[1] Originally built in the 1930s by Iraqi Jews and Armenian Christians, it was one of the most affluent neighborhoods and was home to numerous synagogues, schools, yeshivas and clubs.

Bataween was originally farmland, planted with crops like lettuce, and the Jewish community sought refuge there after fleeing the violence.

They moved to the area, known as Karrada Maryam, on the Karkh side of Baghdad, escaping the killings and finding protection from local farmers.

[2] In the early fifties of the last century, after the migration of Jews from Iraq, the Bataween neighbourhood lost many of the Baghdad Jewish families.

A local man named Abdul Ali, who lived in the nearby Sobna (or Karrada Maryam) area, helped in protecting the Jewish refugees.

Over time, the neighbourhood turned into a commercial and industrial area, where shops and printing presses multiplied after the migration of the Jews in the late sixties.

[3] However, antisemitism increased during the rule of Abdul Rahman Arif, as the Arab states lost to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The international community imposed sanctions on Iraq, resulting mass emigration of people living in the neighborhood, particularly Christians.

[5] 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 religious factions from 2006 to 2008.

Its inhabitants were a mixture of Iraqi Christians, Muslims, and Jews, but most of them left it voluntarily or by force in the middle of the twentieth century, and after 2003 for many reasons.

[7][1] Following the territorial expansion of the Islamic State (IS) during the 2013–2017 civil war, Christians living in the area fled, fearful of future consequences.

[10] Later, after the security campaign was completed, the Ministry of Interior announced that it had “seized usurped properties and houses that were illegally seized in Al-Bataween,” and called on the original owners of these properties to visit the al-Sa'doun Police Station, which is located within the neighborhood, and bring papers or supporting evidence, so that they can recover their usurped rights.

It is believed that there is an undeclared political motive for the security operation in Bataween, which is “the greed of armed groups to dominate the area through investment and turning it into commercial centers.

The Bataween area originated from an old neighborhood called Bustan al-Khas, which was then outside the borders of Baghdad, south of its eastern gate.

Today, Bataween is considered a controversial area due to some undesirable behaviors, such as the spread of sex trade, drugs and organized crime.

Last Friday, the Iraqi Intelligence Agency announced the arrest of an African drug dealer in possession of 5 kg of crystal meth in Baghdad.