The Jews of Iraq—who constitute the Diaspora’s oldest and for many centuries most important Jewish community—now find themselves threatened with massacre by Islamic State and facing discrimination by the central government. Tina Ramirez argues that the U.S. should be trying to protect them, along with Iraq’s other beleaguered religious minorities:
When I met with Sherzad Omar Mamsani, the Jewish representative to the Kurdish government, in December 2015, he proudly wore his kippah in public—an act of bravery and defiance against those who would see him and his people wiped out in Iraq. He told me that, contrary to reports of only a half-dozen Jewish families, there are as many as 430 such families left in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Although most of these Jews have kept a low profile in public, they experienced a renewed sense of hope with Sherzad’s appointment by the Kurdish government. Sherzad is working in the relative safety of the Kurdish zone to rebuild Iraq’s remaining synagogues and Jewish holy sites, and is helping rewrite the Jewish portion of Kurdish school lessons on Iraq’s religious history. . . .
[I]t is now the Kurds who are helping the Jews rebuild in Iraq. Similar support has not been forthcoming from the Baghdad government. Iraq is facing a critical turning point in its history. The last historic Jewish community and countless other minority faiths are at risk of disappearing. The U.S. and United Nations need a robust policy that recognizes the departure of these communities as the result of more than just the existential security challenges from Islamic militants. Iraq’s government must treat Jews—and every minority group within its borders—as full and equal citizens or they will disappear in the Middle East.
Read more on National Review: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429067/iraq-jews-need-help