“I am the Iraqi, I am” by Emile Cohen1 Introduction and explanatory commentary by Raḥmiel ʾEzra Travitz Introduction The ancient Babylonian (Iraqi) Jewish community has a long and illustrious history, with its proud claim as the oldest Jewish Diaspora community, dating back to the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, the Temple of Solomon. 2 At times in history, the Jewish community in Babylon was the largest and most important. The most authoritative work of Jewish Law and Thought, the Babylonian Talmud (Talmudh Bavli) was authored there. The importance of many famous figures from this community cannot be overstated. We even can lay claim to the first Jewish Head of State outside of the State of Israel of the 19th Century, the first Chief Minister of Singapore from 6 April 1955 – 7 June 1956, David Marshall, who was of proud Iraqi heritage.3 Iraqi Jews, like many other Jews of North African and Middle Eastern heritage, hold a deep love for the land of their ancestors, even if they are from a newer generation which has never been there. It is not with great ease that a nation of peoples can be ripped away from their ancient home. It is for this reason that I have chosen this sad yet beautiful Arabic poem by Emile Cohen as a canvas with which to give a necessarily succinct overview of our long and diverse history. It is, in fact, a time capsule of sorts, for within this poem are very correct references to all kinds of important historic events for the Iraqi community. However, I intend this as an artwork, not an academic piece, from which readers will hopefully be inspired to undertake more rigorous research for themselves. I hope that people will be able to taste for themselves why it is that Iraqi Jews who are aware of their history and culture, are so proud of it, and that those Iraqis, Jews and Gentile alike, who are unaware, will now take an interest in this important part of both Iraqi and Jewish history. 1 Taken from the following site, which is a wealth of information about Iraqi Jewry, <http://www.thescribe.info/newsfeed/i-am-theiraqi-i-am-by-emile-cohen-in-arabic-and-then-translated-to-english-below/>. 2 Truthfully, the Israelite Diaspora (from the Kingdom of Israel), by the ancient Assyrians, is an older Diaspora. Although they went to Assyria which is largely in modern-day Iraq, so the point is either way moot. When Iraqi Jews “oldest Jewish Diaspora community since the First Destruction”, it refers to the Exile from the Kingdom of Judea. 3 <https://web.archive.org/web/20150318222851/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_283_2005-01-13.html>, see also <https://web.archive.org/web/20150203105243/http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/article/david-marshall-first-chiefminister>. ‫أنا العراقي أنا‬ I AM THE IRAQI, I AM ‫قصيد كت ها أميل كوهين‬ By Emile Cohen ‫ت أل ي من ن‬ ‫ن ال اقي ن‬ You ask me who I am. I am the Iraqi, I am. ‫الي ه‬ ‫ب أمس ك ت ه‬ ‫ه ك ت ل ين ست ئ س‬ ‫ب ال‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ق مت ال ب بل س ي ع‬ In all the yesteryears I was there, but today here I am. Twenty six centuries ago, But after the Destruction I left the land of Canaan To Babylon as a captive of war.4 ‫ب ي ال‬ Consumed in grief and despair, I sat on the river bank,5 Like an aged man with a bent back. ‫ا ي عن ل‬ ‫ل ن ال ب ال‬ ‫ف ع م الت ال ب من ال‬ ‫ف ن ال اقي بين ال ين الح‬ ‫الش ي ح الش‬ ‫غ س الح‬ ‫ال ئل ال يل كل ن ا ال‬ ‫ش ن ال ي ال‬ ‫ب بل ك ن‬ ‫ص‬ ‫با ن با الحب ال ي ال‬ ‫س حل‬ ‫جءق‬ ‫ب ل ج ال م ك ل م‬ ‫ال ي‬ ‫ق ع ا ال‬ ‫ق با ن ه ال ا‬ ‫ال‬ ‫ه ن سخ ه‬ ‫فإن ك ق ل ال يح اإسا‬ ‫ق ل م ئ ال س اإم‬ ‫ق ك ال ل ع اأص‬ Then Cyrus came, he gave us the choice7 To go back where we once belonged “Go back to the promised land,‫ س‬he prompted, But we refused; this land was now our own, And here we must stay, for we were in the land of the Believers, And we had come before both Jesus and Islam, Before both the Priest and the Imam When idolaters were all over the land, ‫ق ل م قت ال ئس ب ل اقيس‬ ‫ال اهب ب ل اميس‬ ‫قلم ت‬ ‫ق ل م حي ل ح ب ل آ‬ ‫ق ل عا ال ا ب ا ا‬ Before the tolling of church bells, Before religions took different venues, Before the Quran’s revelation to Mohammed, Before the calling to prayer from every minaret, ‫اأع ا‬ ‫ال ا‬ For we are a people more ancient than time, With a history as glorious as the land of Iraq itself. 