IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 505 

Strongly recommending that the United States renegotiate the return of 

the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2014 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. 

NADLER, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. GRIMM, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. 

CHABOT, Ms. TITUS, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. WOLF, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Ms. FRANKEL of 

Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, and Mr. MURPHY of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Strongly recommending that the United States renegotiate 

the return of the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq. 

Whereas, before the mid-20th century, Baghdad had been a 

center of Jewish life, culture, and scholarship, dating 

back to 721 B.C.; 

Whereas, as recently as 1940, Jews made up 25 percent of 

Baghdad’s population; 

Whereas, in the 1930s and 1940s, under the leadership of 

Rasheed Ali, anti-Jewish discrimination increased drastically, including the June 1–2, 1941, Farhud pogrom, in 

which nearly 180 Jews were killed; 


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•HRES 505 IH 

Whereas, in 1948, Zionism was added to the Iraqi criminal 

code as punishable by death; 

Whereas, throughout 1950–1953, Jews were allowed to leave 

Iraq under the condition that they renounce their citizenship; 

Whereas, as result of past persecution, few Jews remain in 

Iraq today, and many left their possessions and treasured 

artifacts behind; 

Whereas the Ba’ath regime confiscated these artifacts, later 

dubbed the Iraqi Jewish Archive, from synagogues and 

communal organizations; 

Whereas, on May 6, 2003, members of the United States 

Armed Forces discovered the Iraqi Jewish Archive, which 

included 2,700 books and tens of thousands of documents, in the heavily damaged and flooded basement of 

the Mukhabarat (secret police) headquarters; 

Whereas, under great urgency and before adequate time 

could be dedicated to researching the history of the Iraqi 

Jewish Archive, an agreement was signed between the 

National Archives and Records Administration and the 

Coalition Provisional Authority on August 20, 2003, stating that the Iraqi Jewish Archive would be sent to the 

United States for restoration and then would be sent 

back to Iraq after completion; 

Whereas, the Iraqi Jewish community is the constituency of 

the Archive and is now represented by the diaspora outside Iraq; 

Whereas, the current Government of Iraq has publicly acknowledged the importance of the Archive and demonstrated a shared respect for the wishes of the Iraqi 

Jewish diaspora by attending the December 2013 burial 


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•HRES 505 IH 

of several Torah fragments from the Archive in New 

York; 

Whereas United States taxpayers have invested $3,000,000 

to restore the Iraqi Jewish Archive, and the National Archives and Records Administration has worked diligently 

to preserve the artifacts; 

Whereas the National Archives and Records Administration 

is displaying the Iraqi Jewish Archive in Washington, 

DC, from October 11, 2013, to January 5, 2014, and in 

New York City from February 4, 2014, to May 18, 2014; 

and 

Whereas the Iraqi Embassy to the United States has said 

that the Iraqi Jewish community, like other communities 

in Iraq, played a key role in building the country, shared 

in its prosperity, and also suffered exile and forced departure because of tyranny: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly urges the Department of State to 

3 renegotiate with the Government of Iraq the provi4 sions of the original agreement that was signed be5 tween the National Archives and Records Adminis6 tration and the Coalition Provisional Authority in 

7 order to ensure that the Iraqi Jewish Archive be 

8 kept in a place where its long-term preservation and 

9 care can be guaranteed; 

10 (2) recognizes that the Iraqi Jewish Archive 

11 should be housed in a location that is accessible to 


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•HRES 505 IH 

1 scholars and to Iraqi Jews and their descendants 

2 who have a personal interest in it; 

3 (3) recognizes that the agreement between the 

4 National Archives and Records Administration and 

5 the Coalition Provisional Authority was signed be6 fore knowing the complete history of the Iraqi Jew7 ish Archive; and 

8 (4) reaffirms the United States commitment to 

9 ensuring justice for victims of ethnic and religious 

10 persecution. 

Æ 


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