The Jewish Exodus from Iraq, 1948-1951 by Moshe Gat

Author:Moshe Gat [Gat, Moshe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Middle East, General, Social Science, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781135246617
Google: 6BT56vCjFMQC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-07-04T15:56:29+00:00

7

Iraq, Israel and the Jewish Emigration Question

1. Between the hammer and the anvil

During the first days of the airlift, Near East Air Transport adhered to the terms of the contract it had signed with the Iraqi authorities. The frequency of the flights kept pace with the rate of denaturalization of the Jews. The only difficulties which Near East encountered were the repeated attempts of British airlines to gain a share in the transportation deal. The latter were not yet reconciled to the monopoly granted to the ‘American’ company. Nuri as-Said's son, Sabah, who headed the Civil Aviation Administration and was director-general of the national airline, Iraqi Airways, supported their stand. He considered the agreement with Near East to be a conspiracy in which the Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior were taking part. In his opinion, the licensing of the American company should have been made conditional on his own airline having some role in organizing the flights. He therefore tried to break the monopoly by bringing in one or more other companies. Sabah wanted a British company to be involved in the operation, in other words, any British company willing to pay a fee to Iraqi Airways.1 The Prime Minister, Tawfiq as-Suwaydi, and the Minister of the Interior, Salih Jabr, were aware that it would not be easy to be rid of him. If they did not placate him, his father might intervene. The only way out was to bribe Sabah.2 According to the contract signed between Iraqi Airways and Near East, the latter was to carry out immediately the ground maintenance of aircraft and to deal with passengers. In return, Near East would pay 30 dinars per aircraft.3 Sabah, however, was not content with this arrangement. At his behest, the British companies, backed by their embassy in Baghdad, continued to pressure the Iraqi government to grant them a share in the operation.4

At that time, however, there was no need for partnership with other companies. On the contrary, Near East was keeping to the schedule, and from the beginning of June 1950 onwards, there was a shortage of passengers, since few Jews managed to complete the procedures required for emigration, due to the unwieldy and extremely complicated Iraqi bureaucracy. Every Jew who expressed his desire to leave Iraq was required to appear before five separate government departments, to receive documents confirming that he did not owe income tax, property tax or school fees and was not in debt to Iraqi nationals. After obtaining these documents, he was despatched to a police inspector at one of the synagogues in Baghdad which served as centres for registration. The latter checked papers and certified the identity of the prospective immigrant, who was then passed on to a more senior police officer, who did exactly the same, and whose signature was also required. After this examination, the prospective immigrant moved on to the Passport Department, where he underwent a similar procedure with two officials of corresponding rank. After obtaining the four signatures,

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