How Few Remain

Baghdad used to be home to a large Jewish community that mostly emigrated to Israel in the late 1940s and early 1950s after the climate for Jews in Arab countries turned frigid. But a small number remained through the decades, and were able to keep at least one synagogue open until Meir Tweg "was closed in 2003, after it became too dangerous to gather openly." Now there's just a handful left, profiled by The New York Times's Stephen Farrell.

Farrell doesn't make a big deal about it, but the upshot of the factoid about the synagogue seems to be that the U.S. invasion actually turned Iraq into a less hospital place for Jews than was Saddam Hussein's rabidly anti-Zionist rapacious dictatorship.

Comments

Hospitable, you douche, although, yes, literally there probably are fewer hospitals.

Posted by El Cid | June 1, 2008 5:19 PM

Christians, too, have suffered under the new regime. Here's another piece by Farrell. This one describes the shooting of a priest and includes a quote from a guy who says that Christians were safer under Saddam.

http://tinyurl.com/6qamfl

Posted by THS | June 1, 2008 5:26 PM

There were quite a few evangelical Christian pastors who supported Bush, and most of those openly supported the Bush war on Iraq. Some just remained silent and did not speak out on the sin of a war of choice.

At this point in time, they all have a moral imperative to apologize to their congregations, and admit the war was a huge mistake that they should have opposed on moral grounds.

Those that do not have no moral authority.

Posted by cm | June 1, 2008 6:12 PM

Just for completeness' sake, Muslims were also safer under Saddam.

Posted by lfv | June 1, 2008 6:15 PM

If you believe the Hagee scenario, this was deliberate.

Posted by gregor | June 1, 2008 6:29 PM

cm writes: "At this point in time, they all have a moral imperative to apologize to their congregations, and admit the war was a huge mistake that they should have opposed on moral grounds.

Those that do not have no moral authority."

No one who still supports Dumbya & the Bushpigs has any moral authority, or any claim to be called a moral person. If you're a cheerleader for war criminals, you're scum. Period.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | June 1, 2008 6:50 PM

I find the weird relationship between Israel, Iran, and Iran's relatively substantial Jewish community pretty interesting.

Iran tries to act as if it's criticism of Israel is purely against Zionism, with no traces of anti-Semitism; Israel tries to make the case that it is pure anti-Semitism and anti-Israel are the same and tries to downplay the very existence of the Persian Jewish community. They are stuck in the middle of it all like a kid during a nasty divorce, neither nation caring for the community except for its symbolic value.

Posted by Skraeling | June 1, 2008 6:51 PM

There is still denial - even among Bush critics - as to how bad the Iraq war was for so many.

Recall '06 and Israel's conflict with Hezbollah - There was much anger and puzzlement among Bush allies and even many Dems that the Iraqi leadership often seemed sympathetic to Hezb.

As if it were not inevitable that the Iranian incarnated Dawa party leadesrhip to act predictably.

Christian communities have been set upon in an equally predictable fashion.

Does McCain know this? It's not clear.

Posted by Comment | June 1, 2008 6:58 PM

Of course, to the Trevors and the Don Williams of the world, the 1/2 million Iraqi Jews who left Iraq after 1948 don't count, only the Palestinians who left what became Israel after 1948 count.

Posted by SLC | June 1, 2008 7:22 PM

Long b/f Hussein, Israel set off terrorist bombs to "encourage" Iraqi Jews to emigrate. They did the same in Egypt.

Posted by Dick Fitzgerald | June 1, 2008 7:33 PM

Don't forget the massive exodus of Christians from Iraq as well. Isn't it something like half of the Chaldeans and Assyrians are in exile? The head of the Assyrian Church has been forced to move to Chicago.

Posted by Hector | June 1, 2008 7:59 PM

@ Dick Fitzgerald -
I'd love if you could source that claim, or at least give us an inkling of where you found this info.

@ Matt -
Matt, not to be a jerk, a la El Cid, but you really need to spell check your posts more carefully. After all, you're not some lowly voice in the wilderness, you're MATTHEW YGLESIAS.

