The First Zionists in Iraq of the 1920s: Their Attitudes Towards the Land of Israel

In Iraq, those who call themselves Zionists first appeared in early 1920s. Two local Zionist organizations were founded in Baghdad. Their activities varied from Hebrew language class to fund rising, and gained popularity particularly among young educated Jews in urban Iraq. However studies agree that this early Zionism was short-lived and unsuccessful, a failed attempt as an organized movement. Though Zionist presence certainly evoked sympathy among the Jews in Iraq, some contemporaries pointed out that it was a mere excitement derived from their religious attachment to Zion.
This paper first attempts to take a closer look on the intricate social and historical context in which those few but quite vocal ‘Zionists’ emerged. There has been a constant flow of people between the Land of Israel and the Jewish Community in Iraq for centuries. Aside from geographical reason, rabbinical emissaries, Shadarim, played a major role to maintain close ties between them. This paper examines a major transition in this relationship lead by the visit of first Zionist emissary in Iraq; Ariel Ben Tziyon.
Young Zionists from Iraq occasionally sent letters to newspapers issued both within and outside of Iraq. Shedding light on some of those newspaper articles, letters reporting their visits in the Land of Israel among other things, this paper discuss the formation of their Zionist consciousness, which might undergone a different course of development outside of Eurocentric paradigm, under the influence of the Iraqi society.