Anti‐Shiism in Iraq under the Monarchy

Bibliographic Data

ID10282004
AuthorsElie Kedourie (corresponding author)
Year1988
Volume24
Issue2
Pages249-253
Publication date1988-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMiddle Eastern Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-3206 • E-ISSN: 1743-7881
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00263208808700740
OpenAlexW2073331650
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited1

In March 1947, Salih Jabr became the first Shiite Prime Minister of Iraq. At the end of January 1948, his government fell following riots in Baghdad occasioned by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed shortly before at Portsmouth. The fall of Salih Jabr's administration came about chiefly as a result of the Regent Abdul-Iah's failure of nerve, when at a meeting of ministers and exministers, called while Salih Jabr was still in London, he was bounced into issuing a statement disavowing the Treaty, the terms of which he had himself approved at the start of the Anglo-Iraqi negotiations. No doubt, those who intimidated the Regent into making this disavowal were moved by the ambition to occupy Salih Jabr's place, by sheer love of trouble-making, or by nationalist or leftist doctrines. But there is little doubt that opposition to him was also actuated by anti-Shiite sentiment among the predominantly Sunni political classes. A hostile demonstration by students of the Sunni college of religion in Baghdad (Kulliyat AI al-Bayt) called for Salih Jabr's downfall, referring to him by the derogatory term, rafidi.I Again, Diya' Ja'far, the Minister of Communications and Works in Salih Jabr's ministry, a fellow Shiite, had leaflets printed and distributed in Baghdad by the police shortly before the Prime Minister's return, in which he warned the people against the demonstrators who were described as destructive elements, Zionists, Moscow's lackeys and sectarians (ta'ifiyyun).2 This last epithet was of course meant to hint at the Sunni animus believed to actuate the Prime Minister's opponents. It is ironical that the same accusation of ta'ifiyya is levelled by Tawfiq al-Suwaydi against Salih Jabr whom he accuses, in his memoirs, of filling official posts with fellow-Shiites.' Salih Jabr was succeeded by Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr, also a Shiite. He was chosen, it seems, not least because this would put a stop to the allegation that his predecessor fell because he was a Shiite. Had a Sunni been chosen, bloodshed might have ensued. This, it seems, was a fear entertained by a former Sunni Prime Minister and an opponent of the Portsmouth Treaty, Hikmet Sulayman.4 Some two years after his downfall, Salih Jabr joined the government which Tawfiq al-Suwaydi formed in February 1950 and which lasted until the following September. In this government, Salih Jabr occupied a key ministry, that of the Interior, while fellow Shiites held other important portfolios. Abd al-Karim al-Uzri was Minister of Finance, Diya' Ja'far of Economics, Abd al-Mahdi of Communications and Works and Sa'd Umar of Education. The number and prominence of the Shiites in this ministry seem to have aroused great Sunni jealousy. The Prime Minister remarked, in his memoirs, on Salih Jabr's attempt to impose his views on his colleagues, and on his and al-Uzri's interference in matters outside their province. In particular, Suwaydi complained of Salih Jabr imposing his own candidates at by-elections, as though he were the Prime Minister! Suwaydi declared that Salih Jabr chose whomever

Ancient history · Favourite · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · Regent · Treaty · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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