Friday afternoon, shortly before the onset of the Sabbath, six of the last 34 Jews in Iraq made aliyah - immigration to Israel. Jewish Agency officials spent the last several weeks in Iraq, looking for Jews - and of the 34 they found, six agreed to come back with them to Israel. The flight was arranged by the Agency and HIAS, a Jewish-American humanitarian organization. A HIAS spokesman said that the plane was to have made a stop in Jordan, but this plan was canceled. Most of the six new olim - five elderly Jews from Baghdad and one from Batzra - have family in Israel.
Jews came to Iraq some 2.5 millennia ago after King Nevuchadnetzar sacked Jerusalem and sent the residents into captivity and exile. Sixty years ago, there were over 100,000 Jews in Iraq - but the final deterioration of their community began in 1941 when a murderous Arab/Nazi mob killed 179 Jews and destroyed much of their property. In 1948, Iraq's rulers reacted to the founding of Israel by officially persecution their Jews. In 1952, they were allowed to leave with their assets if they renounced their citizenship. By the end of that year, only about 6,000 Jews remained in Iraq; most of the others made aliyah, but an undetermined amount is unaccounted for. There are no children among the 34 Jews, and the last Jewish wedding in Baghdad was in 1978.
Among the youngest of those who stayed are two sisters in their 30's, Nidal and Kalida Saleh. They live around the corner from the last remaining synagogue, and told Cox News Service a few months ago that they had no desire to leave Iraq.
Reuters reported earlier this month on another Iraqi Jew named Tawfik Safer, 80, who said that Saddam Hussein "was good to us," and that he did not want to leave Iraq. Three months ago, Associated Press reported on a 37-year-old female dentist named Khalida Fuad Eliahu, who was "desperate to flee" - although was not anxious to go to Israel, which she considered too dangerous. Sasson Saleh, 90, said that the Iraqi Muslims "don't care for us" and that he reads the Talmud and knows it by heard. He did not discuss going to Israel.
Jews came to Iraq some 2.5 millennia ago after King Nevuchadnetzar sacked Jerusalem and sent the residents into captivity and exile. Sixty years ago, there were over 100,000 Jews in Iraq - but the final deterioration of their community began in 1941 when a murderous Arab/Nazi mob killed 179 Jews and destroyed much of their property. In 1948, Iraq's rulers reacted to the founding of Israel by officially persecution their Jews. In 1952, they were allowed to leave with their assets if they renounced their citizenship. By the end of that year, only about 6,000 Jews remained in Iraq; most of the others made aliyah, but an undetermined amount is unaccounted for. There are no children among the 34 Jews, and the last Jewish wedding in Baghdad was in 1978.
Among the youngest of those who stayed are two sisters in their 30's, Nidal and Kalida Saleh. They live around the corner from the last remaining synagogue, and told Cox News Service a few months ago that they had no desire to leave Iraq.
Reuters reported earlier this month on another Iraqi Jew named Tawfik Safer, 80, who said that Saddam Hussein "was good to us," and that he did not want to leave Iraq. Three months ago, Associated Press reported on a 37-year-old female dentist named Khalida Fuad Eliahu, who was "desperate to flee" - although was not anxious to go to Israel, which she considered too dangerous. Sasson Saleh, 90, said that the Iraqi Muslims "don't care for us" and that he reads the Talmud and knows it by heard. He did not discuss going to Israel.