19 Facts About Naeim Giladi

Naeim Giladi was an anti-Zionist Iraqi Jew, and author of an autobiographical article and historical analysis titled "The Jews of Iraq".

Naeim Giladi was arrested and jailed by the Iraqi government in 1947, when he was 17 years old.

Naeim Giladi managed to escape from prison and travel to Israel, arriving in May 1950.

Naeim Giladi says he was told to go to al-Mejdil, an Arab town about nine miles from Gaza, and now a part of Ashkelon, that was to be transformed into a farming community.

Naeim Giladi says he was assigned the task of procuring the signatures of the Palestinian inhabitants of al-Mejdil on a set of government forms that stated that they were willingly giving up their lands to go to Gaza, at the time under Egyptian occupation.

Naeim Giladi relates how he realised in short time that those Palestinians signing such documents were doing so under duress.

Naeim Giladi argues that they were denied the right to access their agricultural lands and penned up in a small area and so some signed simply to end their agony.

Naeim Giladi recalls that when he arrived in Israel, in May 1950, his Iraqi passport had his name as written in Arabic and transliterated using the Latin alphabet.

Naeim Giladi had received a letter asking for help with their Arabic newspaper, and when he showed up at the headquarters and tried to show them the letter, he was dismissively told to report to the "Department for Jews from Islamic Countries" by many people who had not even looked at his letter to see why he had been invited.

Naeim Giladi died on 6 March 2010, in a rehabilitation center in New York City after battling a lengthy illness, and was buried in the Jewish tradition by the Hebrew Free Burial Association.

Naeim Giladi cites a rumour that a Christian Iraqi army officer "known for his anti-Jewish views", was initially arrested for the crime, but was evidently not charged despite the large number of explosive materials matching those used in an earlier synagogue bombing that were allegedly found in his home.

Naeim Giladi further cites a long history of anti-Jewish bomb-throwing incidents in Iraq.

Naeim Giladi pointed to the fact that the bombings in question occurred after the Citizenship relinquishment act of 1950 had already expired and therefore no Jews could register for exit.

Naeim Giladi noted that the two Zionist operatives hanged were never charged with the Masouda Shem-Tov bombing, but rather three other bombings which occurred later.

Naeim Giladi mentioned Mordechai Ben Porat, a former Israeli Member of the Knesset, and a Cabinet minister, who was a key figure in the Zionist underground, as having been one of the figures responsible for the bombings according to one of the Iraqi investigators into the bombings, in a book titled Venom of the Zionist Viper.

Naeim Giladi's article is regularly cited by anti-Zionists, including Jewish anti-Zionists, who claim that Zionism has a negative effect for Jews.

Naeim Giladi maintains a controversial stance regarding the Farhud, alleging that the British government bear the bulk of responsibility for the event as he claimed they instigated it to blacken the image of the Rashid Ali government.

Also in the foreword, Naeim Giladi writes that upon emigrating to the United States in 1980, he found several publishers interested in publishing his work.

Naeim Giladi says he declined to publish because all interested publishers wanted to reserve the right of editorial control over the finished manuscript and he did not want to agree to this.