Dr Nimrod Raphaeli, emeritus senior analyst with MEMRI, was a witness to the Farhud, the deadly anti-Jewish pogrom in Iraq of 1 and 2 June 1941. In this fascinating MEMRI report, he sketches out pen portraits of the main actors in the massacre. While the Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, is considered to have played a major part, the role of Younis Bahri, who broadcast virulent anti-Jewish radio propaganda to Arabs congregating in cafes, must not be underestimated: (with thanks: Lily)
Iraq's port city of Basra, where I was born and grew up, suffered less than Baghdad, but from the windows of our house I witnessed looters running through the streets carrying whatever they could grab from Jewish stores.
There was always the uncertainty of whether the mob of looters was going to turn into a mob of murderers.
Even though we were spared the fate of the Baghdadi Jews, the terror of our experience remains indelible in my mind.
The word farhud itself needs some explanation. It describes both an action and a cultural value.
According to Nabil Abdul-Amir Al-Rubayi, who wrote two important volumes on the history of Jews in Iraq, the word is uncommon in the Arabic language; rather, it is adopted from Bedouin dialect and refers to looting and plundering.
Quoting the well-known Iraqi sociologist Ali Al-Wardi, Al-Rubayi notes that the concept of farhud is part of Bedouin culture, in which looting and plundering are activities signaling "courage and daring."[1]
The events of the Farhud are well documented in numerous publications, and there is no need to dwell on them in detail in this report.
Instead, this report will focus on a number of individuals who played critical roles in the policies of the country which led to violence against a peaceful community and planted the seeds for the Farhud.
Wien, Peter, "Iraqi Arab Nationalism: Authoritarian, Totalitarian and Pro-Fascist Inclinations, 1932–1941," (United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2008), p. 57 [https://books.google.com/books?id=tsSklKwkGLwC&pg=PA57]
ReplyDelete'Grobba had purchased the daily il-Alem il Arabi [sic].. where he published, in instalments, an Arabic translation of Hitler's Mein Kampf. Indeed, the latter was Sab'awi's work.'
משה חננאל, "הירושלמים: מסע בספר הטלפון המנדטורי 1946", תל אביב: ארץ וטבע, 2007, עמ' 277-278.
ReplyDeleteעבדול האדי אל-עלמי משפחת עבדול האדי / Abdul Hadi , Dr. Burham מופיד ביי, בנו של אמין ביי, נסע לגרמניה, שם שהה בתקופת השלטון הנאצי והצטרף לפלסטינים אחרים שפעלו עם הנאצים בחסות קשריו של המופתי הירושלמי. בגרמניה הצטרף למאות בני משפחות האצולה הפלסטיניות, שפעלו עם הנאצים בחסות קשריו של המופתי הירושלמי. מופיד עמד בקשר קבוע עם המופתי וביקר אותו תדירות במעונו בברלין. בזמן שהותו בברלין התארגנה שם קבוצת לאומנים סורים ופלסטינים, שצידדו בסוריה הגדולה. סמל הקבוצה היה צלב קרס הפוך. מספר רופאים ערבים, שהיו חברים בקבוצה, אף שירתו בצבא הנאצי, לפחות אחד מהם במחנה השמדה. המודיעין הבריטי ניהל מעקב צמוד אחרי הקבוצה הזו, שחלק מחבריה לא חזר לארץ ישראל לאחר המלחמה.
https://books.google.com/books?id=TxsXAQAAIAAJ
Hannanel, Mosheh (2007), Ha-Yerushalmim: Masa be-sefer ha-telephonim Ha-Mandatory.
[Jerusalemites : a journey through the british mandate telephone book 1946], Tel Aviv; Eretz Vateva.ץ, pp. 277-278:
Abdul Hadi Al-Alami Abdul Hadi family / Abdul Hadi, Dr. Burham Mufid Bey, the son of Amin Bey, went to Germany, where he stayed during the Nazi regime and joined other Palestinians who worked with the Nazis under the auspices of the Jerusalem mufti's connections. In Germany, he joined hundreds of members of Palestinian aristocratic families, who worked with the Nazis under the auspices of the connections of the Jerusalem mufti. Mufid was in regular contact with the mufti and visited him frequently at his residence in Berlin. During his stay in Berlin, a group of Syrian and Palestinian nationalists, who sided with Greater Syria, was organized there. The symbol of the group was an inverted swastika. A number of Arab doctors, who were members of the group, even served in the Nazi army, at least one of them in an extermination camp. British intelligence closely monitored this group, some of whose members did not return to [E.] Israel after the war.