In spite of alarmist reports on social media, the deed has not yet been done, and a petition is circulating among Iraqis to stop the demolition of the 100-year-old home of Sir Sasson Eskell (Heskel), Iraq’s first finance minister – a Jew. Iraq’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities wants to preserve the site, while the Baghdad municipality wants to pull the building down. The Times of Israel reports (with thanks: Imre):
The Baghdad municipality announced Friday it would demolish and then give to a developer the 100-year-old home of Iraq’s first finance minister, Sir Sassoon Eskell, while an official in Iraq’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities slammed the decision as a “violation” of the law.
Sir Sasson Eskell (Heskel), Iraq’s well-regarded first finance minister
Eskell, who was born into an aristocratic Baghdadi Jewish family in 1860, was instrumental in founding the Iraqi government’s laws and financial infrastructure.
The municipality of the Iraqi capital said in the press release that Eskell’s home “is not a heritage site according to the book of the heritage department,” the Iraqi site Assabah al-Jadeed reported Saturday.
“The home was constructed 100 years ago on Rashid Street, in central Baghdad, and is presently granted to a citizen to invest in,” the statement continued, stressing that “the investment is done in accordance with the law.”
Sa’id Hamza, head of the investigation department of heritage sites within the ministry, accused the municipality of “violating the law” by giving away Eskell’s home for investment.
“Who in Baghdad’s municipality considered the home to not be a heritage site?” he reportedly wondered, suggesting there may have been corruption.
Hamza added that Eskell’s home is composed of two parts: one that is meant to be handed over to the Finance Ministry, and another that is supposed to be returned to his grandson Albert Sassoon Eskell. (Sasson Eskell never married – ‘grand nephew’? – ed)
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