An Iraqi diplomat asserted yesterday that Jews were free to leave Iraq whenever they wanted to, and that Israel’s anger at Iraqi policy was based on Zionism’s refusal to admit that some Iraqi Jews do not want to leave. Charges that Jews are persecuted in Iraq are “amusing,” said Wissam Zahawie in the General Assembly’s Special Political Committee, because they demonstrate Israeli “omniscience” on unfounded allegations.
Zahawie quoted Premier Golda Meir as maintaining that Zionism would fail if Jewish immigration ceased, and charged Israel with employing spies and agent provocateurs to instigate emigration by Iraqi Jews.
Israel has repeatedly accused Iraq of barring Jewish emigration and persecuting Jews within its borders. The American Committee for the Rescue and Resettlement of Iraqi Jews (AMCOR) has stated that there is a list of 100 prominent Jews in Iraq who would be barred from leaving even if general emigration permission was granted to Iraqi Jews.
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