Basra, Iraq – Government Refuses to Compensate Jews for Properties Confiscated by Authorities

    8

    Operations Ezra & Nechemia: The Aliyah of Iraqi Jews in 1951Basra, Iraq – The Iraqi government has rejected recent claims made by an organization demanding that the country’s Jews be compensated for property lost when they immigrated to Israel, the London-based Arabic-language.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    The issue was raised after an organization by the name of “Nachum”, claiming to represent Iraqi Jews who immigrated to Israel, issued a statement demanding compensation for the property and funds deposited in the banks before the Jews escaped.

    The organization stated that the Jewish property and the community’s assets were confiscated by the authorities. According to “Nahum”, Iraq’s Jews had controlled some 80% of the country’s economy in the past, and the value of their assets is estimated today at some $100 billion. The organization’s claim focuses on the Basra district, which housed tens of thousands of Jews in the past.

    Iraqi lawyer Hashem Muhammad Ali, who lives in Basra, expressed his support for the Jewish organization’s statement. According to him, the Jews were part of Iraq’s social and economic fabric for thousands of years, and the British Mandate and Iraqi government’s policies forced them to leave the country.

    On the other hand, the former manager of Basra’s department of antiquities and heritage argued that the Jews sold their property before leaving Iraq. According to him, communal property is subject to the supervision of the Iraqi government’s Waqf office.

    The Iraqi government, on its part, said that the Jews who emigrated from Iraq could have been compensated had they been able to prove that they were forced to emigrate. The official Iraqi policy states that the Jews’ emigration was “made out of choice.”

    Iraqi government workers stated that the new compensation claim was “provocative” and was part of an Israeli attempt to extract funds from the Iraqi treasury.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    8 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    100% it was by choice. Like by all other arab countries either leave now without your money or we will kill you but you had a choice ,No?

    Yehuda
    Yehuda
    14 years ago

    And the Arabs want compensation from Israel for starting a war and leaving voluntarily because they were promised that in a short while the Jews would be driven into the sea and they could have all their property for nothing.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    The Jews were not threatened with death in Iraq. This is total propaganda. Indeed, Naim Giladi has a photo of Saddam Hussein at the old shul in Baghdad after he provided funds to refurbish it. And in any case, when does the State of Israel provide a compensation package for Palestinians?!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Who knows for sure other than the Almighty that the suffering Iraq has been bearing since the Jews left Iraq is not for stealing from the Jews?

    PMO
    PMO
    14 years ago

    This is so stupid. Saddam (believe it or not) was pretty good to the Jews. However, Yidden were sorely mistreated prior to his rise in Iraq.

    People move from place to place for one reason or another. Palestinians argue that they were forcibly removed from their homes. If we are really being HONEST, there is documentation of such things happening.

    This happens… especially in war-torn countries and opressionist dictatorships. People are forced out, or made to feel as though they are being forced out all the time.

    Yidden who made their way to E”Y or America from Iraq have had great opportunities over the last 30 years. Let it go. Let the people of Iraq build their nation in peace.