Thursday, August 27, 2020
The Jews of Iraq; Where Our Beginnings Lie
Nadene Goldfoot
The land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers was settled between the 4th and 5th Centuries BCE, settled by people from the northern and eastern mountains. Two groups arrived later, the Sumerians and the Semites. The Semites lived in the northern area of the Syro-Arabian desert and came after the Sumerians, who spoke their own distinct language. The Semites spoke a Semitic language and bred small animals, probably sheep and goats, which provided them with clothing and food. The Semites reached Mesopotamia and settled among pre-existing populations.
Speakers of East Semitic include the people of the Akkadian Empire, Assyria and Babylonia. Central Semitic combines the Northwest Semitic languages and Arabic.
Speakers of Northwest Semitic were the Canaanites (including the Phoenicians and the Hebrews) and the Arameans.
South Semitic peoples include the speakers of Modern South Arabian languages and Ethiopian Semitic languages.
Between the 13th and 11th centuries BC, a number of small Canaanite-speaking states arose in southern Canaan, an area approximately corresponding to modern Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Sinai Peninsula. These were the lands of the Edomites, Moabites, Hebrews (Israelites/Judaeans/Samaritans), Ammonites and Amalekites, all of whom spoke closely related west Semitic Canaanite languages.
The Philistines, enemies of Israel, are conjectured to have been one of the Sea Peoples,who seem to have arrived in southern Canaan sometime in the 12th century BC. In this theory, the Philistines would have spoken an Indo-European language, as there are possibly Greek, Lydian and Luwian traces in the limited information available about their tongue, although there is no detailed information about their language.
Iraq was originally referred to as Mesopotamia.
Babylonia was a large city there that housed Jews since they had been forcefully been brought there in 597 BCE. Many had returned 80 years later to Jerusalem; but many also had stayed. They helped the Arabs advance after 637 CE in the hope that it would deliver them from the Sassanid persecutions. After the Arabs occupied their land, they were expelled from Arabia so settled in Kufa which became their center of life for centuries. These Jews because the authority of the Exilarch and Gaon to the Diaspora. All sent their religious problems to them and felt their answers were binding.
Jews of Iraq produced physicians, and bankers, scientists and scholars.
There was heavy taxation on land so they stayed away from agriculture and concentrated in larger towns, like Baghdad, Basra and Mosul where they became traders and craftsmen.
Iraq gained independence in 1932. This was accompanied by persecution of the Jews.
180 Jews in Baghdad were killed and wounded in a pogrom during the revolt of Rashid Ali in 1941.
The 1941 Iraqi coup d'état also called the Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani coup or the Golden Square coup, was a nationalist and pro-Nazi Coup d'état in Iraq on 1 April 1941 that overthrew the pro-British regime of Regent 'Abd al-Ilah and his Prime Minister Nuri al-Said and installed Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister.
On 27 January 1969, Iraqi authorities hanged 14 alleged spies (nine Jews, three Muslims and two Christians) for aiding Israel in a public execution in Baghdad. Baghdad Radio invited citizens to Liberation Square on January 27 to "come and enjoy the feast", being brought in on buses. 500,000 people reportedly attended the hangings, and danced and celebrated before the corpses of the convicted spies.
9 of the fourteen hanged were Jews; the remaining 3 Jews of the initial 12 arrested were executed on 26 August 1969.
From 1949 to 1951, 104,000 Jews were evacuated from Iraq in Operations Ezra and Nehemia (named after the Jewish leaders who took their people back to Jerusalem from exile in Babylonia beginning in 597 B.C.E.); another 20,000 were smuggled out through Iran.
Operation Ezra and Nehemia was when Israel flew 120,000 Jews
out of Iraq to Israel under the help of the Jewish Agency and the
Israeli government. The project started in May 1950 and ended
in October 1951. At first, the Iraqi authorities didn't permit
direct Baghdad-Lydda fights, compelling the immigrants to fly to
Cyprus where they transferred to Israel-bound aircraft.
80% of the Iraqi immigrants were dispersed among
Maabarot (transit camps) temporary villages,10% were absorbed
immediately in agricultural settlements and 10% were welfare
cases. They number 450,000 in Israel today.
Speakers of East Semitic include the people of the Akkadian Empire, Assyria and Babylonia. Central Semitic combines the Northwest Semitic languages and Arabic.
 |
| איילת שקד; Ayelet Shaked) born 7 May 1976) is an Israeli politician, activist, and software engineer of Iraqi heritage. She served as a member of the Knesset for The Jewish Home from 2013 to 2018, after which she became a member of the New Right. She currently represents the Yamina alliance. She was Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2019. Although until 2018 she was representing a religious party, Shaked identifies as a secular politician. |
Speakers of Northwest Semitic were the Canaanites (including the Phoenicians and the Hebrews) and the Arameans.
South Semitic peoples include the speakers of Modern South Arabian languages and Ethiopian Semitic languages.
Between the 13th and 11th centuries BC, a number of small Canaanite-speaking states arose in southern Canaan, an area approximately corresponding to modern Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Sinai Peninsula. These were the lands of the Edomites, Moabites, Hebrews (Israelites/Judaeans/Samaritans), Ammonites and Amalekites, all of whom spoke closely related west Semitic Canaanite languages.
The Philistines, enemies of Israel, are conjectured to have been one of the Sea Peoples,who seem to have arrived in southern Canaan sometime in the 12th century BC. In this theory, the Philistines would have spoken an Indo-European language, as there are possibly Greek, Lydian and Luwian traces in the limited information available about their tongue, although there is no detailed information about their language.
Iraq was originally referred to as Mesopotamia.
