Picture this: Baghdad in the 1940s. A vibrant city where Jews, Muslims, and Christians live side by side, sharing cups of sweet tea in bustling cafes and haggling good-naturedly in the colorful souks. Hard to believe? It shouldn’t be. For centuries, this was the reality across much of the Middle East and North Africa. So how did we get from there to here? Buckle up, because we’re about to dive into a story of manipulation, false flags, and shattered communities that’ll make your head spin.

A Tapestry of Coexistence

Before we get to the juicy (and frankly, disturbing) stuff, let’s set the scene. Jews weren’t just tolerated in Arab lands — they thrived. In Iraq, they made up a third of Baghdad’s population. In Egypt, they were titans of finance and culture. Morocco’s Jewish community traced its roots back two millennia. This wasn’t some fleeting moment of peace; it was the status quo for centuries.Take Sir Sassoon Eskell, for example. This guy wasn’t just successful; he was Iraq’s first Minister of Finance and a key architect of the country’s economic system. Or how about Youssef Aslan Cattaui Pasha in Egypt? Minister of Finance and a founding father of the Cairo Stock Exchange. These weren’t outliers; they were par for the course.