“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.
Source link
