Aroused international public opinion, behind-the-scenes diplomatic representations and criticism from Arab quarters were credited this weekend with apparently persuading Iraqi not to try Jews any more on spy charges. It was also understood that Secretary-General U Thant, who had strongly criticized the Jan. 27 hangings of 14 persons–nine of them Jews–took additional steps to convey to Baghdad authorities his view of the seriousness of the matter. He said further comment would not be in the public interest.
The Israeli public was heartened by reports from Baghdad that 21 to 25 Jews had been released from prison, assuming that they were the Jews kept behind bars since the Six-Day War. But authorities continued efforts to persuade other governments to offer asylum for Iraqi Jews if Baghdad permits them to emigrate. “When the last Jews have left, we shall regard it as good news,” one official said.
Fear still grips the small Iraqi Jewish community. It was exemplified by the comment of one member Elias E. Abdou to a London Sunday Times correspondent. A supporter of the executions, he said, “I am an Iraqi. Israeli is my enemy.” He offered no objection to a Palestinian guerrilla poster pasted on the wall of his shop.
The American Jewish Committee disputed a remark by Iraqi Premier Ahmad Haasan al-Bakr that Iraqi Jews were free, like other Iraqis, to emigrate under the law. He “knows very well that…no Jews have been permitted to emigrate” in years, it is said. “The Jews of Iraq would welcome nothing more today than for the Government to open its gates.”
Foreign Minister Abba Eban told the Israel Cabinet today that several governments have notified Iraq of their willingness to accept Jews as settlers or transients. He said Israel would continue to alert world opinion to their plight.
The London Guardian reported from Baghdad that the reign of terror was continuing, and that correspondents approaching Jews were met with pleas to “leave immediately and ask no questions.”
In Washington, Rep. Leonard Farbstein, New York Democrat, introduced a House resolution co-sponsored by 40 other Congressmen of both parties, condemning Iraq for “genocidal murder.”
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