Babylonian Hostility: In Iraq, the Jews-And Anti-Semitism-Are Everywhere

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Last August, when Imam Mahdi al Jumeili of the small Hudheifa Mosque in Baghdad's Shurti neighborhood met three American officers to resolve a dispute over soldiers entering the grounds of his mosque, his first question was, "Are any of you Jews?" When he was satisfied that none was, he allowed the meeting to proceed. Prior to the Americans' arrival, he had voiced his views about them. "We are sure they came here to steal the country and protect Israel," he said, adding that "Judaism and Masonism are at war with Islam."

Such views are common in Iraq, where "al Yahud"--"the Jews"--are everywhere. Purportedly serious works about the Jewish threat, including Arabic editions of the notorious czarist forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, are available in every book market. The widespread acceptance of …