To recap the story of the Iraqi Jewish Archive(s): a lot of Jewish documents in Hebrew and Arabic were found rotting in the flooded basement of the Iraqi Intelligence headquarters during the Iraq war in 2003. In a few weeks these were frozen to preserve them and they were later shipped to the United States for conservation. Meanwhile, Iraq was asking for them back. They have been conserved for some years and have traveled in an exhibition. There have been negotiations with Iraq about their return. The return deadlines have repeatedly been extended. Some, including some Iraqi Jewish refugees and their descendants, oppose the return to Iraq. There was a rumor of a three-year extension to the most recent return agreement, which would put the current informal return date in September of 2021.
Background here, with links going back to the discovery of the archive in 2003.
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