Bataween

Al–Bataween
Neighborhood
Tigris River
Coordinates: 33.3201° N, 44.4205° E
Country	Iraq
Governorate	Baghdad Governorate
City	Baghdad
District	Rusafa
Government
• Type	Municipal Corporation
• Body	Baghdad government

al–Bataween is a neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq. It is located in eastern region of Baghdad, on the riverside of the Tigris and is part of Rusafa district. Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it was the main Jewish quarter of Baghdad. The neighborhood is mainly inhabited by Muslims, Christians and few Jews.

Along with Al–Turat and Mutanabbi Street, al-Bataween was of the Jewish neighborhoods, which were affluent and livable areas of the city. It is home to synagogues, yeshivas, churches, clubs and schools. Today, the neighborhood is home to Baghdad's tiny Jewish community, numbering around 100. Today, a small number of Jews live in the neighborhood, along with their Muslim and Christian neighbors. The region is also inhabited by Egyptians, Sudanese and Syrians.

The name of the Al-Bataween neighborhood came from the word (Al-Bata), which is a village in the city of Hillah. Some of its people left it to settle in Baghdad in the orchards of this area, such as the (Mamo) orchard and the lettuce orchard.

In the past, it was outside the walls of Baghdad and was called the Al-Bataween area in reference to the people of Al-Bata who lived there and practiced agriculture on its land. It was said about its inhabitant, this Batawi, and the neighborhood was named the Al-Bataween neighborhood. The houses of the Al-Bataween neighborhood were spread on both sides of Al-Saadoun Street and the area was registered in the Land Registry under the name (Mamo) orchard. Most of the residents of this ancient neighborhood were Iraqi Jews who lived in harmony and accord with Muslims during that period of time. Among the Jewish families who lived in this neighborhood were: the house of Yousef Abu Sami (Shamuel), Nissim Hezekiel, the house of Khadouri Mirlawi, Saleh Salsoun, the house of Shasha and Salim Manshi, Karaji Daoud... and others. They practiced their religious rituals with complete freedom and had several temples, namely the Shamash Synagogue and Masouda Shamtob Synagogue, in addition to Meir Tuwaiq, which is close to the Batawin Market.

Most of their houses were two-storey and built in the Baghdad style (an oriental house) with an open courtyard (a courtyard) in the middle from which you can see the sky and surrounded by many rooms and a staircase leading you to the upper floor, whose design is similar to the ground floor and the courtyard is lined with bricks. There is another staircase leading to the (basement) the basement which they used as a sleeping place during the hot summer days. They used to put a layer of green thorns or thistles fixed to palm fronds and placed them on the windows that almost touched the basement ceiling and the people of the house would sprinkle them with water whenever they dried up or withered to give the basement residents cool air. The columns (denk) were also used to raise the house and were decorated with great beauty and splendor to give the building splendor and magnificence. As for the floors of the rooms, mosaic tiles were used with various engravings and decorations that gave them attractive colors and unparalleled radiance and beauty. In the early fifties of the last century, after the migration of Jews from Iraq, the Bataween neighborhood lost many of the Baghdad Jewish families. Tunis Street, near the White Palace, was relatively populated by Jewish families such as the Gitayat Salman, Sami and Meir brothers, in addition to the Qattan family, the lawyer Yaqoub Abdul Aziz, the Lawy and Bikhour families, and others. This neighborhood was also adorned with Christian synagogues for the Armenians and one for the Jacobites in Tunis Street and others. The most beautiful thing that characterized this neighborhood was the good neighborliness and coexistence between the three religions. Over time, the neighborhood turned into a commercial and industrial area, where shops and printing presses multiplied after the migration of the Jews in the late sixties

Bataween was one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Baghdad, originally built by Iraqi Jews in the 1930s.^[1] The neighborhood was home to numerous synagogues, schools, yeshivas and clubs.^[1]

Following the rise of pro-Nazi government of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani in 1941 and subsequent anti-Jewish riots, resulted Jewish exodus from the neighborhood.^[1] The Baghdad bombings of 1950–1951, caused more fear among the Jews of the neighborhood.^[1] As the Jews began leaving the country, the area's largest synagogue became a passport center for them.^[1]

During the time of Abdul-Karim Qasim, the situation of the region's Jews improved.^[2] Fortune of the neighborhood further improved, as Saddam Hussein assumed more power.^[2] Most of the Jews in Baghdad lived mainly in Bataween and few in other neighborhoods.^[2] The Jewish people of the region and their sites were protected by the Ba'ath Security Forces.^[3] Like elsewhere in Iraq, Jewish schools in the neighborhood were nationalized and renamed. Saddam restored the Meir Taweig Synagogue in 1985.^[3] The synagogue was further expanded. During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), a large percentage of the Arab community, particularly Sudanese and Egyptians, moved here.^[2]

The neighborhood began to decline in the Gulf War. The international community imposed sanctions on Iraq, resulting mass exodus of people living in the neighborhood, particularly Christians. An incident happened in 1998, on the day of Jewish festival of Sukkot, where a Palestinian man shot four people to death at the synagogue, including two Jews. Following the arrest of the shooter, police were stationed around the synagogue and the Jewish quarter and maintained security. The incident was condemned by in a cabinet meeting, chaired by Saddam.

The synagogue was closed few weeks before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.^[4] Within weeks of occupation, the coalition forces took control of Baghdad.^[4] Firdos Square, located nearby, was the site were Saddam's statue was toppled, symbolizing end of his regime.^[4] Like rest of Baghdad, residents of Bataween were subjected of kidnapping, bombings, thefts and other crimes.^[4] The Jews living in the neighborhood were hidden and protected by their Muslim and Christian neighbors.^[4] Many of them also started leaving the country.^[4] The north of Bataween lies Bab Al-Sharqi area, which became a stronghold for the Mahdi Army, during insurgency against the coalition forces and civil war between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims from 2006 to 2008.^[4] Bataween was affected throughout the Iraq War. On 26th September 2009, around 6:30 A.M, Hafez Sadkhan Lefta, owner of Al Na'eim Hotel was murdered in the area.^[5]

Following the territorial expansion of the Islamic State (IS) during the 2013–2017 civil war, Christians living in the area, fled the country, fearful of future consequences.^[4] Many Syrians moved to the neighborhood, escaping from the civil war in Syria. Today only handful of Jews are left in Iraq, most of them in Baghdad, residing in Al–Bataween.^[6] But according to the some sources, as of 2014, an estimated 60 Jews found living in Baghdad.^[7] The Jews of the neighborhood are now taken care by their Muslim neighbors.^[8]

• Meir Taweig Synagogue was built in 1942. It was named after Meir Taweig, an Iraqi Jewish businessman. When the Jews were leaving the country, the synagogue served as passport center for them. The synagogue was restored by Saddam in 1985 and further expanded in 1988. It contains a library, Jewish school and community center. The library of the synagogue contained more than one million books. In 1984, it was confiscated by the Secret Police. Later the Jews themselves agreed with the authorities to keep the Jewish Archive, where it was preserved in tight security.
• Baghdad Jewish Club
• St. Gregory Armenian Church is an Orthodox Church, located on al-Tayeran Square, between Bab al-Sharqi and Bataween. It one of the churches of the Armenian community in Iraq. The church was named after Gregory the Illuminator. It's construction began in 1954 and was opened in 1957, with contribution from Armenian philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian. Based on the Armenian architecture, the church complex is a sturdy building built with white reinforced concrete. Despite the attacks on churches in Iraq, after the downfall of Saddam, this church remained untouched by the attacks.

• Bab Al-Sharqi
• Shorja
• Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery
• History of the Jews in Iraq