Zionism in an Arab Country

Jews in Iraq in the 1940s

Esther Meir-Glitzenstein

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781135768614
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

Zionism in an Arab Country explores the relations between the Zionist establishment in Israel, and the Jewish community in Iraq. This relationship is centred 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.
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.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgements
• List of Illustrations
• List of Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction: The Evolution of the Iraqi Jewish Community in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
• Part I: Zionism in Iraq, 1941–1949
• Part II: Preparing to Leave Iraq
• Conclusion
• Bibliography