Tuesday 10 November, 7:30 pm UK. The It is  becoming received wisdom that ‘the Zionists’ caused ‘false-flag’ operations to cause Jews to leave Arab countries. The accusations against the Israeli secret service have dogged them for some decades and were never really discredited. Recently, British Iraq-born historian Avi Shlaim,  in his memoir ‘Three Worlds, ‘ has breathed new life into the claim that ‘the Zionists’ set off bombs in Iraq  during 1950 – 51. In Israel a new documentary called ‘Baghdad files’ also repeats the claims of Israeli journalist Baruch Nadel, based on his interviews with more than 100 Iraqi Jews.

In Egypt in 1954, in what became known as the Lavon Affair, young Zionists did plant bombs in foreign institutions in Cairo, but the operation itself was a failure.

What bearing did these episodes have on the exodus, at a time when Jews were confronting faced with a rising tided of hostility and state-sanctioned  antisemitism?

Lyn Julius of Harif will examine the facts.

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