Tuesday, August 16, 2005
As mentioned in the entry below on the Philistines, in ancient times, the Babylonians conquered Judea and carried off much of its Jewish population. While many of the Jews eventually returned, many stayed behind, making the Iraqi Jewish community one of the most ancient continuously existing communities in the world. At the time of the First World War, Baghdad's population was approximately one third Jewish. In the late 1940's, there were approximately 150,000 Iraqi Jews. The ethnic cleansing that began in the late '40's and '50's has left that number at no more than a few dozen individuals today. See: The Jews of Iraq
This JPost article describes the Museum of Babylonian Jewry, Back to Babylon:
Housed in a structure that incorporates the Center for Iraqi Jewish Heritage, the museum's varied exhibits are well laid out, making it easy to follow the flow of history of this important community.
While the major emphasis is on late 19th- and 20th-century community activity, eye-catching interactive displays chronicle the ancient exile and return, as well as the central role of the great academies of Sura and Pumbeditha and the development of the Babylonian Talmud...
I'm not sure how many Iraqi Jews would want to return, even if they could get their property back. I doubt very many. They've moved on and done great things as part of the Israeli melting-pot. Live in the present, look to the future, remember the past. Iraqi Jews lived in tent-cities for a few years as they made the transition. Some other groups could take a lesson.
Incidentally, I remember reading that present-day Fallujah is what Pumbeditha turned into.