Three Worlds

Memoirs of an Arab-Jew

De: Avi Shlaim

Narrado por: Neil Shah

In July 1950, Avi Shlaim, only five, and his family were forced into exile, fleeing their beloved Iraq to the new state of Israel.

Today the once flourishing Jewish community of Iraq, at one time numbering over 130,000 and tracing its history back 2,600 years, has all but vanished.

Why so? One explanation speaks of the timeless clash between Arab and Jewish civilizations and a heroic Zionist mission to rescue Eastern Jews from backward nations and unceasing persecution.

Avi Shlaim tears up this script. His parents had many Muslim friends in Baghdad and no interest in Zionism. As anti-Semitism surged in Iraq, the Zionist underground fanned the flames. Yet when Iraqi Jews fled to Israel, they faced an uncertain future, their history was rewritten to serve a Zionist narrative.

This memoir breathes life into an almost forgotten world. Weaving together the personal and the political, Three Worlds offers a fresh perspective on Arab-Jews, caught in the crossfire of Zionism and nationalism.

©2023 Avi Shlaim (P)2024 Tantor

ASTONISHING!

Very good and informative book. I had heard that after 1948 the Arab countries expelled Jews. It wasn't the way we've been told of...

Explanation of kinds of Jews and background of today’s Arab-Jewish conflict.

The evenhandedness with which he explained the history of today’s situation. I was always puzzled by the use of the word Arab Jew and he made it perfectly clear what that was. I’m disappointed. The term isn’t used more today.

The vivid storytelling and descriptions of each instance of Avi’s life

I enjoyed how the book held a historical perspective and thesis, but also was an autobiography