NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, praised the U.S. Senate for passing Senate Resolution 333 Thursday night, which strongly recommends the United States renegotiate the return of the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq. The resolution was adopted unanimously, with 30 co-sponsors.
The Archive, documenting 2,600 years of a Jewish Iraqi history, contains more than 2,700 books and other Jewish artifacts seized from oppressed Iraqi Jews and their institutions by the Saddam Hussein regime during the 1970s and 1980s. Sent to Washington, D.C. for restoration and recently on display at the Smithsonian Institute, the Archive is scheduled to be returned to Iraq in June 2014 if no immediate action is taken to change the terms of the initial agreement with the Iraqi government.
Nathan Diament, Executive Director for Public Policy for the Orthodox Union, said, “We thank the Senate for its quick approval of this resolution and particularly thank the resolution’s original sponsors, Senators Pat Toomey, Richard Blumenthal, Barbara Boxer and Ben Cardin, for their leadership on this important issue. The unanimous adoption of the resolution demonstrates that this issue is non-partisan and is solely a matter of courtesy for the Iraqi Jewish community and their history. We urge the State Department to follow the Senate’s recommendation and renegotiate the terms of the agreement.”
*
Preceding provided by the Orthodox Union
Anti-Defamation League favors renegotiation vote
NEW YORK (Press Release)—The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday, Feb. 7, welcomed the Senate passage of Resolution 333 which urges the United States Government to renegotiate with Iraq the return of the Iraqi Jewish Archive to ensure that the documents are kept in a place where its long-term preservation can be guaranteed and accessible to the Iraqi Jewish community throughout the world.
The Archive, which includes religious books and community documents confiscated from the persecuted Jewish community by the Baathist Government of Saddam Hussein, was discovered in May 2003 by U.S. forces in the headquarters of the Iraqi Military Intelligence in Baghdad.
“This important resolution, which was adopted by unanimous consent, balances the U.S. commitment to cultural property under international law, while recognizing the unique significance of this Archive to Iraqi Jews and their decedents who overwhelmingly live outside Iraq,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “We thank Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and the twenty seven co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle for their leadership on this issue and we look forward to swift House action.”
The Archive was eventually brought back to the United States and restored at the U.S. National Archives. Before the Archive was brought to the United States, and before scholars and members of the Iraqi Jewish community could evaluate the materials, an agreement was signed between the National Archives and the Coalition Provisional Authority which stipulated that the Archive would be returned to Iraq.
The Jewish presence in Iraq is the oldest in the Jewish Diaspora, dating back to 721 BCE. With government harassment and persecution beginning in the 1940’s, this ancient Jewish community was forced to flee Iraq. These refugees then settled in Israel, and across the Jewish Diaspora, primarily in the United States and Europe. Today, the remaining Jewish community in Iraq numbers but a handful of people.
In 2010, ADL wrote to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging the U.S. to reassess its agreement to eventually return the Archive to Iraq.
*
Preceding provided by the anti-Defamation League
*
AJC: Iraq’s Ambassador hopes for ‘creative solution’
NEW YORK (Press Release) — AJC applauds the unanimous U.S. Senate adoption of a resolution strongly recommending that the United States renegotiate the return of the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq.
“These invaluable items, some personal, some communal, rightfully belong to the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC’s Director of International Jewish Affairs. “Given the political and security situation in Iraq today, Jewish religious items may not be secure or accessible to those who are most interested in them.”
AJC has urged the State Department to review the understanding with the Iraqi government and find a way to ensure that they will be kept in a place where their long-term preservation and their accessibility to scholars and Iraqi Jews can be guaranteed.
AJC also has discussed this option with Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S. Lukman Faily who has expressed the hope that a creative solution might be found.
The archive is a collection of Jewish religious items and other artifacts, discovered after U.S. forces overthrew Saddam Hussein, and brought to Washington ten years ago for restoration and preservation by the National Archives. The understanding has been that after a public exhibit of some Iraqi Jewish items in Washington, D.C. and New York, the full collection would be sent to Baghdad this summer.
*
Preceding provided by the American Jewish Committee (AJC)