Iraqi Jews intend to demand a billion dollars of compensation from the United States

At the end of the war in Iraq, Iraqi Jews living in the USA and Europe are considering the possibility of filing claims with a demand to pay them compensation, equivalent values ​​of property and assets that they were forced to leave once.

Prominent members of the Jewish community of New York report that after the end of the war they were overwhelmed by a wave of statements from Iraqi Jews who wanted to file a lawsuit about compensation for property and assets confiscated by the Baghdad regime after they left the country in the 1950s.

The flow of statements entering the New York office of the World Jewish Congress (century) is constantly increasing. The century is an organization that headed the international campaign against Swiss banks and has obtained an agreement under which compensation was paid to relatives of the owners of passive bank accounts who died during the Holocaust.

Director of the Century Dr. Avi Becker said on Thursday that a lawyer from San Francisco informed him of his intention to file a lawsuit and demand compensation for the property of her relatives, confiscated by the Iraqi government in 1951. She will seek payment of compensation from Iraqi accounts frozen in the United States, writes Ha'aretz (transfer on the website inopressa.ru ).

Since there are a lot of statements, in June in London a conference will be gathering to discuss the problem of "property of Jewish refugees from Iraq." It is expected that the event will be attended by Jews who emigrated from Iraq, who will present evidence of the persecution and repressions that they were subjected to leaving the country. The conference is organized in conjunction with the London branch of the World Sephardi Federation's, which is headed by Shimon.

The problem of compensation to the Jews who lived in Iraq will be the subject of discussion at a meeting of the leaders of the eyelids, which will be held in Jerusalem next week. It is expected that delegates from the USA and Europe will arrive at the meeting.

“The organization is engaged in this problem“ with great caution, ”said Ha'aretz Avi Becker.“ Congress will not understand this issue without close coordination with the Israeli government. ” Nevertheless, Becker added, the possibility of independent claims will be filed is not excluded.

The day before, a senior representative of the Jewish community in New York said that the plaintiffs may demand the payment of compensation from Iraqi funds frozen in the United States. It is assumed that in the context of the restoration of Iraq, the American administration will soon unlock a significant part of this money.

In an article published in the March issue of International Law Magazine, the University of Foremam, Professor Carol Basri writes that, according to estimates, the number of Jews left Iraq in 1951 is 120 thousand, of which 110 thousand emigrated to Israel. Everyone who left was allowed to take 50 dinars.

Basri, great-grandson Haham Ezra Dangur, who was Baghdad, who was the main rabbi, believes that the value of property and assets confiscated from Iraqi Jews reached $ 150-200 million. “Today it is about a billion dollars,” says Avi Becker.