Jews of Iraq and the modern Babylonian community

The Jewish community of Iraq is the direct heir of the Babylonian diaspora, one of the oldest and most prestigious in the Jewish world, which once housed the great Talmudic academies. In the modern era, the Jews of Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul formed a significant part of the urban population and played a leading role in commerce, banking, administration, and the liberal professions, participating fully in the local Arab culture. The early twentieth century saw this prosperous and largely Arabic-speaking community produce renowned civil servants, writers, and musicians. The situation deteriorated with the rise of Arab nationalism and the influence of hostile ideologies: the pogrom of the Farhoud, in Baghdad in June 1941, claimed hundreds of Jewish victims and marked a profound rupture. After the creation of Israel in 1948, discriminatory laws, persecutions, and pressures provoked, during Operation "Ezra and Nehemia" (1950–1951), the near-total emigration of this millennial community to Israel.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World — Brill
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan