Here's the story about the synagogue, Nerd. I first heard about it on NPR. I remembered or heard incorrectly when I got the impression that the synagogue no longer had a Jewish congregation. It appears to have a very small congregation, and there is a Muslim Iraqi who is the caretaker for the synagogue and who also protects the two old men who live in the synagogue's compound.

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/iraq2003/raz_030522.html

Here's an excerpt:

The center of Jewish culture in Baghdad is the Meir Taweig Synagogue -- the last working Jewish prayer house in Iraq, founded in 1942. Ninety-year-old Tawfiq Sofer, one of two elderly Jews who live in the small rooms adjacent to the complex, is the oldest living link to an ancient Baghdad community. He never married, and his brother and sisters left Iraq in the early 1950s to live in Iran, Israel and England.

Muhammed Jassim, caretaker of the synagogue and protector of the two men who live there, is a Muslim -- but his family has been close to the synagogue's leaders for generations. "It is my duty, because I am faithful to my job -- and all that matters to me is (to) look after their safety and their health," he tells Raz.

During the 20 nights of aerial bombing in March, Muhammed never left the synagogue, and after the fall of Saddam's forces he fired several warning shots from his pistol to keep looters at bay."


Here's some information on the IDF's use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. In the case described in the first link, the Palestinian civilian who was being used as a human shield was killed during the procedure. The link contains a photograph of him being used as a human shield:

http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/2002/020814.asp

http://www.btselem.org/English/Human_Shield/Timeline_of_Events.asp