UPDATE ON JEWISH SCHOLARS IN IRAQ: With reference to this post, this post, and this post, I note that Donny George, director of Iraq's National Museum, posted an important statement in December on the IraqCrisis list. Somehow I missed blogging on it, but Chuck Jones has just posted it again. Here it is:

IRAQ MUSEUM

POLICY FOR ACCESS TO THE COLLECTION FOR STUDY

STATEMENT

The policy for access to study objects of the Iraqi Museums shall be as follows:

Access to the collection for purposes of study or cataloging shall be granted to all scholars, regardless of race, religion, gender or ethnicity. Access will be granted, depending on the condition of the objects and by previous approval and appointment with the museums. Research will be conducted within the museum's facilities. Access will not be granted to scholars and institutions that are known to work with stolen Iraqi antiquities or give expertise to the illicit market in antiquities, whether that work involves Mesopotamian Antiquities, the Cultural Heritage of Iraq, or antiquities illicitly acquired from other countries.

Dr. Donny George
Director General
Iraqi Museums
December 2004

My emphasis. This statement says exactly what needed to be said. Well done. I trust that the policy will be implemented exactly as it is written. If you are a Jewish scholar applying for research access to objects in an Iraqi museum, please alert me to your application and keep me posted on how it goes.