The Iraqi Government has embarked on a policy of economic strangulation of the 2,500 Jews who have remained in that country since last June’s Arab-Israel war, the American Jewish Committee reported here today. According to information received by the AJC’s office in Paris, the new measures adopted in Baghdad deprive Jews of all rights of control over their own property, freeze all debts owed to Jews and place a poverty level ceiling on salaries that may be paid to Jews.
By these measures, the AJC declared, the Iraqi Government has dropped all pretense of being “anti-Zionist” but not “anti-Jewish.” One new amendment to Iraqi law forbids Jews to sell or otherwise dispose of any immovable property or to try to get a mortgage, loan, or lease on it without prior permission from the Minister of Interior. Another provision orders Government offices and private businesses not to pay out any sums “due to the Jews” but to notify the Minister instead. Jewish salaries are exempted but a ceiling of 100 dinars ($280) per month has been placed on them. The AJC pointed out that this is about the salary paid a beginner clerk in inflation-plagued Iraq and is insufficient to support a family. Moreover, very few Iraqi Jews occupy salaried posts today, the majority of them having been fired during the past year. The new anti-Jewish measures were published in the Official Gazette of Iraq last March, copies of which have been obtained by the AJC office in Paris.
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