IRAQ-RELIGION-JUDAISM-HERITAGE-HISTORY
Joseph Elias Yalda, director of the Heritage Museum of al-Qosh, points to old photographs depicting the Prophet Nahum synagogue, at the museum some 50 kilometres north of Iraq’s northern city of Mosul on February 3, 2022. – Iraq’s Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East but has dwindled to a handful, outside of the autonomous Kurdistan region.
Their precious heritage, including the synagogue, is threatened in a country torn apart by decades of war, corruption, and armed groups extorting whatever they want. While historical treasures ruined by jihadists are being restored in Iraq, rare international efforts at saving the Jewish heritage have not been enough. (Photo by Ismael ADNAN / AFP)
