Business
Iraq refuses to compensate Jews
Doron Peskin
Published: 04.05.09, 07:54
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
49 Talkbacks for this article
31. Let us ask the Iraqi Jews what happened
Cynic #2   (05.05.09)
If ou are interested in what happened in Iraq, check what Naiem Giladi has to say on this link http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/occupation/ameu_iraqjews.html
32. Iraqi Jews forced to leave. Harassed.
Liliane ,   Brighton, SX, UK   (05.05.09)
Iraqi Jews were persecuted, harassed, fired from their jobs and robbed. Of course they left out of choice. So did most Jews from Arab countries.
33. No compensation for Palestinians then
EgyptJewRefugee ,   Geneva, Switzerland   (05.05.09)
Simple. No compensation to the Palestinians if 1,000,000 Jews from Arab lands get nothing.
34. #23 Usual lies about Iraqi Arab Jews. We were robbed
IraqiJew ,   Milan, Italy   (05.05.09)
#23 I don't need another antisemite to lie that I and 130,000 Iraqi Jews left with our money and that we left "voluntarily." We left "penniless" because our lives became impossible.
35. Who put the present Iraqi government in power?
Dorothy Friend ,   Tel Aviv   (05.05.09)
Can't blame Saddam anymore!
36. #31
(05.05.09)
i am an iraqi jew whose parents left iraq by force because of constant persecution, firing from jobs, riots and hangings of jews by arabs in iraq and complete isolation in mellas and ghettos, complete ostracation and complete harassment by the iraqi police and mob. one never knew where the next attack would come from. synagogue was burned by mobs and police did nothing. it was a government sponsored total policy to torture the jewish community in iraq after the birth of israel. jews were forced to relinquish all their assets, their bank savings, their owned homes, their land, if they had any allowed under muslim law, their jewelry and finally, their passports at the airport where the passports were stamped "no future entry allowed", which meant that should we go to israel, they will never be allowed to return to iraq and claim their property...a forced expulsion, a forced cleansing of the jews of iraq and an organized policy by iraq goevernment to do this to the jews. it is not that the government all of a sudden decided to eliminate the jews in iraq. it was slowly at first after 1948; harrasment, riots, accusations of espionage for israel, closing of jewish schools, mob riots that killed many many jews and some synagogues burned and descecrated, jews fired from jobs...all in the name of revenge for a state that gave birth to the jews' national aspiration, the state of israel. life became unbearable. just unbearable. my parents were afraid from day to day what will happen. the community lived in fear and terror all the time. most never left their homes out of arab mob fear and the iraqi government did nothing to alleviate the suffering of my parents in iraq. you claim that life was so good, then why on earth will the birth of israel force hundreds of thousands of jews out of iraq into an uncertain future in a country that was them less than 5 years old? why leave all the riches for an uncertain future? why risk never coming back to get what you owned and renounce all your riches to exit a country that was is and will be "so good to you". i will tell you why this iraqi jew says what he says. when he and his family came to israel, the ashkenazi community treated the jews from arab land like garbage. they were discriminated against socially, academically and politically. the jewish universities had a quota on how much percentage of oriental jews could enter their schools. till today i have a friend who tells me that ashkenazi parents in israel do not favor intermarriage with sfaradic jews from arab land. it is a social truth that exists till today, although in very small amounts. these jews from arab lands have resented israel because of their treatment even though israel did in fact take them when they couldn't affrod to spare a penny. however, their treatment of the iraqi jews was not really very nice. some, like this man has suffered this mistreatment, and like others, grew to hate and resent israel for its treatment of the oriental jews, the sefaradim. the bitterness is still alive today in many of their hearts, even those living in israel now. i don't blame them and i believe they have a just cause to resent their past in israel. however, that doesn't mean that they were not made to leave iraq by that government. also notice who is in cohoots with this individual...illan pape, the most notorious liar and historical revisionist who has been taken to court for historical lies and untruths for many times. illan pape is a joke in israel and abroad amongst historians. he is basically another finkelstein and jundt. he found one disgruntled iraqi jew and all of a sudden, all the iraqi jews feel the same way???? sammi- levi abutboul beer sheva, israel
37. Wonder why Ynet gave #5 a distinction. Sick!
Jake   (05.05.09)
38. #34
harold ,   liverpool, usa   (05.05.09)
This a broken record "antisemite" I am 78 years old and I know what happened after the creation of Israel. The 130,000 + Iraqi Jews travelled by plane legally after dropping their Iraqi citizenship. I had hundreds of Jewish friends and my life was saved by a Jewish friends while I was drowning in the Tigris river. Here is some of the families I knew - Twaik, Nisan, Soffair, Aizer, Lawi and many other families. As I said I was living in a Jewish neighborhood and really I missed them when they immigrated to Israel. So please stop using that "antisemite" word when somebody talks the truth. I have more stories and can furnish them anytime requested.
