"Zionism in an Arab Country "explores the relations between the Zionist establishment in Israel, and the Jewish community in Iraq. This relationship centered 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.
The book covers:
- The relations between the Jewish minority and the Muslim-Arab majority in Iraq - in the context of the rise of the local national government, its struggle against British colonialism, and its efforts to lay foundations of an Iraqi nation.
- Struggles within the Jewish community between different sectors of society, political groups, and ideologies of the time regarding Jewish orientation.
- The relationship between the Zionist establishment and Iraqi Jewry: how it changed during the 1940s, and its operative ramifications.
- The characteristics and evolution of the Zionist movement in Iraq in the 1940s, its status as a Jewish community, and its role during the mass immigration from Iraq.
- Women's role in Zionist activities in Iraq.
- The defense organization in Iraq and the dilemmas entailed in its existence.
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 ofJews from Iraq to the state of Israel.""