It's very important to twelve year-old Salman Shasha that he is what it says in the title - a boy from Baghdad. But in 1951 it's not easy to be a boy from Baghdad - especially if you're Jewish: because the Iraqui government has given the Jews of Iraq a year to get out of the country. They will not be allowed to take anything with them apart from one suitacase, and they will not be allowed to take any money with them. Up until now, Salman's family has had a comfortable life in a pleasant house. His mother is a marvellous cook - there are luscious descriptions of family meals, and they want for nothing. Salman's only problem is that he oves swimming, but he knows his father would not approve of his ambition to be an olympic swimmer, so he has to train in secret - he swims as often as he can in the River Tigris, with his cousin Latif keeping time for him.
He knows about the government edict. The fledgeling state of Israel has agrred to take in the Iraqui Jews, and finally, the family has a place on a plane which will take them there. They are told that it will be a land of milk and honey, with jobs, houses, and prospects for all. Salman doesn't care about any of this: he loves Baghdad, it's his home and he wants to stay there.
But go they must. And when they arrive, they find that their new home is a tented camp, and there is little prospect of work for Salman's father. Conditions are harsh, there is little food, and Salman's mother, in despair, sinks into depression and takes to her bed. As his father looks for work in the nearby city, it's up to Salman - and Latif - to find food for the younger children.
And that's not all. It turns out that prejudice exists here too. The Ashkenazi (European) Jews had arrived first, and they look down on the Jews like Salman, who are from Arab countries. Salman is told he must only speak Hebrew, and he must change his name to a Hebrew one - Shimon.
At first he resists, determined to hold on to his identity. He still holds on to his dreams of becoming a swimmer - but how is that ever going to happen now?
But gradually, Salman and his family find friends who help them: friends who come from all the different groups now living in Israel, including Ashkenazis and Arabs. They find hope again, and eventually - spoiler alert - Salman finds a way to get his swimming back on track. But really, the lessons Salman learns about how to live are the important ones.
Apologies if I've related too much about the story of the book (which is based on Miriam's husband's family): the book only arrived yesterday, and I sat down and read it in one go, and I'm rather full of it.
But also, more importantly, it has a very clear relevance to the terrible things that are happening at the moment. I have only a fairly hazy idea of how Israel came to be. This book isn't an explainer of that (if you want a brief, but very clear explanation of that, try Rory Stewart on The Rest Is Politics podcast). But what it does do, very clearly and vividly, is take us into a small corner of that time: and by allowing us to enter the lives of this family, it enables us to see just how it was for the people living through that time - how complex were their circumstances, how difficult the decisions they had to make. (And indeed, that sometimes, there are no choices to be made: the Shasha fmily had no choice about whether or not to leave Iraq.)
It's a very, very good book, and I strongly recommend it.
4 comments:
Thank you for this beautiful and balanced review of my new book Sue. I will treasure your words in this dark time.
This comment is from me, the author, Miriam Halahmy. No idea why its anonymous.
In context, 2 or 3 years prior to the expulsion of Jewish people from Iraq, approximately 700,00 Palestinian people fled, or were expelled, from Israel. That number comprised around 80% of the Palestinian Arab inhabitants of what became Israel. Hardly unconnected events. Is there any mention of this in the book ?
Given the history* of both Rory Stewart and his co-host Alastair Campbell, I doubted that their podcast would offer a balanced view of Middle East goings on. My doubts were confirmed, and after about 12 minutes of watchingthe Youtube video of the pair ...
https://youtu.be/xAs5EOBUDcs?si=muzB6UaYPH-3rA_o
I decided that I had other things to do.
Off the top of my head....
Mention of Hamas only as seizers of power in Gaza, and as terrorists. Actually, Hamas were originally democratically elected to power. Very much because the existing rulers, Fatah, were considered to be corrupt, serving only themselves, and completely subservient to Israel and the Western powers. The powers didn't like the result of that election and refused to engage with it in any way. So eventually Hamas seized power anyway. Rory Stewart is seen here offering a member of Fatah as a trustworthy spokesperson.
In 2017 Hamas stated that they accept the formation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, without recognising the statehood of Israel, and stated that the conflict in Palestine is not a religious one. This was an attempt to balance the moderate members of Hamas with the hard liners. Stating that one accepts the 1967 borders is an implicit acceptance of Israel. They are not ideologues. Hamas is made up mostly of young men, raised in a prison camp, who have seen homes blown up, families destroyed.
The 1995 Oslo Accords. Briefly mentioned in my 12 minutes of watching. Not mentioned...
Two people signed the Oslo Accords. Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). And Yitzak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel. Arafat had conceded to Israel about 60% of what Palestinians considered their territory. Even moderates felt he had badly let them down. Months later, Yitzak Rabin was assassinated by right wingers in Israel who considered him a traitor for negotiating at all. One of those who had called for Rabin to be killed is now the National Security Minister of Israel. After the assassination of Rabin, the right wingers took a grip of Israel, first Ariel Sharon, then, and now Netanyahu.
* Rory Stewart always comes across as well spoken, sensible and reasonable in his views. I remember him recounting his experience of walking through Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries. Lovely people..., I recall his description. And yet, really what I could see was a 19th century adventurer, steeped in colonial mindset, and if the locals got a bit 'uppity', he would have no hesitation in putting them down. When the US and UK invaded Iraq in 2003, he was there, and served as governor of 2 provinces for the occupiers in the ensuing bloodletting.
Alastair Campbell was the Official Spokesperson for Prime Minister Tony Blair in the last UK Labour Government. They were almost joined at the hip. Everything Blair did was A OK with Alastair. Blair was a prime instigator, with the US, of the assaults on Iraq and Afghanistan. From 2007 to 2015, Blair was the Peace Envoy for the Middle East on behalf of the Quartet..., US, EU, Russia and the UN. I never heard him utter anything other than support for Israel. With his history of invasions and occupations, really his appointment was some kind of a sick joke. He achieved nothing, never remotely challenged the status quo.
Overall, between the pair of Stewart and Campbell, there is nothing there that would generate the expectation of a balanced view of the Middle East.They are political operatives. I note that Rory Stewart only really started voicing his unhappiness with British politics ( "... a dirty business...", I think he said.) after he had been defeated in the contest to see whose turn it was to be in charge of the clownfest government.
Andrew. This book is a fictional account of a small part of the story of the early days of Israel. Fiction does not seek to provide a comprehensive account of the area of history in which its story is set; it portrays how it may have felt to be living in that particular era. It's about individuals, emotions, empathy. Perhaps you might like to read the book?
As for Rory and Alastair, much of what you say is true. But even so, I enjoy their podcasts and find them both informative and entertaining. I particularly like their stance that when they disagree, they will do so agreeably.
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