New Jewish Museum in Baghdad Faces Threats from Iraqi Shia Factions
A new Jewish museum in Baghdad has drawn severe threats from Iraqi Shia factions. Leaders of the Badr organization condemned the cultural project as a security breach.
A recently inaugurated Jewish museum in Baghdad has sparked sharp backlash and threats from Shia factions in Iraq. Mohammad Naji Mohammad, leader of the Shia terrorist organization Badr, declared that Baghdad is not a testing ground for Zionist projects, calling the city's identity a red line.
Writing on social media, Naji Mohammad claimed that the enemy is gaining a foothold in the Iraqi capital. The museum was opened on the ruins of the restored Shamash Jewish school on Al-Mutanabbi Street in central Baghdad. He criticized the exhibition, which features photographs of rabbis, heritage items, and Jewish folklore, describing it as a security and cultural breach disguised as an innocent cultural event.
According to local media reports, the Shamash Museum opened last week, dedicated to the history of the Jewish community that lived in Iraq since the destruction of the First Temple. More than a thousand people have visited the site so far. The single-hall museum exhibits documents, school certificates, and portraits of prominent community figures, including Sasson Heskel, Iraq's first modern finance minister, and Dr. Fuad Eliyahu.
Fewer than 50 Jewish buildings and sites remain in Iraq today. The vast majority of the once-vibrant community left the country following the 1941 Farhud pogroms, during which hundreds of Jews were murdered by rioting mobs.
