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News Topical, Digital Desk : A magnificent mansion in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, now serves as the French Embassy. It once housed a Jewish family. But the family is suing France for $22 million for decades of unpaid rent.
The family alleges that France exploited the Iraqi government's anti-Semitic policies and broke its contract. The case is scheduled to be heard in a Paris court on Monday. This story dates back 60 years. In 1935, two brothers, Ezra and Khedouri Lavi, built this house on the banks of the Tigris River.
'The house was built with blood and sweat'
In 1965, France rented it and established its embassy. But the family alleges that France defrauded them by offering a cheaper deal to the Iraqi government, which they claim was done under laws that confiscated Jewish property.
Meyer Lavi is Ezra's son and is 86 years old. He explains that his father rented the house to France to save it. "My father was very sad. It was his home, which he had built with blood and sweat, and it was taken away," Meyer says.
The family's lawyer argues that France's adherence to a foreign country's anti-Semitic laws is unconstitutional and violates international conventions. France's defense is that Iraq bears all responsibility, but this makes it appear dependent on those discriminatory laws.
Exodus of Jews
Between 1941 and 1951, approximately 130,000 Jews fled or were expelled from Iraq, a region that had been inhabited for 2,600 years. The Lavi family was one of 900,000 Jews expelled from Arab and Muslim countries after the creation of Israel in 1948.
The family's lawyers link the case to claims by Holocaust victims, where France has returned property stolen during the Nazi era. "France did wrong by supporting Iraq's antisemitic policies," say lawyers Jean-Pierre Mignard and Imran Ghermi. France says the damage was caused by Iraqi decisions.
France says it had to deal with Iraqi authorities because of laws that confiscated property from Iraqi Jews since the 1950s. They are seeking more evidence from the family. Newer generations of the family, like Philippe Khazzam (Ezra's grandson, 66), grew up hearing stories about the house.
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