By May 1935, unsuccessful rural tribal uprisings had also broken out in the mid-Euphrates area of Iraq. An underground political group, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Iraq, then began publishing an illegal Iraqi newspaper in July 1935, Kifah-ish-Sha'b ("The Struggle of the People"), in the cellar of a Baghdad hospital.
In its August 1935 issue, the Communist Party of Iraq's illegal newspaper indicated that underground party's immediate political goals in Iraq were the following:
expulsion of imperialists; independence to Kurds; cultural rights to all Iraqi minorities;
distribution of land to Iraqi peasantry;
abolition of all debts and land-mortgages;
seizure of all properties belonging to the imperialists--including the banks, the oil fields, and the railroads--and the expropriation of the vast agricultural estates of Iraq's feudal landlord rulers;
concentration of power in the hands of Iraqi workers and peasants; and
launching social revolution without delay in all areas of Iraqi life.
Besides publicizing the party program, the Communist Party of Iraq's newspaper also revealed in 1935 that the puppet Iraqi feudal monarchy's prime minister at the time, Yasin al-Hashimi, "preaches virtue during the day and spends his night with a little harlot called Mary Kasparkhan." After this newspaper developed a circulation of 500, however, police agents of the British imperialist-backed monarchy began to undemocratically arrest members of the underground political group; and, after December 1935, further publication of the newspaper was undemocratically prevented.
The unpopularity of the puppet regime enabled an Iraqi general named Bakr Sidqi to overthrow the Iraqi government in an October 1936 coup and members of the Communist Party of Iraq underground organized popular support for the coup in Baghdad's working-class neighborhoods. Mass demonstrations in support of the new coup regime were then held in Iraqi towns on November 2 and November 3 of 1936.
On March 17, 1937, however, General Bakr Sidqi, began threatening to crush the Communist Party of Iraq. Twenty thousand Iraqi workers who had been influenced by the underground Iraqi communist group, including Iraq Petroleum Company workers, then went out on strike on April 5, 1937. But following the assassination of General Bakr Sidqi on August 10, 1937, the coup regime's police began to suppress Communist Party of Iraq agitators. By the end of 1937, Communist Party of Iraq leaders were either exiled or in jail; and four pro-fascist Iraqi Army colonels, who were also loyal to British imperialism and the Hashemite monarchy, now controlled the coup regime until 1941.
In December 1940, however, the underground Communist Party of Iraq launched a new party newspaper, Ash-Shararah ("The Spark"), which was secretly produced until 1942 by using government stenciling machines belonging to the Land Registry's Typewriter Division. By 1942, the newspaper had a readership of 2,000.
In April and May 1941, meanwhile, an attempt was made by some nationalist Iraqi officers to eliminate continued British imperialist special influence in Iraqi politics. Four nationalist Iraqi colonels marched their troops into Baghdad and installed Rashid Ali-al-Gailani as Iraq's new premier on April 1, 1941. Besides being supported by anti-fascist left-wing nationalists, Rashid Ali's anti-British imperialist regime was apparently also supported by pro-fascist right-wing Iraqi nationalists. So some of the mass anti-imperialist street support for the new Rashid Ali regime in April and May 1941 apparently was manipulated and expressed in anti-Semitic attacks on Iraqis of Jewish background.
Although Rashid Ali freed from prison the pro-communist Iraqi soldiers who had been jailed since 1937, the Communist Party of Iraq was compelled to send a letter to Rashid Ali on May 7, 1941 that stated:
"In the first place, the Communist Party regrets, nay abhors, the acts of provocation hatched against our Jewish brethren by the retainers of British imperialism on the one side, and the propagandists of German imperialism on the other. The violation of liberties, the intrusion into homes, the plundering of possessions, the beating and even murder of people are, your Excellency, acts which not only contravene law and justice but run counter to this nation's natural disposition for generosity, gallantry and high-mindedness."
Despite the anti-imperialist, right-wing nationalist Rashid Ali government being recognized by the Soviet Union a few days later, however, this regime prohibited political parties and trade unions; and it was apparently unable to stop the anti-Semitic attacks by its nationalist supporters in the streets on Iraqis of Jewish background. After more British troops were sent to re-occupy Iraq on June 1, 1941 and the right-wing nationalist Rashid Ali regime collapsed, several hundred Iraqis of Jewish background were killed by the disappointed, anti-British imperialist, right-wing nationalist Iraqi street demonstrators on June 1 and June 2, 1941. In a June 1943 self-criticism of its role in Iraq between April and June 1941, Communist of Party of Iraq leaders later concluded that their support of the Rashid Ali regime and movement had been a political mistake, because the pro-Rashid Ali right-wing nationalist movement was too pro-fascist in its political orientation.
(end of part 2)
In its August 1935 issue, the Communist Party of Iraq's illegal newspaper indicated that underground party's immediate political goals in Iraq were the following:
expulsion of imperialists; independence to Kurds; cultural rights to all Iraqi minorities;
distribution of land to Iraqi peasantry;
abolition of all debts and land-mortgages;
seizure of all properties belonging to the imperialists--including the banks, the oil fields, and the railroads--and the expropriation of the vast agricultural estates of Iraq's feudal landlord rulers;
concentration of power in the hands of Iraqi workers and peasants; and
launching social revolution without delay in all areas of Iraqi life.
