http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=127129&d=7&m=10&y=2009
Wednesday 7 October 2009 (18 Shawwal 1430)
Mizrahi Jews reach out to the Arab world
Sherri Muzher
When Gamal Abdel Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952,
it may surprise people that it was the Egyptian singer, Leila Murad, a Mizrahi
Jew, who was chosen as the Revolution's official singer. Murad was chosen over
the much-loved Egyptian singer and darling of the Arab world, Umm Kalthoum. The
fact is that Mizrahi Jews - Arab Jews - have played important roles throughout
Arab history. Recently, I interviewed the Mizrahi Jewish journalist and
activist Mati Shemoelof. He and other Mizrahi Jews issued a special letter to
the Arab/Muslim world this past summer - not only talking about their shared
history but also about President Obama's positive message in Cairo.
Sherri Muzher (SM): Before talking about the letter, "A New
Spirit: A Letter from Jewish Descendents of the Countries of Islam," can you
describe what being a Mizrahi Jew has meant to you and how has it shaped your
outlook throughout your life?
Mati Shemoelof (MS): Being a Mizrahi Jew is a personal family
matter and a political issue. It is part of my many identities. To be a Mizrahi
Jew is part of my social struggle to change the values in the covenant between
the state and society. Because Mizrahis are still oppressed, it is my task to
fight against discrimination and look for a multi-cultural consciousness. I
look for new and more tolerant ways to deal with the different Middle Eastern
identities.
SM: What is the difference between Mizrahi Jews and Sephardic
Jews?
MS: Sephardic Jews originated in the Iberian Peninsula and
North Africa. They are mainly the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain in
1492. Sephardic Jews are Mizrahi Jews. The term "Mizrahi" means "East" in
Hebrew and is part of a powerful mechanism of classification. Mizrahi Jews are
historically Jews of Middle-Eastern descent whose families, in most cases,
immigrated to Israel from Arab countries. They form about half of the Israeli
Jewish population. The painful reality in Israel is the division within society
between Ashkenazi Jews (of European descent) and Mizrahis. This often goes
unnoticed by outside observers, who naturally focus on the more violent aspects
of Israeli politics and the sharp division between Jew and non-Jew made by the
Israeli state.
In fact, in mainstream Israeli discourse, there has long been
a systematic avoidance/denial of this, maintaining - as is perhaps "demanded"
by Zionist ideology and its ongoing nation-building - that Jews are a distinct
people and that Israeli Jews have a unified ethnicity and a shared history.
Indeed, the mere notion of an Arab Jew, as some Mizrahis identify themselves,
is close to unthinkable in the Israeli consciousness. But the divide is not
painful simply because it is denied. There is a history of political, economic
and cultural oppression of Mizrahis and, as relatively recent scholarship
establishes clearly, much of this oppression is present to this day.
SM: What problems are unique to Mizrahi Jews?
MS: Mizrahi Jews strive to bring about a meaningful change in
Israeli society and implement the values of democracy, human rights, social
justice, and equality and transform Israel into a multi-cultural society. As a
poet, I want the literature of Arab Jews to be part of the curriculum and the
Israeli canon. Still, there is much to do in implementing those ideas inside
mainstream cultural realms.
SM: You are a member of Mimizrach Shemesh, an organization
devoted to the Jewish tradition of social responsibility. How difficult is this
in a climate of mistrust and anger?
MS: Your question shows that you are familiar with the
difficulties that any social activist faces in everyday activism. "Mimizrach
Shemesh" is trying to bring the theological and religious experiences of
Mizrahi Jews into the act of social change. For instance it re-constructs the
world of the liturgical music of the Piyut (http://www.piyut.org.il) from the
distant past to today's scene. It isn't the only place for Mizrahis to
re-connect to their heritage - it is a place for every Jew and non-Jew to sit
together and learn melodies. After you learn, sing and rejoice together, you
can use this social and cultural power for political change.
SM: The title of the letter is, "A New Spirit." Explain the
significance of the title.
MS: Well, Ezéchiel Rahamim, a close friend, a talented
author, scholar and the initiator of the letter thought that we should look for
a "New Spirit" in terms of universalizing our identity and re-create it in a
different way in the Middle East. For example, for years the West has been
trying to mediate between Israel and the Arab states. But European thought is
what brought nationalism and Eurocentric as well as Orientalist ideas into the
Middle East. Those European constructions couldn't imagine Arab-Jew identities
in which separation isn't needed. For thousands of years, Jews and Arabs lived,
created, and breathed from Arab culture without needing to build a separation
wall between Jews and Arabs. We thought that a "New Spirit" was needed as a
parallel to Obama's "A New Beginning" in Cairo. President Obama is the first
African-American president; we'd like to see an Israeli prime minister with an
Arab heritage, who would take on social responsibility and talk about his/her
identity with pride.
SM: Would it be fair to say that given the shared history
with Arabs, Mizrahi Jews are more likely effective conduits in the pursuit of
peace between Arabs and Israelis?
MS: This argument can lead to essentialism so I will be
careful. We use the Mizrahi term which the country has used to label us to
empower ourselves. The Arab Jew's narrative holds creative ways to handle the
problems in the Middle-East. It is sharing knowledge of the Arabic language,
culture and diverse viewpoints. The Arab Jew's narrative holds this in its
memory, history and religion. But it is also a shared struggle for social
justice and a re-construction of the region with its original inhabitants. So
we stand in that tension between awareness and symbolic belonging and
identification. And by moving on this scale of possibilities, we can contribute
to de-colonizing Israeli culture.
SM: Who is your main target audience with this manifesto and
why?
MS: The main target of this manifesto is first a call to the
Arab World to show that the Israeli government and policy makers don't speak
our language. It is really a multi-cultural universal call for social justice
without colonization and oppression.
- Sherri Muzher is a Palestinian-American activist, lawyer,
and freelance journalist.
