Fear For Iraqi Jews In Wake Of Law Imposing Death Penalty For Ties With Israel

 

Iraqis celebrate the passing of the law criminalizing the normalization of ties with Israel, in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 26, 2022. 

The law passed in Iraq last week banning ties with Israel on penalty of death or life imprisonment has aroused fear in Iraqi Jews, Yisrael Hayom reported on Sunday.

Some Iraqi Jews have been drawing closer to Yiddishkeit thanks to the work of the Shorashim department of Yad L’Achim, which publishes material in Arabic. The head of the Shorashim department said that the Iraqi Jews he’s been in contact with are very fearful of their fate.

“The situation there is growing worse day by day and there’s tangible fear,” he wrote in a report to the Yad L’Achim administration. “The law bans us from having any contact and fear of the law is already being felt. Several Jews that I’ve been learning with sent me messages that they’re afraid to continue and I shouldn’t contact them anymore or  send the daily shiurim and divrei Torah.”

Yad L’Achim is loath to lose contact with the Jews altogether and they’re trying to develop alternative ways to continue the relationship, such as through a third country. “After we returned these lost Jews to Am Yisrael, we’ll make every effort to maintain contact with them without harming them of course so that they won’t be lost again to Am Yisrael.”

In a message seen below, one of the Iraqi Jews who was learning about Yiddishkeit told her Yad L’Achim contact: “Anyone who contacts the state of Israel, even on social media, will be punished. We need help urgently.