Baghdad bloodshed holds no fear for last of Iraq's Jews (the *very* last)

Barrett808

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Fri Aug-11-06 12:43 PM
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Baghdad bloodshed holds no fear for last of Iraq's Jews (the *very* last)

Baghdad bloodshed holds no fear for last of Iraq's Jews
by Patrick Fort

BAGHDAD (AFP) - In his worn sandals and gray spotted shirt 82-year-old Abu Brahim -- one of the last Jews in Baghdad, perhaps the last -- seems tired but undaunted by the violence raging around him.

"They came to take me away three years ago and wanted me to leave," said Brahim, explaining that well-wishers had wanted to evacuate him to safety in the chaos following the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Old, but wiry and alert, Brahim remains determined to stay put.

"Why should I leave? Why change? I always lived here. I do not want to shift," said Brahim, running a hand through his thin, disheveled white hair.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060811/wl_mideast_afp/iraqviolencereligion

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ECH1969

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Fri Aug-11-06 01:45 PM
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1. Iraq has Jews?

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sabra

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Fri Aug-11-06 01:48 PM
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2. there used to be a decent Jewish community

many of them have moved to Israel over the years. Surprisingly some of them want to return to Iraq...

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Lisa

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Fri Aug-11-06 02:37 PM
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4. yes, there are Jewish communities in Iraq and Iran as well

In fact, Iran took in refugees from Hitler even when Canada and the US were turning them away, in the 1930s.

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nealmhughes

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Fri Aug-11-06 06:02 PM
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5. Babylon and Baghdad used to be the main centers of Jewish life...

the Middle Eastern Jews are called Mizrahim and include some pretty impresive people like the Sassoon family of London and Mumbai and Baghdad.

As a matter of fact, Mizrahim may out rank Ashkenazim, Sephardi and Beta Israel in Israel...

That's why guys who look like Woody Allen's younger cousin are seen eating falaffel on the street of Tel Aviv instead of knishes...

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genieroze

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Fri Aug-11-06 02:35 PM
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3. He's got big ones, God bless him.

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