What Has Happened to the Iraqi 9? Jews, Non-jews, Demand to Know

Continuing reports that nine Jews in Iraq who were arrested last Sept. and Oct. were recently executed have sent shock waves through the Jewish and non-Jewish communities here and in other cities.

While the Iraqi government has thus far refused to confirm or deny these reports, including an earlier report that a tenth Jew arrested last year died earlier in an Iraqi Jail, sources in this country, Israel and abroad point to several ominous signs which tend to corroborate the reports of the executions; the property of the nine Jews has been confiscated, their families are either in hiding or have fled abroad, and their homes have been boarded up and signs with the word “gone” have been painted on the doors.

These sources note that similar ominous signs were in evidence in Jan. 1969 when the Iraqi regime convicted 14 persons, including nine Jews of. spying for Israel and hanged them in public squares for alleged espionage. At that time there was an international outcry.

During the past few days a number of organizations and political leaders have demanded that the Iraqi government publicly confirm or deny the reports of the recent executions. The Committee of Concern, an interfaith group concerned with minorities in Arab lands, called on the Iraqi government to make public the fate of the nine Jews. General Lucius D. Clay (Ret.), head of the Committee, demanded that Iraq either promptly provide the prisoners with a “fair and open trial” if they are charged with any crime, set them free if there are no charges, or “it they are dead, then let their grieving families claim their bodies.”

THE WORLD CANNOT REMAIN SILENT

The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith declared that “the killing of these Jews and others in recent years constitutes genocide.” Seymour Graubard, ADL national chairman, expressed the hope “that Americans of all faiths will speak out against this horrendous tragedy and press the Iraqi government to let the small Jewish community there emigrate.”

Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-R-C. N.Y.) said he was “horrified and angered” at reports of the new executions and called on the United States and the United Nations to immediately file official protests and apply sanctions against Iraq. “In the name of humanity I implore the government of Iraq to end its pogrom against Jews and allow them to live in peace,” he said. Last month, Biaggi-appealed to UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim to take official action to investigate new reports of atrocities against Iraqi Jews.

In Washington, the B’nai B’rith also appealed this weekend to Waldheim to intervene with Iraq and help rescue a “helpless community” of some 500 Jews Dr. William A. Wexler, chairman of B’nai B’rith’s International Council, in a letter to Waldheim, advised that his organization was “deeply disturbed” by reports that nine Jews had been executed. The report of the executions was “from sources that have proven reliable in the past,” Dr. Wexler said. “Our concern is aggravated by the fact that the Iraqi government has not denied it.”

In Montreal, the Canadian Jewish Congress reacted “with horror” to the reports and recalled that for several months CJC officials had conveyed the organization’s concern to the Canadian government and sent cables to Iraqi President Hassan el Bakir and to Waldheim. A CJC spokesman called the murders “the latest atrocity inflicted upon a small Jewish community in Iraq, a situation in which life of Iraqi Jews has deteriorated tragically to a point where life for these Jews is completely intolerable.” In presentations to government officials, the CJF urged the facilitation of emigration for those Jews in Iraq wishing to leave the country.

DIPLOMATIC PETITIONS URGED

In New York, in cables to the Iraqi government Mrs. Eleanor Marvin, president of the National Council of Jewish Women, expressed shock at the reported deaths of the nine Jews and at “the continuing abrogation of the basic human rights of the Iraqi Jewish community.” She also urged that the government of Iraq “permit Iraqi Jews including those incarcerated for being Jews–to emigrate.” Additional telegrams were sent to Secretary of State William P. Rogers and to Waldheim. Urging that they use the powers of their offices and their prestige with the Iraqi government to secure immediate confirmation about the reported executions.

In Philadelphia, a committee of prominent Philadelphia- area civic leaders and clergymen was formed several days ago to focus attention on the plight of Syrian and Iraqi Jews. It was announced by Thacher Longstreth, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Referring to the nine Iraqi Jews, Longstreth said:

“This tragic report, while not yet corroborated. is reminiscent of the barbaric hangings in Baghdad and Basra in January of 1969 of 14 persons, nine of them Jews, on trumped-up charges. I for one will no longer remain silent regarding the tragic plight of Jews in Arab countries, especially in Syria and Iraq, where government-sponsored persecution has made them virtually hostages. The time when Jews and other people can be mercilessly killed while the world remains silent has long passed.”

Philadelphia’s Jewish community leaders also met several days ago to mobilize for a campaign to relieve the plight of Iraqi Jewry. Benjamin S. Loewenstein, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia, said the area leaders will urge the U.S. government to intercede on behalf of Iraqi Jews at the UN and through nations having diplomatic relations with Iraq. Loewenstein declared that “We are outraged at the continued persecution, imprisonment and confiscation of Jewish property by the Iraqi authorities. If the report we have received regarding the murder of nine Iraqi Jews is incorrect, we demand that the Iraqi authorities produce these prisoners alive. If the report is correct, we pledge to Join with other men of conscience in seeking an end to such barbarism and to continue to press our government to raise this issue at the UN.”