Tasqit

Curators: Orly Baher Levy and Ayelet Assia Shemesh

On March 9, 1950, after many long years during which Iraq prohibited Jews from immigrating to Israel, the official gazette of Iraq, al-Waqaāʼiʼ al-Iraqiya,  promulgated the Waiver of Citizenship (Tasqit) Law. It stipulated that the country's persecuted Jews would be allowed to leave Iraq and immigrate to Israel on the condition that they relinquish their Iraqi citizenship. In practice, they were also forced to give up all their property. They left the country of their birth as refugees, holding a laissez-passer for one-way travel and a single suitcase per person that could weigh up to 30 kilograms..

Through the lens of Rafael Surani's camera, we see them waiting in line at the Meir Tweig Synagogue in Baghdad to register for their immigration to Israel. We also see them in the immigration terminal at the Masuda Shemtob Synagogue, waiting to be driven to the airport. Surani, who understood the magnitude of the moment, spontaneously and sensitively created a kind of photographic journal that documented the process in a rare way.

Some original suitcases are on display in the middle of the space. They were used by Iraqi Jews to transfer the few personal items that they were allowed to take with them. Each suitcase bears the name of its owner and his or her citizenship waiver number. That number also appears in the records that were kept by the Iraqi government.

The vitrine exhibits travel documents (laissez passer) that were issued to the Jews, which allowed them to leave Iraq, but not come back. Those documents bore a special stamp: "Is Not  Allowed to Return to Iraq."