Posted by Stefan | June 1, 2008 8:01 PM

I meant "you douche" in the most amicable, jocular manner of joking between friends, as men do, hard working white men and their jokes, people who are never bitter and are in the South and the Appalachians, real Americans, rural Americans, real, real, rural Americans.

Posted by El Cid | June 1, 2008 8:07 PM

Just for completeness' sake, Muslims were also safer under Saddam.

Let us not forget Yazidi devil worshipers. Also less safe than they were ten years ago.

Posted by joe from Lowell | June 1, 2008 8:29 PM

It's almost as if you lot of losers think that Iraq has become worse than it was under Saddam Hussein.

Just because you are right, that's no reason to say it.

Posted by Not as stupid as Will Allen | June 1, 2008 8:51 PM

Don't forget the Mandaeans, the last of the surviving Dualistic religions, which worships St. John the Baptist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandaeism

Over 90% of the Mandaeans have fled Iraq since 2003.

Posted by Hector | June 1, 2008 8:54 PM

And still Travis Childers said nothing.

Posted by El Cid | June 1, 2008 9:34 PM

this is the divine will of god

Posted by Joe Liebertwat | June 1, 2008 9:59 PM

I must say, I was blown away and utterly convinced by Matthew Yglesias's and everyone else here's fascinating ideas regarding what to do about this negative data point they have constructively cited.

Posted by Sonic Charmer | June 1, 2008 10:29 PM

Stefan wrote: "@ Dick Fitzgerald -
I'd love if you could source that claim, or at least give us an inkling of where you found this info."

I'm not Dick Fitzgerald, but see here:

http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/occupation/ameu_iraqjews.html

The Egypt reference may refer to the false flag terror attacks of the Lavon Affair, although those weren't targeted at Jews:

http://www.mideastweb.org/lavon.htm

Posted by Jack | June 1, 2008 10:43 PM

I don't understand. Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. Why are the minorities suffering? Are they not accepting their dhimmitude status? Perhaps if the Iraqi government implemented a formal Jizya program they wouldn't be in such bad shape.

There were 120K Jews in Iraq in 1936. They, and Jews all over the Muslim world suffered a "Nakba" in 1948. I believe the number of Palestinians displaced in 1948 is equaled or exceeded by the number of Jews displaced from Muslim countries in the same time frame.

Anyone that says that Muslims were better off under Saddam has lost their damn mind! Between internal repressions, wars and UN sanctions, many more Muslims died under Saddam then have been killed since. Keep in mind that the bulk of Muslims killed since 2003 have been killed by their fellow "believers". Some people think that the Clintons killed more Iraqis with UN enforced sanctions than Bush has killed.

Posted by danceswithgoats | June 1, 2008 10:56 PM

Jack, maybe you should enlighten the masses about the Lavon Affair. Many of the TV baby and Playstation crowd do not even know about the USS Liberty and the murder of over 30 Americans by Israel. The Lavon Affair would blow their minds b/c Americans have been force fed pro-Israel garbage for years.

Posted by del | June 1, 2008 11:02 PM

Does McCain know this? It's not clear.

I didn't read the rest of this comment closely, but I'm willing to bet the answer is "no."

Posted by scythia | June 1, 2008 11:29 PM

Some people think that danceswithgoats is making stuff up.

Posted by danceswithgoatse | June 2, 2008 1:39 AM

Some people think that danceswithgoats is making stuff up.

Posted by danceswithgoatse | June 2, 2008 1:39 AM

Sonic Charmer, I must say that when viewing the bed and discovering its state there really isn't any option that will cause it to be unshit.

You assholes created a disaster in Iraq. There really is little that can be done to fix it. No amount of glue ever restores an antique vase that has been dropped from the top of the Sears Tower. So too is Iraq after such charming fellows as yourself have had at it.

But I do thank you for your incredibly constructive suggestion as to what to do about it.

