Wednesday, July 13, 2011

More on the Jewish Archive

Dorothy King (PhDiva) has an interesting post about the continuing dispute over the return of a Jewish archive to Iraq. See
http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2011/07/iraqi-jewish-archive.html

Repatriationists within the State Department seem hell bent on returning the material to the Iraqis-- the only question is whether the State Department will spend the $3 million in US taxpayer dollars appropriated to restore it first.

Yet, repatriation can easily be viewed as morally repugnant; the Iraqi State only gained custody over the belongings of departing Jews after they were forced into exile. See
http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2008/07/joffee-critiques-justifications-for.html

Under the circumstances, wouldn't it be better to turn over the material to the Jewish Iraqi community living abroad rather than to the Iraqi State that was responsible for persecuting Jews and eliminating Jewish culture in Iraq?

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