Sabih

BY AMOS

Sasson Somekh (see post below) also gave me the definitive etymology for the popular fast-food dish known as "sabih" in Israel. While everyone agrees that it was brought to Israel by Iraqi Jews, there are various stories about the origins of the word. Somekh claims that he knows the person who first sold the delicious eggplant-egg-potato-in-a-pita sandwich (probably somewhere in Ramat Gan, but I did not ask). The man's name was ... Sabih, which Somekh tells me was a popular name among Iraqi Jews in the twentieth century because it was religiously neutral.

Arabic as a Jewish Language

BY AMOS

Earlier today, Professor Emeritus Sasson Somekh (b. 1933) delivered the first of three lectures held under the auspices of the annual Taubman series at the University of California - Berkeley. Somekh, who was born in Baghdad and came to Israel with the airlifts of Iraqi Jewry in 1951, at the age of 17, is Israel's foremost authority on contemporary Arabic literature. In his Taubman lecture he spoke about "Arabic as a Jewish Language," beginning the series with background about Judeo-Arabic and a survey of the two greatest Iraqi Jewish writers.

Somekh's brief sketch of the history of Judeo-Arabic will probably be familiar to most of our readers and can be found in several sources, including his own publications. The highlight of his talk was Somekh's discussion of Iraqi Jewish literature in the twentieth century. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked the onset of a linguistic revolution for the Jews of Iraq. Until then, Jews in the various Arab countries spoke some form of Judeo-Arabic, which they recorded in Hebrew letters using a relatively standardized system of transcription. But in the twentieth century, an increasing number of Iraqi Jews learned what Somekh calls "Arabic-Arabic" - for the first time, they wrote literary Arabic in Arabic letters. In North Africa and Egypt, on the other hand, Jews tended to be literate primarily in French, while in Yemen, Jews continued to write Judeo-Arabic until very late.

For a brief period of a few decades, Iraqi Jews wrote for an audience of non-Jewish Iraqis, taking part in many of the journalistic and literary endeavors that sprang up in Baghdad from the 1920s to the 1950s. Somekh mentioned such writers as Meir Basri, Shalom Darwish, and Ya'qub Bilbul. At least some of these authors have been studied by Arab scholars and praised for their contributions to Iraqi literature. The situation is more complicated with those writers who came to Israel as teenagers or in their early twenties. Sami Michael and Shimon Ballas, for example, left Baghdad between the ages of 18-20. Both had been part of political (Michael, who was active in the Communist Party) and literary circles (Ballas) in Baghdad. In Israel, they learned Hebrew and published most of their works in that language. Somekh, who came to Israel when he was 17, belongs to this group. Although he did not speak about it, he has published a memoir called Baghdad, Yesterday: The Making of an Arab Jew which has been translated into English.

But a different group of writers found itself in a sort of "doubled exile" after the immigration to Israel. Somekh spoke about two remarkable individuals who, for whatever reason, wrote almost all of their works in Arabic while living in Israel. They were perhaps the most accomplished Jewish novelists to write in Arabic but their work has made almost no inroads in the Arab world. Yitzhak (Ishaq) Bar-Moshe and Samir Naqqash (1938-2004). Both were born in Baghdad but came to Israel at different ages.

Bar-Moshe left Baghdad when he was 23. He found work as an Arabic-language broadcaster and journalist employed by the Israeli government and did not become active in literary circles until 1972 when he published a first collection of stories, in Arabic, called "Behind the Fence." Over the next decade, he had published ten more short story collections and four enormous autobiographical novels. Most of his stories are "like Kafka's worlds," devoid of local context and often philosophical. A posthumously-published memoir called Two Days in June (2003) described his experience of the 1941 "Farhud" (pogrom) against Baghdad Jews in June 1941.

Samir Naqqash arrived in Israel at the age of 13. Unlike many others of his generation, he mastered literary Arabic and indeed never learned to speak Hebrew properly. He published his first collection of stories, called Al Khata (The Mistake), in 1971. Subsequently he published about a dozen novels, plays, and short stories. The most remarkable feature of Naqqash's writing was his transcription of the differing colloquial dialects spoken respectively by Baghdad's Jews and Muslims. Because these dialects, which were the subject of a study by Somekh's revered teacher Haim Blanc (Communal Dialects in Baghdad. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964) would have been incomprehensible - in writing - to readers of literary Arabic (indeed, Somekh claims that Baghdadi Jews would not have been able to decipher the Muslim dialect and vice versa), Naqqash added footnotes to each of his many passages of dialog with a "translation" into fus'ha. To accomplish this, Naqqash engaged in the "Sisyphean labor" of adding diacritical marks (of his own contrivance) to precisely render the dialect pronunciations.

