Sarajevo museum: ‘profits from book on medieval Haggadah will go to Palestine’

International Jewish organisations have denounced as a “political stunt” the decision by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina to give all income raised from the sale of a book about the historic Sarajevo Haggadah to charities helping Palestinians “suffering from systematic, calculated and cold-blooded terror, directly by the state of Israel.”

The celebrated, UNESCO protected Sarajevo Haggadah dates from 14th century northern Spain and is renowned as one of the oldest illuminated Jewish manuscripts.

In a statement on its website and social media platforms, the Museum says that proceeds from the sale of the publication of “Sarajevo Haggadah – History and Art”, as well as monies from tickets to the space where the manuscript is kept, will be donated “for the purpose of aiding Palestine”.

Signed by the Museum’s director Dr. Mirsad Sijaric, the declaration adds: “In a time when we cannot justify ourselves with a lack of information, any aversion, any feigned neutrality in the face of everyday examples of killing, starvation and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians, primarily women and children, is an expression of acceptance and complicity in the genocide that we are all witnessing in real time.”

The decision has been met with outrage and condemnation from global Jewish organisations.

The World Jewish Congress angrily stated that the Sarajevo Haggadah, “a testament to Jewish resistance and survival, is now being used for a political stunt.” The organisation went on to say that Sijarić’s decision “to donate funds from the exhibit, without consulting the Jewish community, disrespects its legacy and cheapens it for political clicks.”

Calling the Haggadah “an enduring symbol of Jewish survival, resilience & coexistence”, President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt said the manuscript was “now being reduced to a political prop” and described how the museum’s “exploitation of Jewish heritage is utterly disgraceful and shameful”.

The American Jewish Committee posted to Twitter/X: “By its recent actions, the museum disgraces itself and disrespects the generations of Jews who read from this Haggadah at their Seder tables.”

The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) wrote: “There is nothing subtle about this. Exploiting a treasured Jewish text to demonstrate contempt and anger with the Jewish State of Israel is disgraceful, disrespectful and downright offensive. This action belies this precious text’s legacy of Muslim-Jewish respect and instead sows discord and division.”

Advocacy group Stop Antisemitism has called the move “a DISGRACE – it insults the memory of the generations of Jews who cherished this Haggadah through persecution and bloodshed, using it to tell the story of freedom at their Seder tables. Exploiting Jewish heritage to push modern-day antisemitic narratives is not only offensive, it’s an act of historical betrayal!”

The announcement comes weeks after a Bosnia and Herzegovina hotel withdrew itself as a venue for a Conference of European Rabbis event following an open letter by a Bosnian minister claiming the city ‘must not be a stage for supporting genocide’.

In the letter, as reported by Jewish News, the federal minister of labour and social policy, Adnan Delic, called Israel a “genocidal entity” committing “shameful crimes against humanity.”

The Sarajevo Haggadah was taken out of Spain either during or before the Jews’ expulsion in 1492, made its way to Italy, and from there, to Sarajevo. The manuscript was sold to the Bosnian National Museum in 1894.