JAIPUR: The morning of Day 4 at the Jaipur Literature Festival began on a nostalgic note. At the session, ‘Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab Jew’, organised by The New Indian Express, author and historian Avi Shlaim talked about his memoir with old friend and American historian Eugene Rogan.
The author discussed how his book offers a deeply personal and poignant account of the Jewish community that once thrived in Iraq – his home for the first five years of his life between 1945-50.
“Before 1948, there was a thriving Jewish community in the Middle East countries like Iran, Egypt, Iraq, and North Africa. Specially in Iraq, the Jewish community was well integrated into Iraqi society and even hand close bonds with locals. My family and I had a very comfortable life amid the prevailing religious tolerance towards minorities. My fondest memories are the ones where I slept under the starry sky at night on the roof and my garden table where we relished the feasts,” Shlaim said.
Shlaim’s world changed after the Farhud – an anti-Jewish programme in Baghdad in 1941. “It led to attacks on the Jewish community; murder, rape, looting and destruction of Jewish homes and businesses. We were left in shambles. Many Jewish families lost their Muslim friends in Baghdad as they were made to flee;” the author recollects pieces from shattered lives
Zionism, a movement towards ‘re-establishment of a Jewish nation’ through formation of Israel in 1948, also contributed to displacement of Arab Jews.
“Zionism supported only European Jews; Iraqi Jews like us considered ourselves Arab Jews and had a distinct identity. When we were made to flee Baghdad to be in the new country of Israel, it felt like being uprooted like a tree from its roots. When many Jews came to Isreal, at the airport, they were sprayed with chemicals like DDT as part of disinfection, leading to a sense of dehumanisation in Isreal. I felt inferior as an Iraqi Jew living in Israel in the 1950s.”
He also shared that while his family endured much hardships for survival, his father went absolutely silent, out of hopelessness and depression. “My mother stayed resilient. She took a telephonist job and became the breadwinner of the family when my father lost his business and fortune. She kept hopes when survival seemed difficult,” he said remembering his mother Saida Shlaim.
As the Israel-Palestine conflict is still not resolved, despite years of violence, refugee crisis, and deepening divide, Shlain hopes for a better future. He said, “ the two-state solution is there due to the Israeli settlement. I advocate one state where people can live peacefully, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, region, language.”
In Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab Jew, Avi Shlaim memoir brings to life the cultural richness of Arab-Jewish experience exploring complexities of identity and belonging.