Babylonia was a large city there that housed Jews since they had been forcefully been brought there in 597 BCE. Many had returned 80 years later to Jerusalem; but many also had stayed. They helped the Arabs advance after 637 CE in the hope that it would deliver them from the Sassanid persecutions. After the Arabs occupied their land, they were expelled from Arabia so settled in Kufa which became their center of life for centuries. These Jews because the authority of the Exilarch and Gaon to the Diaspora. All sent their religious problems to them and felt their answers were binding.
Jews of Iraq produced physicians, and bankers, scientists and scholars.
There was heavy taxation on land so they stayed away from agriculture and concentrated in larger towns, like Baghdad, Basra and Mosul where they became traders and craftsmen.
Iraq gained independence in 1932. This was accompanied by persecution of the Jews.
180 Jews in Baghdad were killed and wounded in a pogrom during the revolt of Rashid Ali in 1941.
The 1941 Iraqi coup d'état also called the Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani coup or the Golden Square coup, was a nationalist and pro-Nazi Coup d'état in Iraq on 1 April 1941 that overthrew the pro-British regime of Regent 'Abd al-Ilah and his Prime Minister Nuri al-Said and installed Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister.
On 27 January 1969, Iraqi authorities hanged 14 alleged spies (nine Jews, three Muslims and two Christians) for aiding Israel in a public execution in Baghdad. Baghdad Radio invited citizens to Liberation Square on January 27 to "come and enjoy the feast", being brought in on buses. 500,000 people reportedly attended the hangings, and danced and celebrated before the corpses of the convicted spies.
9 of the fourteen hanged were Jews; the remaining 3 Jews of the initial 12 arrested were executed on 26 August 1969.
Iraq had the largest Jewish population in the Middle East, but their population dwindled, after virtually all of them migrated to Israel between 1949 and 1952. Here They are living in temporary tents in Israel.
When Israel announced their emergence as a nation on May 14, 1948, Iraqi troops participated in the attack on Israel on the central front. Iraq has never signed an armistice agreement with Israel. Most then left for Israel and their property was confiscated. Israel welcomed in 123,500 Iraqi Jews since 1948. Those Jews that had to remain in Iraq then had more severe restrictions put on them, especially after the 6 Day War when the treatment of Iraqi Jews led to international protests. There was one synagogue still operating by 1991 for the remaining 199 Jews.
From 1949 to 1951, 104,000 Jews were evacuated from Iraq in Operations Ezra and Nehemia (named after the Jewish leaders who took their people back to Jerusalem from exile in Babylonia beginning in 597 B.C.E.); another 20,000 were smuggled out through Iran.
Operation Ezra and Nehemia was when Israel flew 120,000 Jews
out of Iraq to Israel under the help of the Jewish Agency and the
Israeli government. The project started in May 1950 and ended
in October 1951. At first, the Iraqi authorities didn't permit
direct Baghdad-Lydda fights, compelling the immigrants to fly to
Cyprus where they transferred to Israel-bound aircraft.
80% of the Iraqi immigrants were dispersed among
Maabarot (transit camps) temporary villages,10% were absorbed
immediately in agricultural settlements and 10% were welfare
cases. They number 450,000 in Israel today.
From 1950 to 1952 Iraq saw a great exodus of roughly 120,000 - 130,000 of its Jewish population under the Israel-led "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah".
The results of these scientific studies lead to the startling realization that Turks, Iranians, Kurds, Iraqis, Jordanians, Lebanese are more closely related genetically to Assyrians than they are to other members of their own respective language families in Asia. These seven groups (and Jews) are genetically close.
However, Jews are found to be the closest to the Kurds more than any other group.
Today Israelis are collecting arrowheads. The study identified a type of three-bladed arrowhead associated with the Babylonians, especially during the military campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar II. This arrowhead has been found at sites destroyed by Babylonians in Assyria and Syria.
Today Israelis are collecting arrowheads. The study identified a type of three-bladed arrowhead associated with the Babylonians, especially during the military campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar II. This arrowhead has been found at sites destroyed by Babylonians in Assyria and Syria.
The three-bladed head was likely used by Scythian mercenaries fighting for the Babylonians’ service. The Babylonians themselves used it during their military campaign that destroyed the Kingdom Judah and its main cities, most importantly – Jerusalem.
The team suspects that the intensive use of this arrowhead helped the Babylonians conquer their enemies, including the Jews of Judea. These arrowheads were found in excavations at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel in Jerusalem and are evidence of Babylonian presence.
http://www.atour.com/health/docs/20000720a.html DNA of Assyrians
https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1471-2148-11-288 Assyrian history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Semitic-speaking_peoples
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02aNfrpkd9e89rtHUZcoyWRZBWDcg:1598562532773&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=pictures+of+operation+Ezra+and+Nehemiah,+pictures&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjj5qq_pbzrAhWpFjQIHdnBDn0Q7Al6BAgKEBk&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=uQMoFSnOwYJ4WM you tube
Facts About Israel; Division of Information, ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Jews_in_Israel
https://unitedwithisrael.org/mercenaries-arrowheads-reveal-holy-land-invasion-during-1st-temple-era-say-israeli-researchers/ from Victor Sharpe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Semitic-speaking_peoples
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02aNfrpkd9e89rtHUZcoyWRZBWDcg:1598562532773&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=pictures+of+operation+Ezra+and+Nehemiah,+pictures&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjj5qq_pbzrAhWpFjQIHdnBDn0Q7Al6BAgKEBk&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=uQMoFSnOwYJ4WM you tube
Facts About Israel; Division of Information, ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Jews_in_Israel
https://unitedwithisrael.org/mercenaries-arrowheads-reveal-holy-land-invasion-during-1st-temple-era-say-israeli-researchers/ from Victor Sharpe
Labels: hangings, Iraq, Iraq coiup d'etat, Mesopotamia, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, Pogrom, Semitic
