Iraqi Jews: A History of Mass Exodus by Abbas Shiblak

The Jews of Iraq constituted one of the oldest and most deeply rooted Jewish communities in the world. But in the early 1950s most of them left for Israel, under circumstances that remain the subject of heated controversy.

Iraqi Jews: A History examines the role of this community, highlighting the critical years of the late 1940s -after the establishment of the state of Israel - when deep rifts began to appear Iraqi society. The sad sequence of events that finally led to the mass exodus of Jews in the 1950s was marked by dishonesty on all sides. An honest, impartial and well-documented account of a formerly well-integrated and vibrant community, Iraqi Jews: A History is a landmark in the political and social history of the Middle East.

"Shiblak's book is especially important. He treats with sympathy the last days of a prosperous, industrious and conscientious community."-Jewish Quarterly

"... excellently researched and referenced ... carefully demonstrates the strains which the creation of an Israeli state imposed on the Iraqi Jews."-Tribune

Year: 2005