|
|
About
Contact Archive Donations Subscribe to Today's Situation | ||
 News from Israel
|
 Peace: Educational Resources
|
 Pleasure:Poetry and other Arts |
 Ariga's Amazon Bookstore
|
Home
Poetry || SubmissionsIn reply to the question: When did your peace begin?By Ronny Somek On the wall of the cafe in the ma'abara Ben-Gurion's hair blowing in the wind hung by the sweet doughball face of Oum Kulthoum in the same kind of frame. This was in 1955 or '6, and I thought if they hang a man and a woman side by side they must be bride and groom. Ma'abara: Literally, "transition camp." The influx of Jewish immigrants to Israel in the early '50s was overwhelming for the new state. In 1948, upon the establishment of the state, there were barely 600,000 Jews living in the new democracy. By 1955, that number more than tripled to over 1.8 million. To accomodate the million+ refugees, the government established "ma'abarot" -- often no more than tent and shack housing. An entire generation of Israelis remember the "ma'abarot" as squalid and depressing. To a large extent, because the vast majority of immigrants were coming in from Arab countries, many of those who spent their first years in Israel in such camps regarded the experience as part of a conspiracy by the mostly European-born establishment to repress the mostly North African-born refugees. The "ma'abarot" remain embedded in Israeli consciousness to this day as one of those impromptu solutions to one problem that created another. For a few years between 1989 and 1993, a similar situation was created by the government when the Russian immigration from the former Soviet Union overwhelmed the country -- and the governemnt's response was to build neighborhoods of pre-fab mobile homes to house them. By 1995, most of those "caravan" neighborhoods were emptied, as the new immigrants moved to regular housing. Some of these neighborhoods however remain, and they remain a scar on the landscape, especially since many of those remaining behind are Ethiopian Jews, with the inevitable suspicion of racism as the motivation on the part of the authorities to put them in these new "ma'abarot." Back to Top David Ben-Gurion First prime minister of Israel, a small man with a somewhat high-pitched voice and an extraordinary charisma made up of equal parts of intellectual breadth and profound depth of commitment. A stoic socialist, he symbolized tiny Israel's determination to survive against the odds. A cult of personality evolved around him, which he used to help create the Israeli melting pot. More about Ben Gurion Back to Top Oum Khoultoum It's not exactly fair to say she was the Arab world's Madonna, for neither sex nor provocation were her purposes. But she was the leading lady of the Arab world's stage, with an amazing eight-octave voice, and the ability to sing for hours on end improvising on elaborate poetry and enchanting all lovers of Oriental music. Her popualarity in the Arab world cut through all the class and caste lines in that society. From Arab kings to peasants, Moslems to Jews, from the 40s to the 70s, she was the true Queen of her time. Ronny Somek: In his '40s, Ronny Somek is a poet, high-school teacher, and basketball coach. Since the '70's, his poetry has focused on the Israeli experience as it's affected by the global American experience, with particularly emphasis on the imagery and ideas of the '60s. Thus, in this poem, Ben-Gurion's hair "blowing in the wind" is no doubt as much a reference to Bob Dylan's song as it is to the visionary leader's famous white crown of hair. Ronny was born in Iraq and arrived as a very small child in Israel, where he spent his first few years in a ma'abara Today's Situation
Back to the top
If this page was useful, please consider making a donation or use Amazon links at Ariga to go to the biggest online store in the world and help keep Ariga going. Click over to the bookstore, check out Ariga's latest recommended book, or visit one of the subject areas that interest Ariga visitors: Yiddish || Middle East Affairs || Military Affairs || Religion || Hippotherapy (Horses and Feldenkrais) || Women's Issues || Pop Culture || Cooking || American Issues || Or click over to Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers
|
Ariga Recommends:
|
