Three Worlds
Memoirs of an Arab-Jew
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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Publisher Description
In July 1950, Avi Shlaim, only five, and his family were forced into exile, fleeing their beloved Iraq to the new state of Israel.
'Remarkable.' Max Hastings, THE SUNDAY TIMES
Today the once flourishing Jewish community of Iraq, at one time numbering over 130,000 and tracing its history back 2,600 years, has all but vanished.
Why so? One explanation speaks of the timeless clash between Arab and Jewish civilisations and a heroic Zionist mission to rescue Eastern Jews from backward nations and unceasing persecution.
Avi Shlaim tears up this script. His parents had many Muslim friends in Baghdad and no interest in Zionism. As anti-Semitism surged in Iraq, the Zionist underground fanned the flames. Yet when Iraqi Jews fled to Israel, they faced an uncertain future, their history was rewritten to serve a Zionist narrative.
This memoir breathes life into an almost forgotten world. Weaving together the personal and the political, Three Worlds offers a fresh perspective on Arab-Jews, caught in the crossfire of Zionism and nationalism.
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A TLS AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
'A beautifully written book which artfully blends the personal with the political.' Justin Marozzi, SPECTATOR
'Three Worlds, by the Oxford historian of the modern Middle East Avi Shlaim, is an often enchanting memoir of his childhood in Baghdad... A gripping account... A lost world in Iraq is brilliantly brought back to life in this fascinating memoir.' David Abulafia, FINANCIAL TIMES
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this detailed, resonant account, historian Shlaim (The Iron Wall) recalls the complexities of growing up as an Arab Jew in Iraq and Israel. Born in 1945 Baghdad, Shlaim grew up in an affluent Jewish family that had little interest in Zionism, until antisemitic violence following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War forced them to flee to the newly created state of Israel. The move destabilized Shlaim, who had to learn Hebrew (Arabic was considered a "primitive," "ugly" language) and find a place in an Ashkenazi-dominated society that often looked down on Arab Jews. He left for secondary school in England and returned to serve in the Israeli army, though the 1967 Six-Day War soured his perspective on Israel, as he began to view the country as a colonial power. Shlaim uses his narrative to illustrate the larger story of Arab Jews' exodus from Iraq, arguing that Israel's creation morphed the formerly protected minority into an "alien and usurping" presence in Arab spaces. While not all of Shlaim's claims are equally persuasive—his contention that "the Zionist underground" was behind multiple bombings in Iraq that forced Jews to flee, for example, relies heavily on a document of uncertain provenance—he makes a convincing case that the creation of Israel had sometimes dire consequences for Jews in Arab countries. Those interested in alternative Jewish attitudes toward Zionism will find this illuminating.
Customer Reviews
A must read
Another book from Professor Shlaim that more than ever is a must read to understand the history.
Informative
We wish the memoires extended further into his marriage and later years im Oxford