Zionism in an Arab Country Jews in Iraq in the 1940s

Zionism in an Arab Country explores the relations between the Zionist establishment in Israel, and the Jewish community in Iraq. This relationship is centred on two organizations: a Zionist movement and a defense organization. By reviewing the activity of these organizations, Esther Meir-Glitzstein examines the decade preceding mass immigration, and reveals the political, societal, economic and cultural developments that shaped the history of Iraqi Jewry in this crucial period.
Beyond the main focus on the sphere of Zionist activity, Meir-Glitzstein also uncovers the basic problems that shaped both the development of Iraqi Jewry in the 1940s and the policy of the Zionist establishment - trapped between Arab nationalism and Jewish nationalism. Finally, she elucidates the reasons and circumstances that led to the mass immigration of Jews from Iraq to the state of Israel.

Introduction: The Evolution of the Iraqi Jewish Community in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Part 1: Zionism in Iraq, 1941 to 1949 1. Relations between the Jews, British and Arabs in Iraq in the 1940s 2. The Reversal in Zionist Policy vis-à-vis the Jews of Islamic Countries 3. National Encounter and Culture Clash: The Emissaries and the Jews of Iraq 4. The Hehalutz Movements in Iraq 5. Young Women in the Zionist Movement 6. The Zionist Struggle for the Jewish Street 7. Legal and Illegal Aliyah 8. The Haganah Part 2: Preparing to Leave Iraq 9. A Community Trapped: Iraqi Jewry during the War of Independence 10. The Zionist Movement in Iraq during the Persecutions 11. From Emigration to Expulsion: The Mass Immigration of Iraqi Jewry to Israel. Conclusion

Dr. Esther Meir-Glitzstein is a Lecturer in Jewish History in the Program for Israel Studies in Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Research Fellow, Ben Gurion Research Center. Her fields of research are the history of the Jews in Arab countries in the modern period, their emigration and the integration of Mizrahi immigrants in Israeli society.