Baghdad's Last Remaining Jews May be Forced to Leave, Thanks to Wikileaks

Baghdad’s Last Remaining Jews May be Forced to Leave, Thanks to Wikileaks

Middle East • October 2011 • Views: 1,766

(JTA) — The nine Jews remaining in Baghdad must leave because their names appeared in a WikiLeaks cable, an Anglican priest in the Iraqi capital said.

The priest said he is working with the U.S. Embassy to get the Jews to emigrate, the McClatchy news service reported. The embassy told the news service that it would work to protect the named individuals and that the United States would help to relocate them.

“Protecting individuals whose safety is at risk because of the release of the purported cables remains a priority,” the embassy said in a statement.. “We are working actively to ensure that they remain safe.”

The last remaining synagogue in Iraq has closed due to the dwindling numbers of Jews.

The names were made public after the publication of a password that opened the encrypted versions of the cables available on the WikiLeaks website.

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37 comments

What, me worry? Mon, Oct 10, 2011 9:32:22am

I thought there was only one? There was a CNN article last year (year before?) about just the one guy. His family was already in Israel but he refused to leave.

Doing my best Amityville Horror impersonation...

G E T ** O U T ! ! !

EiMitch Mon, Oct 10, 2011 9:47:35am

Thats right, Wikileaks. Secrecy itself is the enemy, uh-huh.

Ugh! These jack-holes oppose the war, and suddenly seemingly everyone left of center praises them as heroes. As for collateral damage, well thats someone else's fault, somehow. Wikileaks gets a free pass, because they're special.

The enemy of my enemy... I effing hate that cliche. It should only ever apply to matters of immediate survival. Because when its applied to politics, it empowers whacks, wingnuts, and garden variety a-holes.

CuriousLurker Mon, Oct 10, 2011 10:04:16am

Sad. :-(

re: #1 marjoriemoon

I thought there was only one? There was a CNN article last year (year before?) about just the one guy. His family was already in Israel but he refused to leave.

I remember him. That was Afghanistan.

laZardo Mon, Oct 10, 2011 10:29:41am

re: #2 EiMitch

Thats right, Wikileaks. Secrecy itself is the enemy, uh-huh.

Ugh! These jack-holes oppose the war, and suddenly seemingly everyone left of center praises them as heroes. As for collateral damage, well thats someone else's fault, somehow.

Considering that the United States' wars of aggression resulted in the spread of Islamism across the Middle East, then no. I don't see any cliché or hypocrisy about it.

That's not saying any possible harm that might be inflicted on these people isn't regrettable (just in case anyone was about to pull that straw man).

philosophus invidius Mon, Oct 10, 2011 11:56:52am

re: #4 laZardo

Considering that the United States' wars of aggression resulted in the spread of Islamism across the Middle East, then no. I don't see any cliché or hypocrisy about it.

That seems to me a non sequitur.

Bob Levin Mon, Oct 10, 2011 1:18:31pm

re: #4 laZardo

I would probably phrase it, that the US attempts to stop the spread did not work. But it's been there for a while, probably before there was even a US.

SanFranciscoZionist Mon, Oct 10, 2011 1:31:36pm

Was Afghanistan the situation where the last two Jews left were two old guys who couldn't stand each other?

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 1:36:04pm

re: #7 SanFranciscoZionist

is 'the last jew leaving' a common meme?

At least a few totally different examples seem to have come up in this thread... along with some Urband-legendy variations (ie the 1 vs 9 vs 2 who hate each other).

What, me worry? Mon, Oct 10, 2011 1:50:51pm

re: #3 CuriousLurker

Sad. :-(

I remember him. That was Afghanistan.

Oopsie. Yes, my dear, you are most correct. Still. They should leave anyway. Wikileaks or not. I mean, come one. 9 people?

What, me worry? Mon, Oct 10, 2011 1:57:25pm

re: #8 windsagio

is 'the last jew leaving' a common meme?

At least a few totally different examples seem to have come up in this thread... along with some Urband-legendy variations (ie the 1 vs 9 vs 2 who hate each other).

Hard to keep up with the two countries, but CL got the article there.

