Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies
Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies (Arabic: ثلاثة كان على الله ان لا يخلقهم: الفرس، اليهود والذباب) is the name of a racist Iraqi government pamphlet widely published during the era of Saddam Hussein.
The author, Khairallah Talfah, was an Iraqi Ba'ath Party official, and the maternal uncle and father-in-law of Saddam Hussein. He first wrote the ten-page pamphlet in 1940.
In 1981, following the start of the Iran–Iraq War, the Iraqi government publishing house Dar al-Hurriyya (House of Liberty) republished it, and the Iraqi Ministry of Education distributed the propaganda as part of a textbook for school-children.
The work describes Persians as "animals God created in the shape of humans", Jews as a "mixture of dirt and the leftovers of diverse people",[1] and flies as poor misunderstood creatures "whom we do not understand God's purpose in creating".[2][3] According to Con Coughlin, "This weak Iraqi attempt at imitating Mein Kampf nevertheless had a bearing on Saddam's future policymaking. As president of Iraq, Saddam's foreign policy was determined by his hatred of the Persians, or Iranians as they are better known, and the Israelis."[2]
Saddam Hussein had the book's title phrase etched into a plaque he kept on his desk.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Blair, David (2003-03-18). "He dreamed of glory but dealt out only despair". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1424980/He-dreamed-of-glory-but-dealt-out-only-despair.html?pageNum=1.
- ^ a b Con Coughlin. Saddam: His Rise and Fall, page 19. ISBN 9780060505431: Quoted from Samir al-Khalil. Republic of Fear, 1989. University of California press. p. 17.
- ^ Efraim Karsh, Inari Rautsi. Saddam Hussein: a political biography. Grove Press, 2003. ISBN 0802139787, 9780802139788 Pg 15
- ^ Kengor, Paul. "The rise and fall of a dictator", The Washington Times, January 7, 2007.
