This is a response to Mr Dangoor's Letter to Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq, published here

Mr Naim Dangoor;

Once upon a time I thought of you nicely. You proved me wrong...

Should I call you Sir Dangoor ? After all "Queen Victoria" had a lot to drink before she knighted you for your good deeds...

I heard the expression: "Thrat il shaib masoula" so are you, going flat on "Gahonkha" begging some illiterate infidel Iraqi to restore your citizenship in Iraq... (which to my estimate, will never) Instead of going back to "Aboteikha" in Israel... Yes. A little hole in Buckingham palace will fit you better...

People like you give more bad name to the Jews than loud thousands Jews trashing London...

Why didn't you migrate to Israel ? Didn't they want you there ? Or you are too stuck up to mingle with "Bnei am'kha" ? Yes. You wanted nothing to do with the rest of the stupid idiots who "Shabu l'gvulam" to Israel...

Don't be naive. They will put you to the stakes like in Spain even though you are a subject of or for Elizabeth...

Keep it up. "Saa'khif" before the final hooray...

I am just an Israeli that his Iraqi nationality was revoked...
Never was sorry about the fact. After all who cares...

Israel is my homeland

"Bousha ve hir'pa" to call you one of us...

Go to Iraq... Go. I hope they admit you back...

Joseph Shochat

Reply:

Your concern about Jews returning to Iraq is appreciated but not justified. Iraq is not Germany. Iraq is part of the Middle East and so is Israel. There can be no lasting security in Israel unless Iraq is in peace.

The Middle East is our ancient home and we deserve our share of it. Eventually there must be a confederation covering Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, a Palestinian State and Jordan to ensure peace in the region and security from outsiders.

One thousand eight hundred years ago four Rabbis were debating why the Holy One Blessed Be He exiled the Jews to Iraq of all places. One said because the language is similar, the second said because Iraq was our Father Abraham’s home and when a husband is angry with his wife he sends her back to her father’s home, the third Rabbi said because Iraq is a lowland and Israel a highland, and when the Jews return they can make Aliyah (‘going up’). The fourth Rabbi said, the exile was to spare us the harsh law of the Romans. All four Rabbis were wrong!

The Babylonian Exile shows that the Fertile Crescent is one region and there can be no security in one part unless there is peace in the whole area. This is demonstrated by the fact that for 401 years that whole region was under Ottoman rule and in relative peace and quiet. International interest found it necessary to break it up in the Great War.

You may ask, well, when is the third Temple going to be rebuilt? The answer is, the third Temple has already been rebuilt by the Caliph Abdul Malik Iben Mirwan. These were the circumstances: When the second Caliph, Omar came to receive the keys of Jerusalem he invited the local Jewish community to take over the site of the ruined Temple and have it re-built. The Jews refused the offer saying this has to be done by the Moshiach. Omar cleared the site himself and ordered that it should be kept vacant for 50 years (a Jubilee) in case the Moshiach came in that period. When 50 years passed, the ruling Caliph decided to re-build that holy site to the glory of God in accordance with the Moslem religion. The Dome of the Rock should now be made available to all people who believe in the G-d of Moses.

It is said that history repeats itself. In fact, like a good teacher, history keeps repeating itself until the lesson is learned! Saddam had already prepared a larger army to conquer Israel at the proper opportunity. The recent invasion of Iraq may have been to prevent that happening rather than to look for weapons of mass destruction.

The Exilarch’s Foundation has earmarked ten million pounds to revive Jewish life in Iraq at the proper time.

Did you know that the language spoken by the Children of Israel whom Moses led out of Egypt was Hebrew? And did you know that the language spoken by the inhabitants of Canaan was the same language? And did you know that the Hebrew speaking Children of Israel were, most of them, in fact returning to their own country? If the present Palestinian Arabs were the descendents of the original inhabitants of the country, they would be speaking Hebrew and not Arabic?!

Think, and consider, and understand!