Besides publicizing the party program, the Communist Party of Iraq's newspaper also revealed in 1935 that the puppet Iraqi feudal monarchy's prime minister at the time, Yasin al-Hashimi, "preaches virtue during the day and spends his night with a little harlot called Mary Kasparkhan." After this newspaper developed a circulation of 500, however, police agents of the British imperialist-backed monarchy began to undemocratically arrest members of the underground political group; and, after December 1935, further publication of the newspaper was undemocratically prevented.
The unpopularity of the puppet regime enabled an Iraqi general named Bakr Sidqi to overthrow the Iraqi government in an October 1936 coup and members of the Communist Party of Iraq underground organized popular support for the coup in Baghdad's working-class neighborhoods. Mass demonstrations in support of the new coup regime were then held in Iraqi towns on November 2 and November 3 of 1936.
On March 17, 1937, however, General Bakr Sidqi, began threatening to crush the Communist Party of Iraq. Twenty thousand Iraqi workers who had been influenced by the underground Iraqi communist group, including Iraq Petroleum Company workers, then went out on strike on April 5, 1937. But following the assassination of General Bakr Sidqi on August 10, 1937, the coup regime's police began to suppress Communist Party of Iraq agitators. By the end of 1937, Communist Party of Iraq leaders were either exiled or in jail; and four pro-fascist Iraqi Army colonels, who were also loyal to British imperialism and the Hashemite monarchy, now controlled the coup regime until 1941.
In December 1940, however, the underground Communist Party of Iraq launched a new party newspaper, Ash-Shararah ("The Spark"), which was secretly produced until 1942 by using government stenciling machines belonging to the Land Registry's Typewriter Division. By 1942, the newspaper had a readership of 2,000.
In April and May 1941, meanwhile, an attempt was made by some nationalist Iraqi officers to eliminate continued British imperialist special influence in Iraqi politics. Four nationalist Iraqi colonels marched their troops into Baghdad and installed Rashid Ali-al-Gailani as Iraq's new premier on April 1, 1941. Besides being supported by anti-fascist left-wing nationalists, Rashid Ali's anti-British imperialist regime was apparently also supported by pro-fascist right-wing Iraqi nationalists. So some of the mass anti-imperialist street support for the new Rashid Ali regime in April and May 1941 apparently was manipulated and expressed in anti-Semitic attacks on Iraqis of Jewish background.
Although Rashid Ali freed from prison the pro-communist Iraqi soldiers who had been jailed since 1937, the Communist Party of Iraq was compelled to send a letter to Rashid Ali on May 7, 1941 that stated:
"In the first place, the Communist Party regrets, nay abhors, the acts of provocation hatched against our Jewish brethren by the retainers of British imperialism on the one side, and the propagandists of German imperialism on the other. The violation of liberties, the intrusion into homes, the plundering of possessions, the beating and even murder of people are, your Excellency, acts which not only contravene law and justice but run counter to this nation's natural disposition for generosity, gallantry and high-mindedness."
Despite the anti-imperialist, right-wing nationalist Rashid Ali government being recognized by the Soviet Union a few days later, however, this regime prohibited political parties and trade unions; and it was apparently unable to stop the anti-Semitic attacks by its nationalist supporters in the streets on Iraqis of Jewish background. After more British troops were sent to re-occupy Iraq on June 1, 1941 and the right-wing nationalist Rashid Ali regime collapsed, several hundred Iraqis of Jewish background were killed by the disappointed, anti-British imperialist, right-wing nationalist Iraqi street demonstrators on June 1 and June 2, 1941. In a June 1943 self-criticism of its role in Iraq between April and June 1941, Communist of Party of Iraq leaders later concluded that their support of the Rashid Ali regime and movement had been a political mistake, because the pro-Rashid Ali right-wing nationalist movement was too pro-fascist in its political orientation.
(end of part 2)
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Peoples History of Iraq
17.07.2005 06:39
A People's History of Iraq: The Iraqi Communist Party, Workers’ Movements, and the Left 1924–2004
By Ilario Salucci
This important book offers a critical analysis of the Iraqi Communist Party and its contribution to the workers' movement and the Left in Iraq. Whether standing up to British occupiers, the monarchy they installed, or the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein--who for many years was a friend and ally of the United States, Iraqis have a rich history that has been entirely ignored by the media and pundits who supported the most recent invasion and occupation of that country.
"Sooner or later, all foreign troops will have to leave Iraq. If they do not do so voluntarily, they will be driven out. Their continuing presence is aspur to violence. When Iraq'speople regain control of their own destiny they will decide the internal structures and the external policies of their country. One can hope that this will combine democracy and social justice, a formula that has set Latin America alight in recent years, but is greatly resented by the Empire. Meanwhile, Iraqis have one thing of which they can be proud and of which British and U.S. citizens should be envious: an opposition."
--From the Foreword by Tariq Ali
"The struggle for the liberation of Iraq does not lie with the United States. It lies...among the unemployed Iraqis who, for forty-eight days, tried to force U.S. authorities to grant them an unemployment benefit and a degree of dignity. Among the women who arefighting for equality and freedom, and courageously battling against diverse reactionary Islamic forces. Among the workers currently discussing their problems, their organizations, their future trade unions, and their struggle for a better life in Iraq than that offered by past and present nightmares."
--From A People's History of Iraq
ILARIO SALUCCI is an Italian activist and journalist who has spent years studying the hidden history of resistance in Iraq.
Haymarket Books, ISBN 1-931859-14-0. Paperback 208 pgs. April 2005
Harry Zimmerman