometimes I cry that I have no children and that I'm the last of my people – but I love my home and Baghdad.

"I don't think the British would give me a visa in any case, would they?" she asked, laughing.

Total tolerance

Two other women come and sit down next to her, one a Muslim, the other a Christian.

"All these houses used to belong to Jews, it was one of the more refined areas of Baghdad. But they have nearly all left over the last 60 years – London, America and Israel," said Subhiyya, Nidhal's neighbour and friend.

The three women began talking about names of the great Jewish families that had left decades ago – a perfect picture of religious and ethnic diversity.

Strangely enough, the Jews of Baghdad benefited a great deal from former president Saddam Hussein.

He paid for the restoration of the Meir Tweg synagogue, the only standing place of worship in the whole of the country. It has not been used since the invasion and the collapse of public security.

Nidhal also told me that it was Saddam Hussein's Jewish neighbours in Tikrit who had persuaded the former president's mother not to have an abortion.


This house of a Jew family has
seen better times


Women want Saddam

Nevertheless, it was still a surprise when Baghdad's youngest Jew blurted out: "I wish Saddam could return."

Up until now, I must have spoken to dozens of taxi drivers and café owners, policemen and imams – they all say the same: We are glad to see the back of Saddam Hussein and hope for his capture and death.

But I had only been speaking to men.

Here was the first person I had met who yearned for the clock to be turned back and former president Hussein to return – not a Baathist sympathiser, not a former member of the secret police - but a middle-aged Jewish women!

The other two women said they also wished for the return of the former president and swore all their friends felt the same.

"In Saddam's day, there was the rule of law, there was safety. Now I dare not let my daughter out of the house. She won't be able to complete her studies. This is what the Americans have brought", said Subhiyya.

Unwanted change

I suggested that the security situation would improve, that there would be a new democratic government eventually.

"What good is that to us. Look at our houses, look at the way we live … has democracy put food on our tables, safety on our streets, electricity in our homes. Saddam did all these things" Nidhal replied.

Just as the call to the Maghrib (evening) prayer began to sound, a wizened old man bent double with age joined what had now become a group of six women.


The few Jews left can only pray
that their community survives


Despite the obvious pain in a man who may well have been Baghdad's oldest Jew, Yaqub told the gathering that no Jew would ever have left Iraq if it hadn't been for the British.

Nidhal and the others all laughed, much to his irritation. "Yaqub always blames the British for the end of our community."

Another relatively famous Iraqi Jew, Naeim Giladi, holds a similar opinion. He also maintains Zionists scared Jews into leaving Iraq as well. But I didn't want the conversation to end with history.

Small expectations

So I asked Yaqub if he thought the Americans would leave soon, as they have always promised.

"I don't know. The British used to say the same. All we can do is hope."

But unlike the men, Baghdad's women seem to have no fear in saying exactly what they think.

Nidhal and the others – a group that had now grown to eight women and two babies - were all agreed and adamant. "The Americans will never leave."


Aljazeera

Simon
18-10-03, 13:52
Wat een propaganda stukje. Als er 60 jaar geleden 120.000 joden woonden in Baghdad en nu nog maar 20 dan is dat geen goed teken. En dat die 20 terugverlangen naar Saddam al helemaal niet. Wat een troep schrijft Al Jazeera!

Simon

Wizdom
18-10-03, 13:56
Geplaatst door Simon
Wat een propaganda stukje. Als er 60 jaar geleden 120.000 joden woonden in Baghdad en nu nog maar 20 dan is dat geen goed teken. En dat die 20 terugverlangen naar Saddam al helemaal niet. Wat een troep schrijft Al Jazeera!

Simon

Waarom is het propaganda... Er staat toch dat de Joden in de loop van de tijd door vriendjes politiek makkelijker in andere landen terecht konden voor financieel gewin en dat dat voor Irakezen moeilijker te realiseren valt... Toch niets mis mee...

Je kunt er wel uit opmaken dat Saddam zelf goede maatjes was met de Joden...

Simon
18-10-03, 14:06
Geplaatst door Wizdom
[B]Waarom is het propaganda... Er staat toch dat de Joden in de loop van de tijd door vriendjes politiek makkelijker in andere landen terecht konden voor financieel gewin en dat dat voor Irakezen moeilijker te realiseren valt... Toch niets mis mee...

Dat staat er helemaal niet. Dat verzin jij erbij.


Je kunt er wel uit opmaken dat Saddam zelf goede maatjes was met de Joden...

Ik zou het niet weten. Hij was zogenaamd ook goede maatjes met zijn volk maar dat verklaart niet alle massagraven die nu opgegraven worden door de Irakezen. In ieder geval zijn er blijkbaar erg veel Joden vertrokken en dat zal ook wel een reden hebben.

Simon