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Report 50-60 Iraqi Jews Still Held in Prison; Tells of Reign of Terror in Syria

February 24, 1969
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Fifty or sixty Jews arrested in Iraq at the time of the Six-Day War are still held in prison and other Jews are subjected to a variety of restrictions and are not permitted to leave the country the Sunday Times reported. According to the paper, Jews possessing passports were forced to turn them over to police. Jewish businessmen were required to surrender stocks, and receive a monthly allowance of $264. According to the Times, 11 Jews have had telephones disconnected.

Political sources said that reports have reached Jerusalem that 11 Jews scheduled to have been included in the latest Iraqi spy trials were spared apparently as a result of world-wide protests against the hanging of nine Iraqi Jews on Jan. 27. Eight Iraqis were executed last week on charges of spying for Israel, none of them Jews.

Reports in Israel of a reign of terror over Syria’s remaining 4,000 Jews were attributed today to a Greek tourist who visited Syria recently. According to the tourist, Syrian authorities appointed special controllers over the Jewish communities, each responsible for several families, following the Six-Day War. Officially they were supposed to safeguard the Jews but they have become the “chief oppressors.” the tourist said. Jews must stay near their homes and head-counts are regularly taken, he said.

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