Posted by Not as stupid as Will Allen | June 2, 2008 1:40 AM

Oh, and - spendstimeblowinggoats? You aren't entitled to simply make shit up. The violent death rate in Iraq skyrocketed with Bush's brutal assault on the people of Iraq. The ensuing chaos created by Bush's unprovoked slaughter of the Iraqi people has created a far worse situation for all Iraqis than under Saddam Hussein. Anyone who suggests otherwise is lying because they still can't admit that they were wrong to support the murder of Iraq's people.

Posted by Not as stupid as Will Allen | June 2, 2008 1:47 AM

For his early and misplaced support for the Iraq debacle, Matt Yglesias should be happy to know that he will only have to serve one month in a penal battalion in Iraq.

Posted by Jah _ The Ruler | June 2, 2008 2:10 AM

"Farrell doesn't make a big deal about it, but the upshot of the factoid about the synagogue seems to be that the U.S. invasion actually turned Iraq into a less hospital place for Jews than was Saddam Hussein's rabidly anti-Zionist rapacious dictatorship."

Especially as Iraq's Jewish community goes back to the Exile: that community is older than one-third of the Old Testament.

Posted by Sock Puppet of the Great Satan | June 2, 2008 3:11 AM

I wonder if some of the Christian and Jewish Iraq war supporters are pleased to see "their people" (but not, of course, themselves) being persecuted. Many of them are generally the sort of people who jump at the shadow of any sign of antisemitism or "war on Christianity." Actually seeing Christians-other-than-themselves and Jews-other-than-themselves suffering genuine, bloody persecution in some distant land where they don't have any friends or relatives might hold some level of emotional satisfaction for them.

I'm not saying that it actually motivates these people -- that anyone actually thought "we should invade Iraq so that Iraq's Jews will be screwed over and we can enjoy seeing some bona fide antisemitism" -- but I still can't help but wonder if they like the effect even if they didn't cause it in pursuit of that particular effect.

Am I being too uncharitable in supposing that Christian and Jewish hawks have such depraved sensibilities? I think I might be, but it's still a suspicion that won't leave my head.

Posted by Julian Elson | June 2, 2008 3:12 AM

I wonder if some of the Christian and Jewish Iraq war supporters are pleased to see "their people" (but not, of course, themselves) being persecuted.

Frankly, I think that the Hageeite Christian Zionist crowd either don't consider Chaldeans and Assyrians to be real Christians, or don't even know they exist.

In general, the very concept of long-established Christian denominations in the Middle East seems to give American fundies a brainmelt. Rites in Aramaic or Syriac and practices that look like those of the scary Muslims? That can't be right. Where are their King James Bibles?

It's as if they're perplexed by the idea of Christianity still existing near its origin, rather than migrating root and branch to the megachurches. You'll find 'Bomb Syria' fundies who haven't made the connection between modern Damascus and the place mentioned in the bible.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | June 2, 2008 4:53 AM

"...the U.S. invasion actually turned Iraq into a less hospital (sic) place for Jews than was Saddam Hussein's rabidly anti-Zionist rapacious dictatorship."

As touched on by some others here, almost any word could be inserted where you've placed "Jews" and your sentence is still operative. The one notable exception obviously being U.S. scam artists and embezzlers.

Posted by steve duncan | June 2, 2008 7:37 AM

Frankly, I think that the Hageeite Christian Zionist crowd either don't consider Chaldeans and Assyrians to be real Christians, or don't even know they exist.

In general, the very concept of long-established Christian denominations in the Middle East seems to give American fundies a brainmelt. Rites in Aramaic or Syriac and practices that look like those of the scary Muslims? That can't be right. Where are their King James Bibles?

Bingo! The New Republic had a piece on this a few years ago. Evangelical missionaries followed US troops into Iraq. This made life even harder for Iraqi Christians. As one person pointed out, the Americans didn't consider the Chaldeans and Assyrians to be Christians in the first place so it didn't matter what the impact of their activities on these Iraqistanis was.

Posted by Roberto | June 2, 2008 7:49 AM

I wonder if the parallel to the title All That Remains by Walid Khalidi -- documenting Palestinian Arab life in Israel / Palestine as Israeli statehood began -- was intentional on Matt's part.

