Although Iraqi Jews saw themselves as Iraqi patriots, their community--which had existed in Iraq for more than 2,500 years--was displaced following the establishment of the state of Israel.
It studies their ideas about Judaism, Islam, secularism, modernity, and reform, focusing on Iraqi Jews who internalized narratives of Arab and Iraqi nationalisms and on those.
New Babylonians chronicles the lives of these Jews, their urban Arab culture, and their hopes for a democratic nation-state.
Although Iraqi Jews saw themselves as Iraqi patriots, their community--which had existed in Iraq for more than 2,500 years--was displaced following the establishment of the state of Israel