5 ֹּ 6 , ‫ج تع‬ ‫كأني شيخ‬ ‫ال ه‬ But the brave heart never ever surrenders to the cruelty of time And soon the depression that had engulfed my mind was gone. Between the Twin Rivers and the towns, we dug free-flowing channels, We sowed seeds of wheat and barley, lush trees, And date palms; a forest of living green abundance. Homes and villages we built,6 Babylon was but our whole universe, Our country, the land of love, prosperity and happiness. 4 ‫ض ف ال‬ ‫انح‬ ‫من ع‬ ‫في‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ف حنذ ق‬ ‫م ي ت ي‬ Kings II 24:8-17, particularly verse 16. Reference to Psalms 137:1 ּ ְ ּ ְ ,ּ ּ - ,ּ ְ ‫ּש‬ ּ‫ש‬ ּ See Jeremiah 29:1-6 - ʣ . ʡ . -- ֹ ֲ , . – Upon the river(bank)s of Babylon, there we sat, and also we cried, in our remembrance of Zion. - , - , - - : ‫פ‬- - - - , ,‫ פ‬; - -ʢ . ʤ . -- , , ‫פ‬ ʠ , , , ʥ . , , , -: . , ; (1) And these are the words of the scroll that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders of the exile and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people that Nebuchadnezzar had exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. (2) After Jeconiah the king and the queen-mother and the officers, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and the gate sentries had left Jerusalem. (3) In the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah the king of Judah had sent to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to Babylon, saying: (4) So said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exile which I have exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon: (5) Build houses and dwell [therein], and plant gardens and eat their produce. (6) Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men, and they shall bear sons and daughters, and multiply there and be not diminished. ʾEzra 1:1-4, see also <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great_in_the_Bible#Cyrus_in_Babylon_and_the_Jewish_connection>, and the record of Flavius Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews. 7 ‫ف ن ال ي خ ن كت ب‬ ‫ص م ن‬ ‫الت‬ ‫عش عيش ال غ ال‬ We took our sacred texts from Ezra,8 And the Talmud becoming our shining frame of reference,9 And lived a life of plenty and opulence. But alas rulers appeared from various countries, Some tyrannical, others peace-loving The righteous and unjust, ‫من شت ال ا‬ ‫ال س‬ ‫من ال‬ ‫اأغ يق ال م‬ ‫اأت ا ال ث‬ Persians and Sassanid, Greeks and Romans, Turks and Ottomans. We supported every ruler even if he were a pagan, We did not wage war, nor did we threaten to revolt Making obedience as the demeanour of humans.10 We were the first Iraqis to acknowledge Ali as the great Caliph11 Living peacefully under the protection of the Muslims, We paid our tributes without complaints or evasion, Grief and happiness we tasted both Nights of despair and nights of hopes.12 When the Mongol appeared and our blood flowed free Side by side your loved ones and ours perished,13 Everything in Iraq laid as waste, The river Tigris turning crimson as our wine’s rich hue, Your people and ours bound together by slaughter. Years elapsed, our days passing swifter than centuries.14 At last a King arrived to rule Iraq, one who cherished us,15 “Each to his own religion; but the