Author :
DOI : 10.29228/ASOS.39682
Year-Number: 2020-101
Yayımlanma Tarihi: 2020-02-03 22:43:35.0
Language : English
Konu : The Politics of the Middle East
Abstract
Keywords
Abstract
History books have had different assessments on the role of Arab countries toward the Zionist Movement's control of Palestine and declaring establishment of Israel in 1949. This paper suggests that Iraq’s position was against the control of the Zionist Movement on Palestine. The three-chapter paper has adopted the historical approach to prove the validity of this hypothesis: Chapter 1 addresses the conditions of Palestine under the British Mandate (1917-1947); Chapter 2 deals with the official and popular Iraqi position toward the Jewish expansion in Palestine during the British Mandate; and Chapter 3 is devoted to discussing Iraq's contributions to the Arab-Israeli wars. The paper concludes that Iraq has taken a supportive stand to the Palestinian rights; but the Iraqi army's contribution to Arab-Israeli wars was limited because of the Arab and Iraqi political decisions, which weakened the important Iraqi role in the Arab-Israeli 1948 and 1967 wars.
Keywords
- The Situation in Palestine from 1917 to 1947
- 6 Adi, Mannaa, "The History of Palestine in the Late Ottoman Era," (Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1999), p. 186.
- 7 Areih, l. Avnery, “The Dispossession of Jewish and Arab Settlements 1878-1948,” (Amman: Galilee Publishing House, Palestinian Studies and Research, 1986), p. 27.
- 8 Zakaria, Sinwar et al., “Studies in the Palestinian Cause,” i, (Gaza: Dar Al-Arqam, 2014), p. 29.9 Girgis, Sabri, “History of Zionism,” Vol. 1, (Nicosia: PLO Research Center, 1986), p. 123.1) The Hussein-McMahon Communications (1915)
- 10 Akram, Zeaiter, "The Palestinian Cause", (Cairo: Dar Al Maaref, 1955), p. 37. 11 Zakaria, Sinwar, et al., op. Cit., P. 30
- 3- The British Mandate in Palestine adopted a policy aimed at establishing a Jewish state "Isra-el", such as granting Jews the right to buy land from Arabs, in addition to supporting and en-couraging Jewish immigration. Britain also encouraged Jewish economic projects, where the Jewish settlements increased from 50 in 1920 to 256 settlements in 194715.
- 12 Abdul Wahab, Kayyali, "The Modern History of Palestine", i 10, (Beirut: Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing, 1990), p. 75.
- 13 Telephone interview, 16-11-2018 with Dr. Abdul-Karim Shubir.
- 14 Beverley Milton Edwards," Contemporary Politics in the Middle East",(Cambridge: polity press,2011),p.40 15 Interview with Palestinian historian Osama Abu Nahl, via telephone, on 5-11-2018.
- 4- Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Revolution (1935): Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam revolution(1935) began with interest in weapons training and raising public awareness of the threats toPalestine. In 1935, the al-Qassam cells began resistance in Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarm. Howev-16 Hanadi Hani Mohammed Ismail, The Palestinian State Model of Institution Building in the Establishment of the State, Unpublished Master Thesis, (Nablus: An-Najah National University, 2012), p. 21.
- 17 Zakaria, Sinwar, "Zionist Haganah Organization", unpublished doctoral thesis, (Cairo: Institute of Arab Research and Studies, 2006), p. 45.
- 19 Kamel, Khella, "Palestine and the British Mandate," 2nd edition, (Tripoli: General Establishment for Publication Distribution, 1982), p. 318.
- 24 Telephone interview, on 15-11-2018, with Dr. Mohammed Siam, prof. of contemporary history.Chapter II
- Iraqi Position on Jewish Expansion in Palestine (1917-1948)
- First: The Zionist dream that their state "Israel" will extend from the river to the sea: The Zion-ist movement had sought to find an outlet in Iraq since it was formally established in 1897 at theBasel Conference in Switzerland, where the Zionist Jews presented all their ambitions and fu-ture directions, most prominently was building a Jewish state. This conference recognized thatGreater Israel would extend from the Euphrates to the Nile. Thus, Iraq fell within the so-called“promised land”26. The Israelis believe that there are a number of factors that require them toseek influence in Iraq, most notably the religious factor; as Iraq is home to religions, apostlesand prophets, and that shrines of many apostles and prophets who had been sent to the childrenof Israel are in Iraq27. The religious factor was one of the key foundations of the State of Israelin Palestine, and was not far from being part of their aspirations in Iraq. This was confirmed bystatements of the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, immediately after the Stateof Israel was declared in Palestine that “the Jewish people will return to the land of parents andgrandparents stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates.” Also, Moshe Dayan, one of the Israeliwarlords, after the occupation of Jerusalem on June 6, 1967, said: “We have seized Jerusalemand we are on our way to Yathrib (Madinah) and Babylon. Undoubtedly, this Zionist dream annoys Iraqis28.