Posted by El Cid | June 2, 2008 7:54 AM

less HOSPITABLE. you make a lot of goofs like that.

Posted by marc you need proofreader | June 2, 2008 8:23 AM

It seems pretty clear that religious minorities like the Christians, Jews, Mandaeans, and Yezidis were a little better off under Saddam....and would probably have been even better off under a milder version of Baathism, something like the Assad regime. Of course, that's not really the most relevant question. The relevant question is whether they would be better off _now_ under the likely situation if the US military leaves. I really don't know the answer to that question. What is the likely fate of religious minorities under a potential Sadr regime, or under conditions of general civil war? And would that fate be terrible enough to justify our staying in Iraq to fight Sadr on the one hand, and the Sunni jihadists on the other?

The other option of course is to let the Jews, Christians, and Mandaeans emigrate en masse to the US or Europe, which is what many of them are already trying to do. (I'll pass on the devil-worshippers for the time being.) Ironically it's quite possible that an influx of Iraqi Christians could help revitalize Europe's churches, as the influx of African, Carribean and Asian immigrants is doing in England.

Posted by Hector | June 2, 2008 8:30 AM

(I'll pass on the devil-worshippers for the time being.)

Take a pass on repeating such a stupid slur first.

(For someone who adopts the persona of a Christian, you seem unperturbed that the Mandaeans regard Jesus as a false prophet. All your other propositions are nonsense, too.)

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | June 2, 2008 8:52 AM

Not as stupid as Will Allen - Pray tell, where did all those mass graves come from? Perhaps those people all died simultaneously from some sort of disease? Or was it mass murder committed by the Saddam regime? Perhaps you don't consider tyrants committing mass murder on their own people as part of the "violent death rate"?

Posted by danceswithgoats | June 2, 2008 9:23 AM

Hilarious. In the article, one of the last Jewish iraqis says:

“We take care about the people in the Jewish community only, not the half or part-Jewish. We don’t know about them after they left us.”

His freakin' community is down to less than 10 people, and he's still bigoted against Muggle-born half-bloods, cast-out because of the sin of being born to the wrong mother.

Posted by Ikram | June 2, 2008 10:01 AM

blowsgoats, where are the mass graves coming from now you dumb fuck?

Here's the problem you have - you imagine that I have said "Saddam Hussein was a wise and wonderful leader whose reign was a shining beacon to the world." That's because you are an idiot. What I have said is "George W. Bush managed the horrifying task of making Saddam Hussein's bloody rule look good by comparison."

Readers whose English comprehension exceeds yours will note the difference.

Give me a measure by which any of Iraq's people are better off under Bush's brutal occupation - per capita income? No. Electricity per hour? No. Medical care? No. Freedom from violence? No.

You and yours have made Iraq a living hell. Congratulations, you are worse than the brutal dictator they had before you started slaughtering them.

Posted by Not as stupid as Will Allen | June 2, 2008 10:08 AM

Frankly, I think that the Hageeite Christian Zionist crowd either don't consider Chaldeans and Assyrians to be real Christians, or don't even know they exist.

If you want an alternative way to produce a gallery of blank looks and / or a fresh round of sophistry from that crew, try mentioning Palestinian Christians.

Posted by mds | June 2, 2008 10:54 AM

All of you stupid irresponsible leftists seem to think that an awful murderous tyranny could be made worse for its surviving citizens by blowing the whole place apart into cellular warlordism. That is simply not true; it is impossible for a war to make a bad situation worse, simply impossible, and if you think so, you are a poopyhead.

Posted by El Cid | June 2, 2008 11:10 AM

Getting back to the original point about the loss of Jews in Iraq:

http://www.meforum.org/article/263

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_lands

http://www.americansephardifederation.org/sub/sources/jewish_refugees.asp

I think the ME was not very hospitable to Jews long before the US ever showed up.

El Cid - war is not the answer except for the US Civil War, WWII, etc. of course.