Somekh's talk next Wednesday will discuss the Cairo Genizah. More to follow.

Happy Passover

BY CARMIA

A woman on the bus watches a group of Haredim in the Haifa neighbourhood of Hadar perform the custom of bi'ur hametz, or burning their remaining leaven products.

Calling for a 3rd Intifada?

BY CARMIA

There is a lot of talk in the media about the possibility of another intifada, sparked by recent events in Jerusalem. On a trip to the Galilee with a stop in Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel and with a clear Muslim majority, I saw handwritten signs which appeared to attempt to incite the local population. The posters were plastered on several official notice boards of the municipality, but obviously without the necessary permits.

The top poster reads, "al-Quds [Jerusalem] is calling us... and Nazareth... is answering the call." The bottom left poster: "Al-Quds is calling us, alas who is answering?" The last poster states, "Raise your hands [illegible] al-Quds". The signs are topped off with a red hammer and sickle. The makers of the posters may have been hesitant in identifying themselves for a number of reasons, including to avoid paying the fee for posting on the boards. Perhaps there is a link to Abnaa el Balad.

Third Intifada?

BY AMOS

If the recent unrest in Jerusalem spirals out of control, the international news media will surely rush to find some symbolic spark. Perhaps, they will blame the announcement of the Ramat Shlomo expansion. Or maybe the dedication of the restored Hurva Synagogue in the eastern part of the city. They will ignore the wave of Jerusalem-related incitement in the past year, and especially in the last few months, by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab states, including countries allied or enjoying in-the-closet relations with Israel. The rhetoric, which includes a smear campaign alleging that Israel plans to "Judaize" Jerusalem by destroying Muslim antiquities, has been employed by the nationalists as well as the Islamists. It has gone hand-in-hand with the patently absurd efforts to deny any legitimate Jewish religious claims to Jerusalem and other sites. In all of this, Jewish attachment to places such as Hebron is dismissed as extremist political posturing by settlers - as if the religious sentiments of Jewish settlers have less legitimacy than those of Palestinian Muslims.

Tel Aviv: Picture of the Day

BY CARMIA

I came across this store on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv. The sign on the right-hand sign reads, "Keep and remember the Sabbath day holy (because it is a source of blessing)". On the left-hand side, "Viagra pills may be obtained here," and below the sign, a row of bongs disguised as "air fresheners".

Remnants of the Intifada

BY CARMIA

The Second Intifida, which began in 2000, has long fizzled out but the memorials remain. Today is the seven-year anniversary of a suicide bombing which took place near my house and blew up a bus. Seventeen people were killed on bus number 37, which goes to and from the University of Haifa through the Carmel and Hadar, all the way down to the old central bus station at Bat Galim. One of my former students was lucky - he survived this bombing, albeit with hearing and vision damage and a face full of shrapnel.

An unofficial memorial has also grown on the location. It is made up of personal messages dedicated to the various victims of the bombing and messages to humanity in general that people have left all over the wall by the site.

On the other side of the Green Line, there are memorials as well. My friend took some pictures on her visit last year to Nablus and was most struck by the line, "Never Forgive, Never Forget" on the memorial below.

The memorial is obviously intended for the international media as well, having been written in (misspelled) English. The memorial below for "shaheeds" is not meant for the international community.

Maureen Dowd and the Saudi Prince

BY AMOS

From Maureen Dowd's latest op-ed in the New York Times:

"The religious institutions in Israel are stymieing every effort at peace," said the prince, wearing a black-and-gold robe and tinted glasses."

and

Israel is a secular society that some say is growing less secular with religious militants and the chief rabbinate that would like to impose a harsh and exclusive interpretation of Judaism upon the entire society. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis are fighting off the Jewish women who want to conduct their own prayer services at the Western Wall. (In Orthodox synagogues, some men still say a morning prayer thanking God for not making them women.)

