Mona Yahia attended the launch event at the Babylonian Heritage Centre in Or Yehuda, as well as other events in Tel Aviv to mark the publication of the Hebrew translation of her novel, When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad, first published by Halban Publishers in June 2003.

Speaking at the book’s launch in the Babylonian Heritage Centre, Yahaia was joined on stage by Linda Menuhin Abd al Aziz on 22 March 2024. At a private reading for former Israeli combat pilots and officers, former MK and minister Ran Cohen discussed the book with the author and Dr Adi Schwartz interviewed Yahia at a book event at the Library of Bet Ariella in Tel Aviv.

Following the experiences of Lina, a teenage girl in Baghdad’s Jewish community in the late 1960s, When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad traces the violent government coups and increasing systemic antisemitism that forced Iraqi Jews to flee the land that was once their home. The book’s translation into Hebrew marks an important step in documenting and commemorating the experiences of former Iraqi Jews and Jewish families, many of whom sought refuge in Israel after being forced to flee Iraq.

Published by Kinneret, the Hebrew translation of When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad was made possible by the generous support of Dangoor Education.