He introduced the evening speaking of the western world's growing dependence on oil, and how the country of Iraq was created by western interests after World War I by combining three tribal regions, remnants of the old Ottoman Empire. Mr. Black pinpointed the date when the Islamic Jihad began. It was July 24, 1920, when the League of Nations issued its decree following months of backstabbing negotiations: "Britain would get Iraq and Palestine, the Jewish people would get their homeland, the French would get Syria, and the Arabs got zip."

He explained that the Arab tribes had been led to believe that if they threw off the yoke of the Sublime Porte, they would have a place at the peace table next to Britain and France. Instead, Black said, everybody was double dealing. Under the League of Nations ruling, Britain would get the oil fields in Iraq and a pipeline through Palestine. France would get a pipeline through Syria.

"The Arabs call that day 'The Year of the Catastrophe,' the year the Arabs lost everything," he said. "They wanted national structure. They didn't want Palestine, but would welcome a Zionist state. They didn't want Iraq. They wanted Syria."

Mr. Black also discussed the little known fact that Hitler was involved with the Arab leadership to jointly destroy the Jews living in Iraq. He spoke of the interoperability between the Arabs and the Nazis, both with a common goal to destroy the Jews. He went on to demonstrate that even though the Third Reich was destroyed, the paradigm Hitler created lives on today in the world--manifesting daily (throughout the Arab world) as hatred for the Jewish people.

With local members of the Iraqi Jewish community present, the lecture and subsequent question and answer session became especially poignant. In accord with information Mr. Black spoke of during his lecture, members of Kahal Joseph shared their personal experiences and stories with the audience. It was an educational and emotional experience for all.