News
Broadcast, 11 July
on 600 radio stations in America
By Stephen Beard
Every week, a group of Iraqi Jewish musicians gathers in
London to rehears and perform. they're celebrating an ancient
culture. Jews have lived in what is now called Iraq for
more then two and a half millennium. Many of the 7000 Iraqi
Jews who now live in exile in London many of them hounded
out of their country by Saddam Husein, are determined that
their heritage should not be forgotten. "I will not
allow our contribution to be expunged from the history of
the Middle East. We were there, our ancestors were there,
we should be recognized as such." Edwin Shuker was
sixteen when he and his family fled Saddam's persecution
in the early 1970s. He now has a message for all Iraqi Arabs
. " I want them to know that we were their partners,
that we built their country. I want them to know that are
share holders in Iraq, as much as every other Muslim and
Christian who lives abroad who long to be back, who long
to keep the connection".
For many Iraqi Jews in Europe and in the US, the demand
for recognition is rapidly crystallizing to a demand for
compensation. Most of the exiles like George High, fled
Iraq empty-handed. " I left everything behind, my business,
our farms, our house". George, now a diamond merchen
in London, wants reparation from Iraq. "They are not
a poor country, Iraq is a very rich country, they must give
to the citizens who have struggled all their lives. The
Jews built Iraq, all our life, they took it away".
Naim Dangoor lost two factories, several houses and a block
of flats when he was forced out of Iraq almost 40 years
ago. He has since made a huge fortune in the British property
market. He says Iraq should make amends and it could be
done painlessly. " We would be happy to receive bonds,
we don’t need to have cash all of us. So the compensation
would be spread over a period of time. Naim Dangoor has
a bold of visions, he would like to see Iraqi Jews return
to their homeland and rebuild the country alongside their
Arab fellow countrymen. "I don’t dread the thought
of going back, on the contrary, we will bond there and we
feel we are a product of that country". Now, 89 years
old, Naim Dangoor dreams about returning to his native Baghdad
and reclaiming his father's old house on the once fashionable
"Abu Nawas" street. It could be some time before
that dream is realized.
This is Illana Ozernoy in Baghdad, standing on the street
where Naim Dangoor is hoping to reclaim his confiscated
home. Abu Nawas Street, which runs along the West Bank of
the Tigris River, was once filled with fashionable cafes
and restaurants. It's changed a lot since Dangoor lived
here. Today, this street is dirty from years of neglect,
and overrun with weeds. Saddam forbade pedestrians to come
here in the early 90s, because he didn’t want people
looking at his palaces, which stretch for miles on the other
side of the river. So most of the cafes closed, the music
stopped. Mundar Hafid is 75. He has spent his whole life
in a two-story house in Abu Nawas. He believes that the
street will see its heyday again. "The property goes
up. I wouldn’t sell my house, I am proud to have it
here." Do you think your house is going to rise in
value? "Yes, certainly." That’s why families
who were kicked out of their homes in "Abu Nawas"
are trying to come back. But not all those returning will
be welcomed. This is one of the few cafes left in Abu Nawas.
It is a shack with peeling floor and cracked tile floor.
Four men sit around a plastic table, playing backgammon
and drinking beer. Naim Dangoor and other Iraqi Jews will
not get a warm welcome here. "We hate any Jew families,
we refuse that they come back. We accept any religion, for
example Christians are ok, Jews not, we would never accept
that. " But the value of Real- Estate will rise here
is a given. River front property in such a central location
is a developer's dream. But it is less clear that Naim Dangoor
and other Iraqis will benefit from the eventual boom.
In Baghdad, this is Illana Ozernoy, for marketplace.
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