(12 Apr 2023)
IRAQ SYNAGOGUE
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 2:33
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Akre, Iraq – 9 April 2023
1. Various of workers working on renovation of Ezekiel Synagogue
2. Landscape view of area
3. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Bekas Brifkani, director of Dohuk’s heritage department:
“The roof and sidewalls will be all rebuilt in the same way as they were before, and even the synagogue’s front yard will be restored along with the well behind me. It will all be restored in a special way. There will also be a path for tourists, and we are going to make a barcode with location signs and brochures about the site, so people can get details about this site.”
4. Various of workers carrying bucket of cement and spreading out cement
5. Worker fixing stone in its place in wall
6. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Bekas Brifkani, the director of Dohuk’s heritage department:
“In this place where we have the synagogue, there is a Zoroastrian temple some 30 to 40 meters away, and some 150 meters further, there is a mosque and a Christian church side by side. So all the five old religions have had and still have a presence here.”
7. Buildings at village in Akre
8. People working at worksite
9. Various of worker striking stone to shape it
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladyslav Karyl, specialist in art conservation:
“I think the very important part of our presence here is to collaborate with local firms and with people who are working here. For example, this group of men here, we are teaching them how to work with the stone because this is a completely different work. If you build a new house, it is different than when you repair an old one. So we teach them how to cut the stone, the stone masonry, actually.”
11. Interior of synagogue
12. Shelves on walls
12. Sunlight shining on interior of synagogue
14. People at worksite
15. Drone shot of construction work at Ezekiel Synagogue ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
A centuries-old synagogue in the Kurdish region of Iraq is currently getting a facelift, preserving the history of a site that no longer has a community to serve.
Only village elders remember the community that once worshiped at the Ezekiel Synagogue, which dates back to more than 700 years.
The synagogue was one of Iraq’s few remaining sites that served as a reminder of the Jewish heritage.
This area is known for once having a robust Jewish community, but its numbers dwindled when many migrated to Israel around 1948.
Bekas Brifkani, the director of Dohuk’s heritage department, says this place has also been home to people from multiple faiths.
“In this place where we have the synagogue, there is a Zoroastrian temple some 30 to 40 meters away, and some 150 meters further, there is a mosque and a church,” he says.
“So all the five old religions have had and still have a presence here,” Brifkani adds.
After being abandoned for a long time, the synagogue faced risk of collapse which makes the renovation work crucial.
The synagogue is getting renovated through a donation worth $500,000 provided by the U.S. Consulate in Irbil.
Experts such Vladyslav Karyl, a specialist in art conservation, are working with the local builders to guide them through the construction.
“If you build a new house, it is different than when you repair an old one. So we teach them how to cut the stone,” Karyl says.
Brifkani says the roof and the sidewalls of the building are going to be rebuilt but in a way that will preserve their original design and style.
AP video shot by Rashid Yahya
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1 Comment
Hope they can add some Botox to that facelift