country is for all‫س‬ The new Iraq became our refuge We built it with love and passion, Payment for oil to be in gold was our notion16 Poetry, culture and science were our concerns17 ‫ل ن ج ء الح‬ ‫م لم‬ ‫من‬ ‫لم‬ ‫من ع‬ ‫ ك ع ب اأ ث‬.. ‫ف ع كل ح كم ل‬ ‫لم ن ض ح ب لم ن ب ل ي‬ ‫سي اإن‬ ‫ال‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ف حن من ال ا من ب يع ع ي س مي ال م ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫عش س ل ين ب م ال‬ ‫ض ين‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ف ال ي ب‬ ‫ق ال‬ ‫ق ال‬ ‫لي لي ال‬ ‫لي لي ال‬ ‫م‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ع م ج ء ال غ‬ ‫ا اأح م م م‬ ‫خ م ك من ع اق‬ ‫ص ج اح ب خ ن‬ ‫م مع ب‬ ‫ه ا قتل ب‬ ‫يم‬ ‫م‬ ‫اأع ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ح م ال ا م ك ي ن‬ ‫كل ل ي ه ال ن ل‬ ‫ال ا ال ي ص م ئ‬ ‫س في ب ئه ح‬ ‫فأم ا ال ط ب ل هب ك نت ف ن‬ ‫ال م ك شغ‬ ‫اأ‬ ‫الش‬ 8 Who is buried in Iraq, near Ba ra A reference to the Babylonian Talmud, which was written under Persian (Sassanid) rule there, as opposed to the Palestinian/Jerusalemite Talmud, written in Byzantine-occupied Israel & Judea. 10 Similar to the exhortation from Jeremiah 21:7, which exhorts Jews to seek the peace and wellbeing of whichever city they are exiled to, in the context of the Babylonian Exile, but also widely in every exile 9 , : - , ‫פ‬ , , ʦ (7) And seek the peace of the city where I have exiled you and pray for it to the Lord, for in its peace you shall have peace. Indeed the Jews of Babylonia supported him in his rivalry against against Mu āwiyah ibn Abī ufyān. There were, as in all places where Jews lived under Muslims (and Christians) occasions of serious persecution, and occasions of wide-reaching tolerance. Iraq is notable for its generally quite tolerant attitude to Jews, notably under the Abbasids. However, persecutions and restrictions did occur under different rulers. 13 For one instance of many, in the Siege of Baghdad (1258). 14 For whatever reason, the author saw fit to skip from the Middle Ages to the 20 th Century. However, this long period was not at all silent or boring. It is, however, beyond the scope of this commentary to list even a “short” summary of events. 15 Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, King of Iraq 23 August 1921 – 8 September 1933. 16 From the British, and their interests in developing Iraq’s oil output. However, Jewish involvement by some was seen as an act of treason of the whole Jewish community in supporting British Colonialism, even though a very large sector of the Jewish community was Nationalist. 17 This was a time of prolific and profound Jewish involvement in Iraqi Arab(ic) culture. Jewish education was high, as was their involvement in civic affairs, during the British Mandate, beginning in 1920, and in the early days after independence in 1932. Tripp, Charles (2002), A History of Iraq, Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, p. 41. In fact, Iraq’s first Finance Minister, Sir Sassoon Eskell, was Jewish and deeply respected in Iraq, known as the ‘Father of Parliament’. 11 12 Music and singing were our finest spirit.18 Out of the blue, a notorious decision was made for us to get out19 From your country‫ذ‬but no, from our country You seized unlawfully all we possessed20 Left us on the gallows with our bodies dangling21 Robbed the souls of our elites, Sanctioned injustice and murder,22 Leaving us to live thin lives stretched tight on the wheel of misfortune, Our only sin was our faith, just our faith. The days of your oppression had no end We wasted away in the dark dungeons of your prisons, We had no option left but to flee.23 Oh, our story is tragic, set on a tragic stage, Nothing remained of us and our civilisation Save fading memories And tidal-wave of tears filling our eyes, Our faces awash with