The Jews of Iraq

Alisa Douer

"Iraq exists under its current name and within its current borders officially only since 1932. The region--which does not necessarily correspond with the current borders--had many names over the past millennia, such as Mesopotamia, Babylon, Assyria and more. Many minorities of race and religion lived there. The Jewish exile to Babylon began in 586 BC, following Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. In Western historiography the Levant is also called the "Fertile Crescent" and is considered the "birthplace of human civilization." It was also the birth place of the monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which were then spread across the world. Alisa Douer demonstrates the integrity and long history of the Jews in Iraq, which lasted for more than 2,600 years and included many contributions to the society as a whole. One should also note that they did not leave Iraq,...