Neither Prince Saud al-Faisal nor Maureen Dowd seem to have a clue about Israel. Jewish religious institutions in Israel have very little if anything to do with the lack of progress in the peace process. The morning blessing to which Dowd refers is said by nearly all men who pray at Orthodox synagogues; it is not evidence of any kind of recent trend in Israel. The only factor making Israel "less secular" is demographic. I don't think it's accurate to say that the chief rabbinate wants to impose ultra-Orthodox Judaism on Israeli society. It is more concerned with keeping ultra-Orthodox rabbis in control of religious institutions. And that, again, is completely unrelated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It seems like the Saudi prince is projecting. He, like many Muslims today, views Israel primarily in religious terms as a challenge to Islam.

Haifa Restaurant Refuses to Serve Uniformed Patrons

BY AMOS

View of the Post Office and McDonald's in Hadar at Herzl and Nevi'im Streets

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Azad, a restaurant in the Hadar neighborhood of Haifa (official name, Hadar ha-Karmel, Splendor of the Carmel) has made the national news after a soldier complained that the restaurant's hostess was refusing to serve him because he had come in uniform (see full story). Asked by reporters, the hostess reiterated the restaurant's policy of refusing service to uniformed would-be diners, whether they are IDF soldiers, ambulance personnel, police officers, firewomen, or scouts. The manager on duty explained that the meaning of the restaurant's name is "the free man," and that because "this is the policy [sic], it has to be respected and [the issue] shouldn't be taken to other places." Without saying so explicitly, she denied that the restaurant was discriminating against soldiers for ideological reasons, claiming that the owners are merely trying to maintain a certain atmosphere in the establishment. Meanwhile, city officials are threatening to review the restaurant's license.

Restaurants and clubs can ask patrons to adhere to dress codes, but the refusal to serve uniformed diners, most of whom will most likely be soldiers, police officers, or paramedics, is frankly speaking disgusting. These are servants of the public and they deserve to be seated at any restaurant they choose, even if it wants to maintain a formal atmosphere, provided they behave in a polite manner like all other patrons. As Israeli citizens, the owners of Azad owe these men and women that much. If the restaurant's policy is ideologically-motivated and envisioned as some kind of statement against the state, it is a complete failure and amounts to discrimination.

The restaurant's owners are Arab Israelis. It will be hard for them to escape the perception that they are trying to make some kind of statement against the state and against people serving in the army. A group on the social networking site Facebook, calling for a boycott of the restaurant, has attracted nearly 4,000 members. The tag line of the group warns that "racist comments will be deleted," but many of those who have joined interpret the restaurant's actions as part of a general antipathy toward the state and the army among Israel's Arabs. For more careful and nuanced views, look elsewhere.

The neighborhood in which the restaurant is located is one of the poorest in the city. The largest subgroups in the population are haredi Jews, Arab Israelis, and recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

The Dubai Affair

BY AMOS

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Dubai's police chief, Lt.-Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has been indefatigably reporting his new discoveries in the Mahmoud al-Mabhouh case to international media, turning him into the darling of Arab and European media. He now claims to have evidence of the involvement of nearly 30 agents in the killing of the Hamas operative. What's more, Tamim has announced new plans to train UAE security officials in recognizing Israelis trying to enter the country with foreign passports by their appearance and manner of speaking. This should be a lot of fun. Meanwhile, Britain and Australia have dispatched investigators to Israel to question those dual nationals whose identities were allegedly used by the suspects. Of course, everything is based on the release of their photos by Tamim, who probably could have saved these people a great deal of grief by being more circumspect. But both he and the Dubai police seem to be enjoying the attention, judging by the agency's web site.

Photo Source: Dubai Police

It's hard to take seriously the outrage of the British about the use of their passports. Do MI-6 agents on sensitive missions routinely travel with the Queen's documents? Prime Minister Brown is certainly aware of the hypocrisy of his position. But once Tamim publicized the origins of the passports used by the alleged assassins, those governments could not but react.

For all of Tamim's crowing about a "99% certainty" that the Mossad assassinated al-Mabhou, no evidence has yet come to light that conclusively links Israel to the killing. Interestingly enough, the U.S. has refused to comment at all on the matter. It is hard to believe that if this was indeed a Mossad operation that American intelligence officials were not apprised of it beforehand or actually involved in it.

There are many commentators who have judged the operation a failure, due to the negative publicity. But condemnations of Israel in the international media come and go - one cannot base policy on them. The more relevant yardstick for an intelligence agency and a country's leaders is whether the investment in resources can be justified by the return. If Israel was behind the operation, one would hope that the disruption to Hamas's weapons smuggling networks will actually prove significant enough to affects the organization's usual functioning. Perhaps the killing will sow more fear among Hamas cadres about internal leaks. But Tamim may ultimately be replaced by someone equally or even more capable than him.

