Medal Of The Palestine War 1948-49.

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Nut Herb Filistin 1948-49 / Medal for the Palestine War, 1948-49

In solidarity with Arab interests, Iraq joined the war against Israel which erupted on 15 May 1948. From that date until they were withdrawn in April 1949, Iraqi troops participated in the first Arab-Israeli War. The troops found that they were badly equipped and virtually untrained for this war due to dramatic reductions which had taken place in Iraqi military expenditures in the aftermath of Rashid Ali’s rebellion of 1941. This, combined with the economic difficulties which the war brought to Iraq (tied, in part, to the massive exodus of Iraq’s large Jewish community between after 1948), contributed to growing opposition to the Hashemite monarchy.

This medal was awarded retrospectively after the revolution to the members of the Palestinian Brigade of the Iraqi Army and to associated Iraqi military personnel.

Established: Law No. 32 of 1959.

Obverse: White metal, 40 mm. An eight-pointed bronze star, enameled red, with bronze flames on each point. In a central multi-colored enameled medallion, a map of Palestine with Al-Aqsah Mosque in the center and an armed soldier advancing from lower right. Lower left, an inscription, “Aaidoon” or “We are coming back”. Suspended from a ring.

Reverse: Above, the crurved Arabic inscription “Al-Jamhuriya al-Iraqiya” or “The Iraqi Republic.” Below, a scroll. The center is blank.

Ribbon: 30 mm, equal stripes of black, green, red, green, and black. Black 6 mm, green 6 mm, red 6 mm, green 6 mm, black 6 mm.

Awards: Between 8000 and 10000 Iraqi troops were sent for this war.