39. #18
Said ,   Lond, UK   (05.05.09)
How far back in history are you willing to go? Obviously, since you support Israel, you conveniently start your historical account AFTER the Jews slaughtered thousands of innocent Canaanites in the world's first recorded ethnic cleansing. So, do we go back in time and proclaim that nobody, including the Jews, have a claim on the land since the original inhabitants were ethnically cleansed by the Jews? Oh wait, then we would be telling God to go shove his commandments where the sun don't shine, and that would upset the sensibilities of religious-minded nuts everywhere! If people want to discuss "the 3000 [sic] year old history of the Jews.." blah blah blah, why don't you start with the ethnic cleansing of the Canaanites?
40. #37 - Jake, He recommends his own TBs...
Joe ,   Ramat Gan   (05.05.09)
He recommends his own TBs, refreshes his cookies, then recommends them again. Although, it's morally wrong, I think we should employ the same methods to counter this cyber-jihad. Better yet, though, Ynet should just disable the recommend feature...
41. #40
(05.05.09)
jews killed cannanites? wherever did you go to university and who were your honest and fantastically equipped professors? habibi, i have a phd in this subject and in fact, know exactly what i am talking about. i am also lebanese muslim and know the kuran very well. i have studies both books extensively both in lebanon and in the usa. please furnish any doccumentation with appropriate footnotes as to your claim. in the whole history past and present, i have never heard a claim such as yours. never. please rerurn to school post haste. you need it badly. on second thought, don't even bother to respond because i will still remain speechless when you do in fact furnish some bogus material in some arabic language to justify your absurd claim. vivienne, beirut, lenbanon
42. Arabs can't have it both ways
Daniel ,   Canada   (05.05.09)
They can't demand that Israel compensate Palestinian Arabs when the Arab world refuses to recognize the loss that Jews incurred when many of them were forced to leave their entire livelihood behind to flea persecution. When Arab nations will pay Jews then we can talk about any compensation to the Palestinian Arabs. Until then, the Palestinian Arabs should be thankful we're supporting their basic needs.
43. Israel is responsible for anything Iraqi Jews left behind
Lars ,   oslo   (05.05.09)
The story is out and the entire world knows that Israeli agents deliberately terrorized Iraqi Jews with bombings in order to get them to move to Israel. Besides the fact that you bombed their nuclear power station and refuse to compensate them for that.
44. Said, 39, Archaeology indicates Jews were Canaanites
Historian ,   USA   (05.05.09)
themselves. The 'Apiru were a class of Canaanite society that most likely gained supreme political power in the region with the arrival of King David. Biblical Hebrew is the language the Ancient Canaanites spoke. The Pentateuch was most likely written about 500 years before the birth of Jesus as a composite document of Ancient Canaanite myths and Zoroastrian theology. The stories of the Exodus from Egypt, the 40 years in the desert, and the invasion of Canaan by Joshua are most likely hulls of fiction surrounding a small kernel of truth. The Jews are "baladi" and the Arabs came as invaders and stayed as occupiers. It's as simple as that, "my friend".
45. Lars @ 43; $100B is a ballance to be paid to Jews. After
leo ,   USA   (05.06.09)
all compensation claims on all sides are tallied.
46. #43
harold ,   liverpool, usa   (05.06.09)
I confirm your comment 100%because I was there. Several Iraqi Jews were trained in Israel to terrorize Iraqi Jews by bombing there coffee shops located at Abu Nouas street on the Tigris river because Iraqi Jews were not attracted to immigate to Israel. After the bombing they changed their mind and travelled by planes to Israel via Cyprus legally after dropping their Iraqi citizenship. Every Iraqi adult Jew signed an affidavit that they are leaving Iraqi voluntarily and have no right to claim any claim. I am sure these documents still exsist and that is the reason for denying compensations
47. As, a muslim from Southern Iraq...
Ali ,   London   (05.08.09)
I hope that one of our most ancient and beautiful communities will once again allow to thrive in Iraq. I hope the Iraqi govt. issues citizenship to the Jews that left Iraq before and their descendants so that they can hold dual nationalities if they wish (I understand Iraq and Israel are technically at war so that will make this difficult). Also I hope that once Iraq settles down and no more terrorism is there that the issue of compensation can be discussed as well - the Jews were central to Iraq - indeed Iraq's first finance minister - Sir Sassoon Eskell - was a jew and is regarded as the Father of Parliament. I remember how my grandmother tells me how she grew up with Jews in her village. They were sorely missed all because of the dictatorship that plagued Iraq for 35 years. Inshallah it will change and we will see this ancient community again in Iraq.
48. #45 to Jews; any Jews?
observer   (05.10.09)
49. #23 Stop Lying. If you persecute people leave
Iraqi Jewish Refugee ,   Montreal, Canada   (05.23.09)
#23. Stop lying and twisting. Jews were fired from our jobs. We all feared for our lives. Some Jews were killed. Of course any one in their sane mind would have fled.
Previous talkbacks
Back to article