- Second: the existence of secret Jewish organizations in Iraq: In the summer of 1934, some hid-den Zionist organizations were uncovered in Iraq, including an association called “Ahi'ever”founded by a teacher who had come from Palestine. Among the association’s clandestine activi-ties was facilitating the immigration of Iraqi Jews to Palestine; teaching Iraqi Jews Hebrew; andholding meetings, lecturing and fundraising for the Jewish National Fund. Most of the membersof the association were young students who were attending Jewish schools in Baghdad, such asShamash School owned by Rachel Shimon. Some members of the Ahi'ever association planneda Zionist march through the streets of Baghdad, however other members voted overwhelminglyagainst this proposal, which led to divisions within the association. A new association called theShemesh Association was accordingly established, which was more active than the originalassociation, but less cautious. In the end, the Iraqi authorities uncovered the two associationswhich were dismantled by the Iraqi security services. Among the other Zionist organizationsestablished by some Iraqi Jews during this period was the Hebrew Youth Association and theAssociation for Distribution of Products of the Land of "Israel", the Hebrew Books DistributorsAssociation, the Maccabees Sports Organization, and others. This covert Zionist activity and theprohibited communist activity in Iraq were monitored by successive Iraqi governments. In Sep- 25 Akram, Zeaiter, "The Palestinian National Movement", I 2, left publications, 1988, p. 352.
- 26 Mohamed Dakhel Karim al-Saadi, Shatha Faisal al-Obeidi, Israeli attitudes towards Iraq 1958-2007, p. 1.
- 27 Ahmad, Sousa, Ahmad, "Features of the Ancient History of Iraqi Jews," (Baghdad: Center for Palestinian Studies, University of Baghdad, 1978), p. 50.
- Nouri al-Said, an Iraqi politician during the British mandate in Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdomof Iraq, presented himself as lenient and understanding of the wishes of the Jews in Palestine.On October 20, 1948, Nouri al-Said informed the head of the Middle East Economic Studiesmission, Jordan Clab that the Iraqi government was willing to cooperate with the mission in theexchange of Iraqi Jews wishing to immigrate to Israel with a similar number of Palestinian refu-gees who wish to settle in Iraq, provided that the property of the Iraqi Jews be handed over tothe Iraqi government. After the mission transmitted al-Said's offer to the Israeli authorities, theywelcomed the offer, but stipulated that all Arab Jews should be allowed to immigrate to Israel,and that its borders should be adjusted to accommodate this additional number of Jews in Pales-tine, but Nouri al-Said refused. On February 18, 1949, the International Conciliation Commis-sion arrived in Baghdad to discuss the question of Palestine. The US representative in thiscommittee tried to persuade al-Said to agree that Iraq would enter into direct negotiations withIsrael, but Nouri al-Said refused. The British government then commissioned its ambassador inBaghdad to try to convince al-Said again. The British ambassador to Iraq then warned al-Saidthat if he refused the offer, the Jewish forces in Palestine would attack the Iraqi army there. ButNouri al-Said reiterated his refusal to negotiate with the Jews31. Nouri al-Said's position on Pal-estine and his involvement in this strong way, which escalated differences between al-Said andthe British Foreign Office, was due to Nouri al-Said's adherence to the Fertile Crescent project in the first place, where Palestine was a cornerstone32.
- 28 Mahmoud, Khattab, “Israel's Expansionist Goals in the Arab Countries,” 3rd edition (Cairo: Dar al-Eitisam, 1970), p. 31.
- 29 Ahmad Burhan Bash A'ayan, Iraqi Jews before the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1921 .. Pages on theirconditions and activity, Al-Mada website for media, culture and arts, Date of publishing, 14-8-2016, accessed date 22-9-2019.
- 32 Telephone interview with the historian Saleh al-Naami, on 1-11-2018.3- Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and Fadhel al-Jamali:
- 33 Ibrahim, Ahmed, Ibrahim, Hamidi, Jaafar," History of Contemporary Iraq", Mosul: Dar al-Kutub, 1989, p. 122. 34 Ahmad Burhan Bash A'ayan, op. cit.