Yehuda Shenhav's New Proletariat: Palestinians, Mizrahim, and Settlers

BY AMOS

Photo: Prof. Yehuda Shenhav

Academics in the heavily politicized social sciences and humanities are constantly staking out new fields to endow themselves with the cachet of radical alterity. Nowhere is this more true than in Israel or among expatriate Israelis in Europe and North America. Only those who find a convincing way to reject everything that is rise to the top. In a long interview published in Ha'aretz several days ago, until now available only in Hebrew, Yehuda Shenhav lays out his latest addition to the discursive landscape of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His attack at first seems familiar. We know the line that Israel is a colonialist state dominated by an Ashkenazi elite bent on subjugating both Palestinians and mizrahi Jews. But Shenhav, the son of Iraqi immigrants, has moved a few steps beyond this narrative. His critique is directed at the Ashkenazi left and Center - Meretz, Labor, and Kadima, which he faults for viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as having its origins in 1967 when, according to them, everything went bad. He lampoons this as Ashkenazi nostalgia for an Israel that was more European and less religious. For Shenhav, the twin fears that Israel will have a Palestinian majority or that it will be a majority mizrahi society lurk behind the Ashkenazi elite's embrace of the two-state solution.

Against the "new nostalgists," he pits a strange "alliance" of Palestinians, Arab Israelis, mizrahim, and settlers. The latter are the true left of Israeli society, whereas the left-wing parties, especially Meretz, are no more than wealthy elites spouting ideology. The settlements, in Shenhav's thinking, seem to be a kind of last bastion of the Israeli welfare state. Mizrahim and Palestinians are linked in their shared identities as refugees.

In effect, this implausible new rainbow of ethnic and religious groups and sub-groups for Shenhav seems to play the role of a revolutionary proletariat that will oppose the forces of neo-liberalism. He argues not for a one-state solution but for a utopia of cantons composed of people with different citizenships and allegiances.

The Middle East: Picture of the Day

BY CARMIA

It's not every day in Haifa that I run into someone wearing both a keffiyeh and an IDF hat, so I had to take a picture. When I asked the young man if there was a political message behind his get-up, he told me that he "doesn't like extremism".

Jewish Bedouins

BY CARMIA

Some time ago, a video clip was circulating which speculated on the allegedly Jewish origins of Palestinians, including Bedouin tribes in the Judean desert and the Negev.

While visiting Petra earlier this month, we came across such a young Bedouin who claimed Jewish ancestry. Speaking in Hebrew, he told us that his family used to herd in areas stretching from around Beersheba to Jordan until the borders closed up and they were left on the other side. He says that his grandmother still lives in the Negev, and that he has visited the area on several occasions. He also claimed to have hosted a party at which alcohol was served. Asked how he reconciled drinking alcohol with his conservative and Muslim environment, he replied, nonchalantly, that, "as a Jewish [sic]", he and others are "allowed" to drink.

It would be very difficult to verify his claims, but what I found interesting was that he made them in the first place. Perhaps the tribe he hails from has an oral history that points towards a Jewish background. One of the supporting arguments that he relied on to make his case about his tribe's Jewish ancestry was the fact that, according to him, his tribe would curse others in the Petra area by telling them, "il'an saleebak" ("may your cross be cursed"). Our loquacious and easygoing friend told us that this reference to the cross was based on the originally Christian heritage of other people in the Petra area from who his tribe distinguished themselves. Or perhaps it was all a business strategy to sell more souvenirs.

Random Bedouins at Petra

Israel and Christmas

Ynet reports that Zara

has reduced the number of Christmas trees in its display windows in Israel and added Hanukkah candlesticks, apparently in response to shoppers' complaints that the Spanish company was marking the Christian holiday while ignoring the Jewish holiday.

Zara's customer service representative in Israel, speaking on behalf of the local franchisers, had a difficult time explaining the whole matter:

We, as ZARA franchisers, are obligated to act in accordance with the global ZARA rules," the representative explained. "We have Christian, Jewish and Muslim customers and we are a melting pot for all clients. Therefore, the Israeli branches don't deviate from the international concept and don't look any different from the branches in Spain

Apparently, the "international" concept is the one used in Spain and other European countries, and somehow, when Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are melted, you get Christianity. Obviously someone forgot to think here. Unless Zara has discovered that its biggest market in Israel consists of Christian shoppers, this decision doesn't make a lot of sense.