The Sassoon's Return Visit to Baghdad
A Diary by Mozelle Sassoon. In September 1910 Mrs Farha Sassoon and her children undertook a trip from Bombay to Baghdad via Basrah. On the voyage to Basrah, they were joined by Sir William Willcocks in Karachi, who built the Asswan Dam in Egypt. more

A Show-er, A Blower
In Victorian and Edwardian times, a gentleman had to carry two clean handkerchiefs every day - a show-er in the breast pocket which was in fact designed to accommodate it, and a blower in the trousers pocket. more

The Struma Affair
I was amazed to read first in the Jewish Chronicle and then in The Scribe the abracadabra story of The Struma as related by Joel Ives. Is he that innocent or ignorant about the true story or is he acting in order to promote his book or articles. more

The Jews of Iraq
Hebrew Assocations with Iraq go back to the time of Abraham who left Ur for Canaan by divine command around 1800 BCE because of religious intolerance. Both Isaac and Jacob took wives from the old country and eleven of Jacob’s twelve children were born in Iraq. more

Was Britain Actively Involved in the Holocaust?
In 1917 Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in order to bring the United States to join the Allies in the war against Germany, after the collapse of the Russian front. But soon after the end of the First World War it became clear that Britain was opposed to establishing the Jewish National Home. more

Giscard Stresses Palestinians' 'Right to a home'
PARIS – French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing said here on Tuesday night that France believes in the necessity of a global agreement in the Middle East which would preserve the legitimate rights of "all concerned and especially the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland of their own". more

De Gaulle's opinion of Israel
Press conference held at the Elysée Palace on 27 November 1967. Question: General, war broke out in the Middle East six months ago. It ended quickly, as we know. What do you think of the evolution of the situation in that area since last June? more

Moslem conquest of the Middle East
In the Byzantine state there was constant hatred between Christians and Jews and this intensified Jewish hope for help from Iranian side. In 556 Justinian faced a Samaritan-Jewish uprising in Palestine as also did Justin II in 578. more

Baghdad as a Jewish city
It has often been said that New York is a Jewish city. I think one can safely say the same about Baghdad of the first half of the twentieth century. more

More than one Moses?
Rameses II was not the Pharaoh of the Exodus, as is commonly and erroneously supposed. more

Babylonian Jewry
Babylonia was one of the main birthplaces of the Jewish people from its earliest times, as well as the place where the foundations of Judaism as we know it today were constructed. more

Abraham, Father of the Middle East
In many ways Abraham is the common denominator of the Middle East especially that part of the region known as the Fertile Crescent. He was an Aramaean born in Iraq who had to migrate to Canaan for the sake of religious freedom. more

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