- The Independence Party is an Arab nationalist party founded in 1941, by Faiq al-Samarrai. Itgave the Palestinian cause special attention and considered fighting Zionism and resisting theestablishment of a Zionist entity in Palestine or part of it one of its top priorities39. The partycalled for Arab popular resistance and providing support to Arabs in Palestine, suggesting or-ganization of a comprehensive movement to save the land of Palestine, suggesting that Arabgovernments and the Arab people should cooperate to achieve this end, the former by allocatingsufficient funds from their budgets and the latter by providing donations. The party was instru-mental during the 1948 war in Palestine through rallying the masses to pressure the governmentfor effectively contributing to save Palestine, and sending the Iraqi army to defend the Arabcountry.40 The Iraqi position rejecting the Jewish expansion in Palestine explains the existenceof units of the Iraqi army there before the 1948 war, fighting heroic battles in defense of a Pales-tinian area called the “Tireh Triangle”, instructing Palestinian fighters to attack the settlement ofRamat Hakovish, where some of the destroyed tanks are still present at the gates of the Israelicolony. Some Israeli writers described that period as “difficult days”. The Iraqi army also host-ed dozens of Palestinian leaders, revolutionaries, intellectuals and poets in Iraq, most notablythe revolutionary leader Aref Abdul Raziq and the revolutionary Abdul Fattah Al Mazraawi.41
- Wars constitute only what has been termed the systematic “major armed conflicts”, betweenparties to the conflict. The reality is that the use of armed force, with its various elements, hasnot ceased throughout all periods of conflict, and within this framework, complex patterns of41 Abdul Aziz Amin Arar, “The battles of the Iraqi army in the 1948 war, the site of the Basra network, a visit on 11- 11-2018,
- armed conflict emerged. According to one of the well-known databases of international con-flicts, within the Arab-Israeli conflict (during the period from 1945 to 2000), there were about17 cases of violent conflicts between Israel and the five Arab parties adjacent to it (Egypt, Syria,Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinians) such as the war of attrition on the Egyptian front (1969-1970), the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, an armed crisis that the database considered non-violent, namely, Israel's entry into southern Lebanon in 1978, a latent conflict related to theJordan River problem that caused strong tension in the region for years, in addition to dozens ofspecific military operations that had a strategic effect such as Israel bombardment of the Osirakreactor in 1981, Iraq's missile strike on Israel in 1991, and the hundreds of operations carriedout by Palestinian guerrillas and Palestinian and Lebanese resistance organizations against Isra-el. Although many of those armed interactions constituted almost “small wars”, the most fa-mous historical wars between the Arabs and Israel are three wars, namely ,the Nakba in 1948,the setback in 1967, and the October 1973 war. This chapter will address the wars of 1948 and 1967:
- First Topic: The Iraqi role during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948
- When the Arab League established the Arab Salvation Army before entering the war of 1948,three Iraqi regiments participated in this army in addition to three senior officers of the rank ofMaj. General (Taha al-Hashemi, Ismail Safwat, and Nur al-Din Mahmoud) who were membersof the Military Committee of the Arab League, which oversaw the recruitment of the Salvation Army personnel, its armament and ammunition supplies43.
- The Iraqi army was deployed in the area from Jenin in the north to Majdal in the south; whilethe Jordanian army was stationed in the area from Ramallah to Hebron, the Syrian army in Tibe-rias and the Nazareth region, the Lebanese army on its border, and the Egyptian army in theBeersheba, Negev and Gaza areas; and some Saudi and Sudanese battalions participated throughthe Egyptian army. The number of Iraqi army personnel involved in the 1948 war was initiallyestimated at 3,000 soldiers and then rose to 19,000 soldiers. Egypt participated with 10,000troops, Jordan 4,500 and Syria 3,000. As for Lebanon, it participated with only 1,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, the Zionist army reached 120,000 soldiers and officers.44
- 1) The Battle of Jenin (June 1948):
- The Battle of Jenin (in June 1948) was led by Lt. Colonel Omar Ali, who was reportedly actingwithout orders from his senior command. The battle left nearly 350 Jews killed and 1,000 in-jured, and the Iraqi army seized about 350 weapons and large quantities of equipment andmines. On the Arab side, twenty army soldiers were killed, 20 Palestinian fighters and 46 civil-ians were killed.45 Soon, Israeli forces moved to retaliate against Iraqi groups, inflicting themheavy casualties. The Israeli forces moved a military column armed with various weapons. Onlya month after the first battle, the city of Jenin witnessed fierce clashes, specifically in the villageof Mazar, in the Jenin district after movement of about two thousand Palestinian and Iraqi fight-ers, who were able to prevent the Jewish forces from advancing towards the city. Although the 43 Abdul Aziz Amin Arar, op. cit.
