Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s

by Meir-Glitzenstein,Esther

• ISBN13: 9780714655796
• ISBN10: 0714655791
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-08-24
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Zionism in an Arab Countryexplores the relations between the Zionist establishment in Israel, and the Jewish community in Iraq. This relationship centered on two organizations: a Zionist movement and a defense organization. By reviewing the activity of these organizations, Esther Meir-Glitzstein examines the decade preceding mass immigration, and reveals the political, societal, economic and cultural developments that shaped the history of Iraqi Jewry in this crucial period. The book covers: The relations between the Jewish minority and the Muslim-Arab majority in Iraq - in the context of the rise of the local national government, its struggle against British colonialism, and its efforts to lay foundations of an Iraqi nation. Struggles within the Jewish community between different sectors of society, political groups, and ideologies of the time regarding Jewish orientation. The relationship between the Zionist establishment and Iraqi Jewry: how it changed duringthe 1940s, and its operative ramifications. The characteristics and evolution of the Zionist movement in Iraq in the 1940s, its status as a Jewish community, and its role during the mass immigration from Iraq. Women's role in Zionist activities in Iraq. The defense organization in Iraq and the dilemmas entailed in its existence. Beyond the main focus on the sphere of Zionist activity, Meir-Glitzstein also uncovers the basic problems that shaped both the development of Iraqi Jewry in the 1940s and the policy of the Zionist establishment - trapped between Arab nationalism and Jewish nationalism. Finally, she elucidates the reasons and circumstances that led to the mass immigration of Jews from Iraq to the state of Israel.

Author Biography

Esther Meir-Glitzstein is a researcher at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute in Sde Boker and the head of the Program for Israel Studies in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
List of Illustrations	ix
List of Abbreviations	x
Foreword by Anita Shapira	xii
Preface	xiv
Introduction: The Evolution of the Iraqi Jewish Community in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries	1	(12)
PART I: ZIONISM IN IRAQ, 1941-1949
Chapter 1. Relations between the Jews, British and Arabs in Iraq in the 1940's	13	(27)
Chapter 2. The Reversal in Zionist Policy vis-a-vis the Jews of Islamic Countries	40	(23)
Chapter 3. National Encounter and Culture Clash: The Emissaries and the Jews of Iraq	63	(20)
Chapter 4. The Hehalutz Movement in Iraq	83	(33)
Chapter 5. Young Women in the Zionist Movement	116	(18)
Chapter 6. The Zionist Struggle for the Jewish Street	134	(25)
Chapter 7. Legal and Illegal Aliyah	159	(18)
Chapter 8. The Haganah	177	(18)
PART II: PREPARING TO LEAVE IRAQ
Chapter 9. A Community Trapped: Iraqi Jewry during the War of Independence	195	(24)
Chapter 10. The Zionist Movement in Iraq during the Persecutions	219	(20)
Chapter 11. From Emigration to Expulsion: The Mass Immigration of Iraqi Jewry to Israel	239	(22)
Conclusion	261	(9)
Bibliography	270	(7)
Index	277