You can have a small Jewish community and still be a community. Nine people does not a community make. There's nothing left for them Jewishly there.

When Iraq was Babylonia, some 2000 years ago, it was the country where the holiest of our men lived and wrote the Talmud. Although exiled there when the Temple was destroyed, we were never meant to live there forever.

This is a chance for them to get out which I don't think is sad at all. I think it's great actually.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:02:48pm

re: #10 marjoriemoon

There's 2 things going on here.

The real story of 'there are Jewish people getting chased out of Baghdad because of wikileaks'. And the... questionable addition that they're 'the last Jews in the city'.

And again, what strikes me is the identical idea has obviously been applied to other places.

Edit: And seriously, its never great for people to lose their homes, no matter who they are.

sliv_the_eli Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:06:15pm

re: #8 windsagio

is 'the last jew leaving' a common meme?

At least a few totally different examples seem to have come up in this thread... along with some Urband-legendy variations (ie the 1 vs 9 vs 2 who hate each other).

Not a common meme, but a common occurrence throughout history and, in since 1948, in the Arab and Muslim world in particular. Of course, since those Jewish refugees do not have a UN agency devoted to perpetuating their grievances most people are utterly unaware of the existence or scope of the matter.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:08:57pm

re: #12 sliv_the_eli

well that doesn't go against my whole point.

"Jews being chased out of Arab (or European for that matter) territory" is hardly new or uncommon in the world... and somebody getting chased out of their homes because of the big leak is certainly an interesting story.

"The last Jew was chased out" just screams urban legend to me. I mean how do you even know? Is there a universal Jew registry somewhere?

sliv_the_eli Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:10:06pm

re: #11 windsagio

Because, as we all know, Jewish life is actually alive and well and thriving in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world, right?

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:16:01pm

re: #14 sliv_the_eli

Well considering I directly said there's a real story in the way Jews are being chased out of these countries, that's not really my position. The mythical overlay on the whole thing is just interesting to me.

What, me worry? Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:36:44pm

re: #15 windsagio

Well considering I directly said there's a real story in the way Jews are being chased out of these countries, that's not really my position. The mythical overlay on the whole thing is just interesting to me.

You really have a history yourself of not educating yourself with historical fact even when presented to you. You have an agenda and you're sticking with it, come hell or high water.

I greatly apologize for mixing up the two countries in my first post. I should have done the 3 minute check for the story on the last Jew in Afghanistan, but if you read what CL posted, you'll see it there. Expelling Jews from countries, Arab and European both, is nothing new, but I see it's too "impossible" for you to accept. Really...

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:41:10pm

re: #16 marjoriemoon

why is the last Jew bit so important?

That's the thing that bugs me. There's a real story and a real tragedy there, but you can't let go of the weird minutia.

And dammit, I've said that expulsion is the real problem in all but one of my posts in this thread! It doesn't matter if it's the 'last one', it matters that people are losing their homes and livelihood.

Do you even read?

CuriousLurker Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:46:17pm

re: #9 marjoriemoon

Oopsie. Yes, my dear, you are most correct. Still. They should leave anyway. Wikileaks or not. I mean, come one. 9 people?

I can kinda understand them wanting to stay, especially if they're older folks. Maybe they feel it's their home and they just don't want to leave no matter how bad things get. They'd have to leave everything & everyone that's familiar, leave all their childhood & family memories, start all over again in a new place...maybe they just don't feel like it's worth it.

Anyway, may God protect them for as long as they choose to stay.

CuriousLurker Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:48:08pm

re: #7 SanFranciscoZionist

Was Afghanistan the situation where the last two Jews left were two old guys who couldn't stand each other?

Yep, when his nemesis died, he became the last one.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 2:50:09pm

of course MM thinks people losing their homes is good, if it fits her religious agenda.

This is a chance for them to get out which I don't think is sad at all. I think it's great actually.

sliv_the_eli Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:07:28pm

re: #15 windsagio

The only myth is the one you are propagating, that there is a myth.