- 44 Bahjat, Abu Gharbiyeh, "In the Midst of the Arab-Palestinian Struggle: The Memoirs of the Militant Bahjat Abu- Gharbiyeh, 1916-1949," 1st edition, (Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1993), p. 310.
- Tulkarm is known to be one of the areas that were under the control of the Iraqi army. Tulkarmwitnessed many battles between the Iraqi army and the Israeli army, leaving many Iraqi armypersonnel dead47. At the end of that era, we can say that the Iraqi army has persevered in de-fending Palestine. The Zionists could not control an inch that was under the control of the Iraqiarmy. However, the Zionists took control of these areas after the Arab leadership asked the Iraqiarmy to hand over the areas under its control to the Jordanian army. Thus, these areas fell after only three days, raising many questions on the role of Arab leaders in the 1948 war.48
- Second Topic: the Iraqi role in the Arab-Israeli wars in 1967
- After the end of the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, there were many results, most notably placing theWest Bank and the city of Jerusalem under the Jordanian control, the Gaza Strip under directEgyptian rule, and prompting other Arab armies, including the Iraqi army, to withdraw to theircountries. However, it was apparent that there were signs of an imminent new war, as a result ofthe escalating crisis and high political and military tension between the Israeli enemy on the onehand and both Syria and Egypt on the other. The military build-up peaked between parties re-ferred to, especially after the withdrawal of international emergency forces from Gaza and Sinaiand Egypt’s closure of the Tiran Straits in the face of Israeli navigation in addition to the issueof the Jordan River Diversion Plan, adopted by the Arab League to divert two of the three sources of the Jordan River.49
- However, Iraq could not leave Egypt and Baathist Syria without support; therefore, there weresome senior Iraqi officers and specialists in the fields of military engineering in the Egyptianand Jordanian camps.50 Also, before the start of the war, the 1st battalion of an Iraqi infantrybrigade, led by Lt. Colonel Tareq Mahmoud Jalal, was transferred from Iraq to Egypt by 5 Il-yushin transport planes. On June 5, 1967, the 8th Iraqi mechanized brigade of the 12th. Iraqiarmored brigade moved from its permanent headquarters in Ramadi to Jordan under the com-mand of staff Brigadier General Staff Hassan Mustafa Al-Naqib. Then, command of the Iraqibrigade was transferred to Lt. General staff Abdel Moneim Riyadh, commander of the EasternFront in Jordan. The Iraqi fighter planes also launched air strikes from al-Waleed airbase (on theIraqi-Jordanian-Syrian border), and Iraqi fighter jets bombed Tel Aviv, Netanya and Kafr Sarkin51.
- 46 Ahmad, Rahal, "Palestine Between the Truth of the Jews and the Lie of the Talmud," i, 1 (Amman: Dar al-Bidaa, 2008), p. 111.
- 47 Nayef Abboush, the martyrs of the Iraqi army in the 1948 Palestine war, the site of Dar al Mosul, the date of publishing, 3-11-2013, accessed 12-11-2018
- 48 Mohamed Ali, Abu Mousa, The Kurdish Role in the Middle East, an unpublished Master Thesis, (Gaza: Al-Azhar, 2011), p 76.
- 49 Mohsen, Saleh, “The Palestinian Cause: Its Historical Backgrounds and Contemporary Developments,” (Beirut: Zaytouna Center, 2011), p. 155.
- 50 Younis Khaled, "Suspicions about the Kurds and the Islamic Solution", i 1, (Stockholm: Without a Publishing House, 1994), p. 35.
- 51 Qahtan Al-Samarrai, Group 73 historians, "The Role of the Iraqi Army in the Six-Day War of 5-10 June 1967", accessed 1-10-2019.
- The political and military institutions of the Iraqi State had a supportive stance alongside therights of the Palestinian people. However, the role of the military institution was clearer andmuch more supportive for the Palestinian issue that the position of Iraqi governments. Apartfrom the official position of the Iraqi State, there was a clear popular Iraqi position in support ofthe Palestinian rights against the Zionist project in Palestine. Thus, we can say that the Iraqiarmy adopted a firm position against the Israeli forces in the 1948 war. However, the decisionsof Arab leaders in general and those of Iraqi politicians in particular weakened the resolve of theIraqi army during the wars in Palestine. In the 1967 war, the position of the Iraqi army was sup- portive for the Egyptian and Jordanian army without direct participation in the war.
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