In an overview of the new Iraqi press provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an independent, non-profit organization, a recurring theme is the alleged involvement of Jews in trade with and in Iraq, in particular in the oil industry.
Based on an article in the “Jewish daily Yedi'ot Aharonot”, which claimed that Israel, Egypt and Jordan have been negotiating collaboration in rebuilding Iraq and in the laying of two oil pipelines between Kirkuk and Haifa, an al-Yawm al-Akher newspaper editorial from July 14 warns, “we should never forget that we are Muslims.” The Iraqi editorial responds, “Behold little frogs! The decision to build pipelines across other countries is a matter of sovereignty, it is the prerogative of the sons of Iraq, and no one else's... the issue has nothing to do with cost (a billion dollars), but has to do with human values....”
The article goes on to praise a religious ruling issued by Ayatollah Kadhim al-Hairi, called “Fatwa against the Jews”, which condemns dealings with Jews. “Hosni [Mubarak], [King] Abdallah, and Netanyahu,” the article names, saying, “We don't blame the last one since he is a Jew, but we blame those who lost their Arab identity. Who are you who make declarations like the croaking of frogs and the cawing of ravens and make deals with the Jews?”
Similarly, the Iraqi daily al-Rassed demanded, in a July 17 editorial, that Arab politicians stake out a position “regarding the sale of our homes to Israel and regarding the occupation army accepting only Israeli fruit.”
As the newspaper explains: “The Iraqi society is focusing on the attempts of Jews to purchase real estate like hotels and residential properties in the capital after Iraq has become wide open by virtue of the liberation granted us by the occupational forces. The most recent news is the granting of a contract for the sum of $83 million to Israel to supply the allied forces currently in Iraq with food. The Zionist Minister of Agriculture declared that the contract ‘has saved Israeli agriculture from its problems.’” The Iraqi editorial specifically singles out “some Iraqis inside the country, the Kurds, and the Jordanians helping the Jews obtain these suspicious deals whose end results are unknown.” As for Jordan, “It is no secret that Iraqi oil is reaching Israel whether through a direct pipeline or through ‘honest’ Jordanian merchants who still raise the picture of Saddam Hussein and broadcast songs that talk about his heroism.”
Iraqi politicians and their parties, al-Rassed charges, “have maintained silence [regarding the sales to Jews and Israelis] because they were competing with each other feverishly to occupy the offices and bureaus of the previous regime and fill the streets and walls of Baghdad with slogans.”
Based on an article in the “Jewish daily Yedi'ot Aharonot”, which claimed that Israel, Egypt and Jordan have been negotiating collaboration in rebuilding Iraq and in the laying of two oil pipelines between Kirkuk and Haifa, an al-Yawm al-Akher newspaper editorial from July 14 warns, “we should never forget that we are Muslims.” The Iraqi editorial responds, “Behold little frogs! The decision to build pipelines across other countries is a matter of sovereignty, it is the prerogative of the sons of Iraq, and no one else's... the issue has nothing to do with cost (a billion dollars), but has to do with human values....”
The article goes on to praise a religious ruling issued by Ayatollah Kadhim al-Hairi, called “Fatwa against the Jews”, which condemns dealings with Jews. “Hosni [Mubarak], [King] Abdallah, and Netanyahu,” the article names, saying, “We don't blame the last one since he is a Jew, but we blame those who lost their Arab identity. Who are you who make declarations like the croaking of frogs and the cawing of ravens and make deals with the Jews?”
Similarly, the Iraqi daily al-Rassed demanded, in a July 17 editorial, that Arab politicians stake out a position “regarding the sale of our homes to Israel and regarding the occupation army accepting only Israeli fruit.”
As the newspaper explains: “The Iraqi society is focusing on the attempts of Jews to purchase real estate like hotels and residential properties in the capital after Iraq has become wide open by virtue of the liberation granted us by the occupational forces. The most recent news is the granting of a contract for the sum of $83 million to Israel to supply the allied forces currently in Iraq with food. The Zionist Minister of Agriculture declared that the contract ‘has saved Israeli agriculture from its problems.’” The Iraqi editorial specifically singles out “some Iraqis inside the country, the Kurds, and the Jordanians helping the Jews obtain these suspicious deals whose end results are unknown.” As for Jordan, “It is no secret that Iraqi oil is reaching Israel whether through a direct pipeline or through ‘honest’ Jordanian merchants who still raise the picture of Saddam Hussein and broadcast songs that talk about his heroism.”
Iraqi politicians and their parties, al-Rassed charges, “have maintained silence [regarding the sales to Jews and Israelis] because they were competing with each other feverishly to occupy the offices and bureaus of the previous regime and fill the streets and walls of Baghdad with slogans.”