It is utterly irrelevant whether the actual number of Jews left in Baghdad is 9, or 2 or 500. The facts are that the actual number is pitifully small, that what was once a thriving community which traced its history back for millennia no longer exists in any practical sense and that the destruction of that community was a direct result of the Iraqi government's response to the birth of the State of Israel in 1948 (and had nothing whatsoever to do with the capture of Gaza, Judea and Samari in 1967).

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:11:18pm

re: #21 sliv_the_eli

... then why do people keep insisting 'the last Jew' is leaving?

We're in total agreement about the actual problem. The only question is the weird specific usage that folks apparently find important.

Vicious Babushka Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:24:47pm

re: #15 windsagio

Well considering I directly said there's a real story in the way Jews are being chased out of these countries, that's not really my position. The mythical overlay on the whole thing is just interesting to me.

What is your point? Pick all that apply:

1. There are no Jews in Iraq.
2. There were some Jews in Iraq but they got kicked out in 1948 so it's ancient history.
3. There are a few old Jews left in Iraq but nobody is kicking them out.
4. I'm windsagio and I like to stir crap up on threads I haven't read because I am an immature little putz.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:30:08pm

re: #23 Alouette

Do you believe that there are no Jews left in Iraq?

I can't tell if this is 'wow I've fallen onto a creepy meme' or 'you guys just can't stand anybody remotely disagreeing with you about Jewish issues, even if they actually agree'.

sliv_the_eli Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:30:22pm

re: #22 windsagio

Because for those who have a sense of history, the potential departure of the last remaining Jews in Baghdad -- presumably because they are under renewed threat -- after a millenia-long and culturally-rich history is a matter of significance and should be a matter of great sadness.

Because for those who will be happy to see the world, or at least their corner of it, rendered judenrein, the departure or death of the last remaining Jew in Baghdad will be yet another source of perverse pride.

And, again, whether it is the last 9 Jews or 9 of the last 20, the significance is the same. Quibbling over the precise number is utterly irrelevant to the reality and suggests an entirely different agenda than the search for objective fact, historical truth or honest discourse.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:34:29pm

re: #25 sliv_the_eli

and yet the only person here who's said they're happy is a Jewish religious conservative.

~~~

But seriously, your post makes sense. The loss of a community is tragic.

I didn't even expect it to be a whole thing, though. The thing that caught my interest wasn't the story itself, but the theme that developed in the comments. I have a deep abiding interest in folklore and urban legends, and the various versions of the story/locations/unlikelyness (the LAST?) of the phrasing caught my interest as being similar.

I'm thinking that's the problem, its a subject too near and dear to people (and rightly) to go off into the aside of anthropological discourse.

Vicious Babushka Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:35:59pm

re: #24 windsagio

Do you believe that there are no Jews left in Iraq?

Of course I don't believe that. Do you?

I can't tell if this is 'wow I've fallen onto a creepy meme' or 'you guys just can't stand anybody remotely disagreeing with you about Jewish issues, even if they actually agree'.

You don't even know enough to "disagree," you have no facts to present, you're just being an annoying juvenile.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:38:50pm

re: #27 Alouette

Well thank you for agreeing with me that it's a figure of speech (or maybe a meme) anyways :p

Vicious Babushka Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:48:43pm

Here is the Wikileaks cable.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 3:56:48pm

So you actually believe there's a master list of Jews in Baghdad?

Its not like urban legends don't get into news stories sometimes.

And for the record, to repeat AGAIN, nobody's denying the community has been effectively destroyed (although in fairness I don't know either way), and nobody's saying its a good thing either (well almost nobody).

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 4:03:38pm

stupid edit window, so yeah its been pretty destroyed. The 'last one' thing still reads as folklore to me tho, especially given the various versions/locations.

Vicious Babushka Mon, Oct 10, 2011 4:21:46pm

re: #31 windsagio

stupid edit window, so yeah its been pretty destroyed. The 'last one' thing still reads as folklore to me tho, especially given the various versions/locations.

No, it's because there are so many communities that have been destroyed and only a tiny handful remain. It's not a legend, it has happened in many, many places.

I don't know why you would claim it's a "legend" (something that is fictitious). What are you claiming is fictitious?

Vicious Babushka Mon, Oct 10, 2011 4:24:37pm

Is this also a legend?

This too?

Oh wait, this is not a legend.

windsagio Mon, Oct 10, 2011 5:20:12pm

re: #33 Alouette

read your own links.

1) "Maybe"
2) "25000 are staying" (in fact its the exact opposite of your point)
3) "a few thousand while tragic is not the LAST JEW LEAVING"

so, of your 3 handpicked, presumably carefully picked examples 1 might be applicable (at least as far dying communities go) and 2 are the exact opposite if what you're saying, including the holocaust one.

Anyways, the whole thing isn't really significant to the issue at hand (persecution of Jews, and specific ones being singled out because of the big leak). What it IS is interesting. I'd react the same way if somebody were posting a 'razorblades in halloween candy' story.

