|
|
|
The
Great Synagogue (Slat li-Kbighi) was the oldest
synagogue in Baghdad. Source: The Babylonian Jewry
Heritage Center
|
The
Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein was responsible for the death
and suffering of millions of people. For thirty-five years, the
Iraqi people were brutally repressed, murdered and denied the
most elementary form of justice. No person with any sense of
justice or decency can mourn the demise of Saddam and his
regime. What is dubious, however, is whether the price that the
Iraqi people paid for Saddam’s removal, in lives, money and an
uncertain future can be justified. What is contentious is
whether the justification for the invasion by the US was based
on manufactured evidence or factual data that Iraq was a threat
to US national security. What should be questioned is the
judgment and motivation of the leaders of a country to invade
and occupy another country in a volatile region of the world,
when the outcome of such an invasion and occupation is at best
unpredictable and at worst will serve to dismantle that country
and create great chaos in the region and around the world.
Eight
months after the invasion and occupation, the people of Iraq are
not better off. On the contrary, the invasion destabilized Iraq,
causing various factions to maneuver for power and possible
secession. Uncertainty prevails, and the foundation of the lives
of the people has been shaken, not knowing whether they will
become refugees in their own country. Any evidence to support
the US administration’s allegations about weapons of mass
destruction and Saddam’s ties to terrorists posing a threat to
the US is non-existent. So what are the motivating factors that
that set in motion one of the most reckless and dangerous
military adventures of modern times?
Most
Americans do not wish to impose their will on others nor do they want
others to impose their will on them. |
|
Most
Americans are detached from the rest of the world and are not
political. They cannot tell you the difference between Cairo and
Istanbul, between Baghdad and New Delhi, between Algeria and
Brazil. They do not wish to impose their will on others nor do
they want others to impose their will on them. Americans are a
compassionate and generous people who live by the principle of
live and let live. The terrorist acts perpetrated against the US
over the past 30 years, culminating in the despicable attack on
the World Trade Center in New York, however, frightened the
American people, and just as importantly disrupted their
economic well being. Most Americans genuinely did not understand
why such an act was committed. Tragically, there was an
administration in place, with an ideological underpinning of
molding the world in their own image and with an eye to get
re-elected in an uncertain economic climate, to give the
Americans people an answer by preying on their fears and on
their prejudices.
In
pursuit of their ideological convictions, the logical next step
after the ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan by the US was to
exploit the tragedy of The World Trade Center and invade Iraq,
under the guise of fighting terrorism. Saddam was the perfect
personification of evil, presiding over an oil-rich country
vital to the world’s economic well-being. He was an obstacle
to general US interests in the region, including the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Saddam was the person who could be
plausibly linked to terrorism and thus easily portrayed as a
threat to the US. Ouster of Saddam, it was believed, and
instituting some form of a democratic government in Iraq, would
somehow change the political dynamics of the region; peace would
prevail and an abundance of cheap oil would start flowing to
jump-start failing economies for years to come. The difficulty
with these perceptions is that they are shaped by cultural
arrogance conceived out of extreme prejudice.
It
is cultural arrogance, which necessarily dismisses other
people’s interests and indeed humanity, that emboldened the
world to impose the unconscionable thirteen years of draconian
economic sanctions against Iraq and the subsequent invasion and
occupation by the so-called coalition. The coalition, led by the
US, thought the Iraqis would greet them as liberators, a regime
friendly to the West would be installed, oil would flow and calm
would prevail. An American with some cultural and political
awareness, while hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand
in bewilderment, very eloquently put it: “what were they
thinking?!”
The
rape of Iraq began over thirty years ago by Saddam and his
henchmen. |
|
The
rape of Iraq began over thirty years ago by Saddam and his
henchmen. It was continued by the repulsive sanctions instituted
by the community of nations, which killed over a million Iraqis,
and sustained by the oil-for-food program under United Nations
auspices. The oil-for-food program administered by the United
Nations was supposed to be a humanitarian act. In fact, the
world needed oil, and the cheaper the better. Regardless, the
United Nations, a supposedly neutral organization with an
interest in world-peace and justice, robbed the Iraqi people of
billions of dollars in “administrative” fees. Then came the
invasion and the occupation. Leaders of the most powerful
country in the world could not see beyond their arrogance and
prejudices to perceive the danger to world stability that would
result from an invasion of a pivotal country such as Iraq.
“What were they thinking” still resonates in one’s mind.
Iraq is not a homogeneous society. Ethnic and religious
rivalries abound. No one in their right mind would dismiss the
possibility of civil war and the dismantling of Iraq into three
entities, and perhaps more. How this will affect regional
stability and the well being of the Iraqi people and of the
world at large is anyone’s guess.
