State Department says it is working to extend Iraqi Jewish Archive’s stay in US

The State Department says it is working with Iraq to extend the stay of a trove of Jewish artifacts from the country, while a bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution recommending that the items not be returned as planned in September.

“We continue to work with the Government of Iraq and relevant stakeholder[s] to extend the exhibition in the U.S.,” a State Department official tells JTA in an email.

Last year, the State Department said that it would return the Iraqi Jewish Archive in September 2018, to the dismay of activists who argue that the collection of thousands of Jewish religious and personal items should be accessible to the Iraqi Jewish community, which fled the country amid anti-Semitic persecution.

On Wednesday, following discussions in the Senate, a group of lawmakers introduced a resolution recommending that the U.S. renegotiate the archive’s return and keep them in the United States.

— JTA