~~~
re: #32 Alouette

I'm claiming that the 'last jew leaving XXX' thing has the characteristics of an Urban Legend.

To quote wiki on the subject,

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories usually believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.

the matching aspects of the thing to that definition are what drew my interest.

a) variation over time (especially the cute 'last 2 are dire enemies' thing)
b) carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.
c) in circulation also applies, but when DOESN'T it?

a) is the big one though, and the interesting bit. I know Jewish communities have been wiped out, that's not even in question (its sadly not that uncommon a thing in our modern world of ethnic cleansing, regardless of the victims)

What, me worry? Tue, Oct 11, 2011 1:49:38pm

re: #25 sliv_the_eli

Because for those who have a sense of history, the potential departure of the last remaining Jews in Baghdad -- presumably because they are under renewed threat -- after a millenia-long and culturally-rich history is a matter of significance and should be a matter of great sadness.

Because for those who will be happy to see the world, or at least their corner of it, rendered judenrein, the departure or death of the last remaining Jew in Baghdad will be yet another source of perverse pride.

And, again, whether it is the last 9 Jews or 9 of the last 20, the significance is the same. Quibbling over the precise number is utterly irrelevant to the reality and suggests an entirely different agenda than the search for objective fact, historical truth or honest discourse.

My online time has dropped considerably and I feel bad I wasn't able to get back to this thread, so if anyone is still reading, I wanted to respond.

I am sympathetic to the point you and CL make about being born, raised in a place and being forced to leave it. Especially Iraq where Jews had such a long (the longest) history outside of Israel. But as a highly empathic person, I don't feel empathy here.

But Windsagio painting me as a heartless "Jewish conservative" (interesting because I am NOT conservative) is shocking and rather insulting. Of course only a Jew who is really too Jewy would have these ideas right?

And I'm not addressing the idea that Jews can't possibly know their own numbers or those pesky Jewish myths. Naw, not going there.

Dorothy was dead wrong when she said "There's no place like home." It's a bunch of bullshit. Instead, I proscribe to the idea that "Home is where you make it" or "Home is where the Heart is."

I lived in 6 different states until the time I was 17 when we landed in Miami. It is my home, where I lived the longest and where I most enjoy living. But who knows what tomorrow will bring.

My family was kicked out of Europe, their homes burned. Their parents, brothers, sisters, cousins taken to death camps, shot and/or beaten. Some we found, some we never found. My grandmother was a bitter and sad woman. She never got over it. It was like a curse on her. My mother said she cried all the time. My grandfather loved being an American and cursed Poland and the Poles. He had no allegiance to his birth country.

I have very little nostalgia in my blood. My family flew on the seat of their pants. So when I say, get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan, I mean it. It's more than we don't belong there. We're not welcome there and who wants to stay where you're not welcomed anyway.

windsagio Tue, Oct 11, 2011 1:58:42pm

re: #35 marjoriemoon

You are the one who said that it was better for them to leave because they didn't belong there.

Can you imagine an arab saying that, or a german?

"Yeah we kicked them out of Warsaw, but it's all for the best, they didn't belong there!"

Their feelings don't matter to you because of a religious point. It's evil.

windsagio Tue, Oct 11, 2011 2:00:08pm

Oh also, don't care what you call yourself, you're clearly on the conservative side of your religion. If it was unclear, that was the sense I meant it in.

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