Tuesday 10 November, 7:30 pm UK. Is it  becoming received wisdom that ‘the Zionists’ caused ‘false-flag’ operations to convince Jews to leave Arab countries like Iraq and Egypt? Accusations against the Israeli secret service, Mossad,  have dogged it for decades . 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’ repeats the accusations made by 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  a rising tide of hostility and state-sanctioned  antisemitism?

Lyn Julius of Harif will examine the facts.

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