The
damage has been done. There is no going back. The people of
Iraq, resourceful and industrious, however, should attempt to
salvage what they can and perhaps turn the tide against the
obvious and against all odds and dire predictions. They should
begin this process by asserting their authority by way of the
Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). The Iraqi Governing Council must
take the first step by asserting sovereignty followed by
abrogating all national debt incurred by the former regime as a
way to demonstrate the Iraqi people’s rights and resolve.
Further, they should demand the return of the billions of
dollars that were shamelessly pocketed by the United Nations.
Additionally, they must put all countries on notice that
restitutions will be demanded from all countries that had
illegally and immorally profited from the years in which the
oil-for-food program was in effect. In order to regain some
semblance of dignity, but also recognizing the reality of the
occupation, the IGC should further demand that coalition forces
remain in Iraq to assist in the security of the country until
the IGC reconstitutes the Iraqi army, which was so ignominiously
dismissed and humiliated. Finally, the IGC must demand that the
chosen “viceroy” of the occupation should immediately cease
to pompously parade around Baghdad in his designer suits and
combat boots.
Iraq
sits on the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. The
Iraqi people should stand tall, hold their head high and start
flexing their muscles for all to see that they are not a
vanquished nation. Iraq’s rich history, it’s resourceful
people and it’s God given natural resources must be
aggressively affirmed in dealing with the rest of the world.
Only then will the world be forced to acknowledge the great
injustice perpetrated against the proud and great people of Iraq
and leave them to independently sort and define their own
destiny.
A
personal note by the author of the article to the esteemed
readers of IslamOnline:
Iraqi
Jews, like all Iraqis, have a vast reservoir of pride in
their identity, their country and their traditions. |
|
I
am certain that many of you who have read the opinions in the
article may be wondering about my background, especially since
my name is not of Arabic extraction. I am an Iraqi Jew (born in
Baghdad) who left his country of Iraq at the age of two, after
the creation of Israel. I grew up in Israel, Iran and finally
moved to the US.
Leaving
one’s homeland, however, did not mean that one forgot his
roots or abandoned his identity. This is more poignant when one
reluctantly leaves his homeland due to circumstances. So it was
with many of the Arab Jews who left their countries after the
creation of Israel. It was especially true of Iraqi Jews who,
like all Iraqis, have a vast reservoir of pride in their
identity, their country and their traditions. Iraqi Jews
maintained these values by continuing to speak Arabic, eating
Arabic food, listening to Arabic music (ohhh… Em Kalthoum),
reading Arabic newspapers and even praying informally in Arabic
and to Allah. They congregated together, prayed in traditional
Iraqi synagogues and opened clubs exclusively for Iraqis. I for
one, like the many friends and acquaintances that I have, speak
Arabic with my mother, uncles, and other relatives and friends
to this day. Since I never formally studied the language, my
knowledge of Arabic is limited to simple conversations (but I do
have a good accent). Nevertheless, the beauty and richness of
the Arab culture resonates through the language.
Iraqi
Jews continue to speak Arabic, eat Arabic food, listen to
Arabic music, read Arabic newspapers and even pray
informally in Arabic. |
|
My
father, Allah Yer Khamoo (May God have mercy on his
soul), incessantly spoke about Iraq. He vividly detailed his
life there, from fishing in the Tigris and having Samak Masgoof
to serving in the Iraqi army. He spoke about his many Muslim
friends and partners, and their relationships, and the mutual
respect they had for one another. He also described some of the
hardships of being a Jew in Iraq, especially the 1941 Rashid Ali
pogroms. Yet, the impression was left that these were
aberrations in an otherwise relatively peaceful coexistence. My
parents instilled pride in us for being Iraqis, and if anything,
saw western cultures as lacking solid roots, loyalty and
dignity. They hoped and prayed that the rift caused by the
creation of Israel, which sadly caused so much pain and
suffering and fractured our relationships with our Arab
brethren, will somehow come to pass.
I
passed along the same stories and values to my children. I was
not aware of the impact on them until my children grew up and
started mimicking my Arabic phrases when I expressed anger at
something or another (how can one demonstrate anger more
expressively than in the Arabic language?). I was touched and
joyful. But this joy paled in comparison to my euphoria when my
daughter surprised me by informing me that she signed up for an
Arabic course at the university. A year later, she was speaking
the language in full sentences.
So
dear readers, I am an Arab, Iraq is my country, and I am Iraqi
in my soul and by birthright; and I am also Jewish. May the
Almighty bless our country and our people and help us get
through these difficult times so that we may reclaim our ancient
glory and live in peace and harmony denied to our people for so
many years.
Jim
Soffer is an Iraqi Jew (born in
Baghdad) who left Iraq at the age of two, after the creation of
Israel. He grew up in Israel, Iran and finally moved to the US.
|