Posted by danceswithgoats | June 2, 2008 1:37 PM

Getting back to the original point about the loss of Jews in Iraq:

http://www.meforum.org/article/263

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_lands

http://www.americansephardifederation.org/sub/sources/jewish_refugees.asp

I think the ME was not very hospitable to Jews long before the US ever showed up.

El Cid - war is not the answer except for the US Civil War, WWII, etc. of course.

Posted by danceswithgoats | June 2, 2008 1:43 PM

If you want an alternative way to produce a gallery of blank looks and / or a fresh round of sophistry from that crew, try mentioning Palestinian Christians.

Oh, yes: especially when you mention that Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | June 2, 2008 2:22 PM

cm said about evangelical pastors: At this point in time, they all have a moral imperative to apologize to their congregations, and admit the war was a huge mistake that they should have opposed on moral grounds.

I did hear a Vineyard pastor (who did not support the war to begin with) give a very long speech saying, "How can it possibly be that it was the evangelical community that supported and even advocated for this war? Of all people we should be peacemakers, and should be the most reluctant to seek war. We have done a great disservice to the country by supporting this president."

Posted by anonevang | June 2, 2008 3:20 PM

The Golden Square movement; a near perfect copy of the Black Shirts with some Vichy thrown in; antizionist, the 1941 farhud of Baghdad, the further immigration in the late 40s and into the early 50s. The Baathist who copied the fascist economic plan from their European sojourns, and
among whose classic works of literature was Khairallah Tulfah; like "Jews, Kurds, and Pigs"
(a former follower of Rashid Ali's militia and Saddam's uncle) The Sunni Salafis, they just have issues with Israel, right Matthew.

Posted by narciso | June 2, 2008 9:45 PM

the upshot of the factoid about the synagogue seems to be that the U.S. invasion actually turned Iraq into a less hospital place for Jews than was Saddam Hussein's rabidly anti-Zionist rapacious dictatorship.

That's precisely the upshot you would take from it, but it's historically illiterate. To be fair Farrell's article encourages a hasty reader to make that interpretation, but in your case this appears to be anti-Bush snark. One is wrong, the other wrong-headed. Read The Assassin's Gate by George Packer, a liberal who manages to deplore the Bush Administration's assoholic adventure in Iraq and maintain the anti-totalitarianism one would expect in someone professing your politics. Packer makes it clear that Saddam's "anti-Zionism" -- nice euphemism from both you and Farrell -- so thoroughly poisoned younger generations of Iraqis that Iraqi Jews had basically become cryptids by the time of the invasion. The synagogue that closed in 2003 must have been an outlier.

Gate also illuminates the quote at the end of the Farrell's piece, in which the main interviewee's father laments that he "used to spend more time with Arabs than Jews". He, an octogenarian, is referring to comity with Iraqi Muslims of his generation, their children and their childrens' children. These are people who formed their opinions about Jews before the anti-Semitism of the Baathist regime corrupted the later generations.

Insofar as it's particular to them, the situation today for Jews in Iraq has only a little to do with the Gulf actions. Re-attacking Iraq has inflamed the Baathist die-hards and Islamist conspirazoids, but those processes were well under way during the inter-war years. It's true the chaos resulting from the stupidity and incompetence of the occupation has accelerated and amplified all kinds of violence. But to fold up your Times, rest it beside your latte, tisk and tick this off as one more "upshot" of Bush's war is just dilettante bullshit. It collapses the history of Iraqi anti-Semitism -- which replayed across the Arab and Muslim world -- and yokes it to a cheap, partisan point.

Posted by John-Paul Pagano | June 2, 2008 11:22 PM

Appreciate the link to Giladi and his anti-Zionist rant. The interesting thing I always find when you read his account is that he doesn't really say that when the Iraqi govt. was tearing his toenails out with pliers (and other Jews too) that this was possibly the real motivation for Iraqi Jews to leave - no it was the Israeli government of course. Dumb.

Posted by YbA | June 3, 2008 12:34 AM