silent tears Tears on the cheeks of time Silent are our tears on our faces; chronic is the misery in our hearts, Endless tears expressing endless desolation. Silent tears weighing down our broken hearts, Endless tears of sadness and despair Silent tears stroking our sorrow, Endless tears shed in our grief-stricken nights, The protection of Mohammed did not come to our rescue And the wisdom of God did not come to save us. Strange is your stand, weird is our case Is that all we are, a mere sacrificial lamb to you? You cruelly inflicted sufferings upon us, why? We had done you no harm. Exile and alienation ended to be our destiny. Twenty six centuries of our history Why have they been effaced? ‫ح ن ال ف الغ‬ ‫ا شك من ك‬ ‫ي ن‬ ‫ثم ج ء ال ا ب ل‬ ‫من ض م ذ ا من ض‬ ‫اغت تم م م ال‬ ‫ع ال ش نق ع تم ج م‬ ‫اح‬ ‫خ تم من ال ي‬ ‫حل ال م حل قت‬ ‫عش تحت أ آام‬ ‫كل ال نبذ ه م ه‬ ‫ن‬ ‫لم ت ف عن اض‬ ‫ت‬ ‫ب ل ن ان ال‬ ‫حت ال أ ال حي ص م ب ذ‬ ‫م حي ف ج تح ي ق ت‬ ‫ت‬ ‫لم ي ق م من ح‬ ‫ال م في م ت‬ ‫ا ال ك ي‬ ‫تت ق في عي‬ ‫ص مت م ذ ي ل ع خ ن‬ ‫مع ع خ ال م‬ ‫ص مت م ذ م من ب س‬ ‫مع مثي اأش‬ ‫ص مت م ذ ش ي ق‬ ‫مع مغي اأح ا‬ ‫ص مت م ذ ح ين لي‬ ‫فا م اأح ت‬ ‫اح هت ي‬ ‫غ يب م كمذ ع يب م ن‬ ‫ضحي مثل ال ش ت ي ؟‬ ‫م م ج‬ ‫ل اذ ج يت ع ي‬ ‫ااغت ا م ي ن‬ ‫ال‬ ‫ل ين ست ئ س‬ ‫محيت من ت ي‬ ‫ل‬ 18 The long list of Jewish musicians who achieved great fame in Iraq at the time include the brothers Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaiti, Salima Mourad (Pasha), Sultana Yusef, Nadhima Ibrahim, and many more. 19 Laws in 1950 and 1951 deprived Jews of their Iraqi nationality (March 1950 Denaturalisation Act) and their property in Iraq, respectively. Cohen, Jews of the Middle East, pp. 29-35; Hillel, Ruaḥ Kadim, pp. 135-42. 20 Ibid. 21 A reference to the show trial and hanging of Shafiq Ades for spying for Israel, ironically, he was a life-long non-Zionist – quite vehemently according to some – whose show trial was protested by a great many important Iraqi personalities <http://www.iraqijews.org/commlead.html#trial>. 22 Possibly a reference to the 1941 Farhud massacre of Jews in Baghdad, perpetrated largely by the defeated supporters of Rashid Ali and the Nazi-sympathetic Golden Square, although it predated the rise of the above anti-Semitic Government. 23 Persecution of Jews in Iraq suspected of Zionist activities included illegal detainment and torture, with often little to no actual basis in fact. In 1969, about 50 of the Jews who remained in Iraq were executed; 9 were publicly executed after show trials and an estimated five hundred thousand Iraqis marched past the bodies in a carnival-like atmosphere. See Makiya, Kanan, Republic of fear: the politics of modern Iraq, chapter 2 "A World of Fear", University of California, 1998; see also <http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.570665>. ‫في ع ق‬ ‫ال ا ي‬ ‫ن س‬ ‫ن يم ال ا ي‬ Iraq still flows in our veins, Its soft winds are but perfumes in our breath, ‫في حام‬ Even in our dreams we yearn and aspire to Iraq So by what right do you ask me who I am? Are you the Iraqi, or I? Are you the Iraqi, or I? ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ل ا ن‬ ‫ف أ حق ت أ من ن‬ ‫نت ال اقي ن‬ ‫نت ال اقيذذ‬ Epilogue By 2003, it was estimated that there were 100 Jews left in Iraq (excepting Iraqi Kurdistan). It is now estimated that there are less than 10 Jews left in Baghdad,24 and likely all of Iraq (again, excepting Iraqi Kurdistan). ׁ ‫ ְ זׁ ְר ּ ת‬,ּ ‫ ׁ י‬- ,ּ ְ ‫ש י ׁש‬ ׁ ֹּ‫ע הֲרֹת צ‬ 24 The Last Jews of Baghdad, Time, July 27, 2007 <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1647740,00.html>. Baghdad Jews Have Become a Fearful Few, New York Times June 1, 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/world/middleeast/01babylon.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=a ll>.