Mrs. Meir Says Enlightened World Must Demand Iraqi Hangmen Release Their Victims

Premier Golda Meir said yesterday that if there was any justice or conscience left in the world enlightened nations would raise their voices to demand that the Iraqi “hangmen” release their victims and that all Jews be allowed to leave Iraq. Mrs. Meir, addressing a meeting of Labor Party and Mapam women, spoke bitterly of a United Nations body currently hearing testimony in Arab capitals on the alleged mistreatment of Arabs under Israeli rule while the Baghdad regime prepared a new “mock trial” and gallows for two more Iraqi Jews and 10 other persons accuses of spying for Israel.

Mrs. Meir said the Jews of Iraq are living under oppression and in constant fear for their lives. Many of them are rotting in jail and 1,500 who registered for emigration are being held as hostages. But in Beirut, Damascus and Amman, and soon in Cairo and Baghdad, a committee of the UN Human Rights Commission hears testimony of Israeli brutality toward Arabs in the occupied territories, Mrs. Meir said. She noted that the committee would not come to Israel because “we dared to demand that they also investigate the condition of Jews in the Arab countries.” “We have nothing to hide,” Mrs. Meir declared. “We have not sentenced a single saboteur to death even when it was proven in court that they planted explosives. We are proud of our record.”

The Israeli executive of the World Jewish Congress called on WJC branches all over the world to act immediately to arouse public opinion and world organizations to avert new hangings in Iraq. Itzhak Koren, chairman, said the “mock trial” under preparation in Baghdad, is directed not only against the accused but against the entire Jewish community of Iraq. He said international organizations including the UN must be urged to intervene so that the remaining Jews of Iraq can leave.