The Israel legation here issued a statement today declaring that the “Government of Israel has received grave and disquieting reports of a new wave of persecution against Jews in Iraq.”
The statement says that the reports tell of “numerous arrests and torture of those who were detained for the purpose of eliciting names of other Jews who may have assisted in the escape of a few persons who succeeded in leaving Iraq and reaching Israel.”
The departure of these Jews, the legation statement adds, “was motivated by their desire to take part in the upbuilding of Israel as well as by the terrifying feeling of insecurity under which Jews live and have been living in Iraq during the past few years.” The statement added: “The situation is regarded as of the utmost gravity and great anxiety is felt for the helpless minority” of Jews in Iraq.
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