Office of the Historian

289. Memorandum from the Country Director for Lebanon, Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Iraq (Seelye) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Sisco)1 2

Washington, May 20, 1971
[Page 1]

SUBJECT:

  • Disclosure of U.S. Efforts on Behalf of Iraqi Jews

Despite our request to use discretion with information re status of Iraqi Jews being provided him in a letter dated April 21 (see attached), Senator Javits released the full text of this letter on May 3 to the Jewish Telegraph Agency.* Inter alia our letter states that we requested UN High Commissioner for Refugees Prince Sadruddin Khan to intercede with the Iraqi President on behalf of Iraqi Jews then being detained by the Baghdad regime. The Prince is now understandably concerned that this disclosure will compromise his position vis-a-vis the Iraqis. We too are concerned because we had endeavored to play down our involvement on behalf of the Iraqi Jews lest the Iraqi Government believe we have been orchestrating a campaign against it and therefore decide not to relax its pressure against the Iraqi Jewish community. The fact that the Iraqi News Agency has now focused on this item underscores our concern.

We have asked Ambassador Symms in H to convey our regret over this disclosure to Senator Javits attention. At the same time we have contacted Mr. Tawfic Raby, the Iraqi Jew most active in organizing efforts on behalf of his co-religionists and expressed our dismay about the possible negative effect this disclosure may have on our future attempts to help the Iraqi Jews. He expressed his full understanding of our concern and said he would also speak to Senator Javits’ office.

Attachment
Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (Abshire) to Senator Javits

Washington, April 21, 1971
[Page 2]

Dear Senator Javits:

The Secretary has asked me to reply to your letter of April 2 concerning recent reports of arrests of Iraqi Jews. The Department has been following the situation very closely, in particular Assistant Secretary Sisco and the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs as well as Ambassador Finger at the UN.

As you know, we have no diplomatic or consular relations with the Iraqi Government and our access to that government is, therefore, limited. When we first started receiving reports of arrests of Iraqi Jews, however, we approached the British, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Swiss Governments and asked that they consider interceding on behalf of those being detained. In the meantime, we instructed the Belgians, who represent us in Baghdad, to express our concern to the Iraqi Government about the plight of those arrested who were relatives of American citizens. We also exchanged information with the Israeli Embassy here in Washington. Finally, we were in close contact with Prince Sadruddin Khan, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who at our request stopped in Baghdad during an Asian tour and made personal inquiries and appeals to the President of Iraq on behalf of the Iraqi Jewish community. These approaches and appeals have apparently been successful and we are now pleased to report that according to reliable information all those arrested have been released. We will certainly continue to watch developments in Iraq closely and will endeavor to do what we can.

[Page 3]

Given the unpredictable situation in Iraq, I am sure you can appreciate the need for discretion with regard to the release of the above information.

I trust that this information has been responsive to your inquiry. If you have any further questions, however, please let us know.

Sincerely,
David M. Abshire
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, SOC 14 IRAQ. Confidential. Drafted by Scotes. Sent through Atherton. A handwritten note on the memorandum indicated that “JTA [Jewish Telegraph Agency] report (attached) says Javits released the letter. It could be, of course, that it was released or otherwise let out by Javits’ office without the Senator’s OK. ASA” The letter to Senator Javits is an unsigned copy. The JTA report was attached but is not published.↩
  2. Seelye concurred with the UN High Commissioner’s dismay over the leaked information, which undermined U.S. efforts with Iraq.↩