No.16, Spring 2008
|
Journal of
the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center No.16, Spring 2008 |
Baruch Meiri:
AN INTERVIEW WITH ELIYAHU NAWI
Judge (Ret.) Eliyahu Nawi
It is not easy to interview Eliyahu Nawi, since even the simplest question elicits fascinating stories that leave you open-mouthed, and with a smile of pleasure on your face. That is why, at the end of a long conversation at his home in the north of Tel-Aviv, we decided on another meeting. But in the end he sent me the following proposal, which of course I could not turn down: “Send me your questions in writing and I’ll send you back the answers”. So I sent him the questions and he sat down, this time at his home in Omer, near Beersheba, and wrote the following answers.
Q. Which of your former jobs do you miss the most?
A. My judicial post. For many years I said the words in our prayer book “Return our judges as in former times”, and indeed, for the first ten years after my job as mayor I stood at the head of the Histadrut’s judicial system.
Q. Do you have unfulfilled ambitions? Are there jobs you wanted to do and did not get the chance?
A. Everyone has dreams and wishes. At the end of the 1920s there was a Jewish physician who lived in Jerusalem, Dr. Korkidi, who possessed a superb white riding donkey, with a red velvet saddle from which leather straps fell down, with copper footrests. I dreamt that one day I would have a donkey like the doctor’s, and that maybe I would become a doctor myself. But this dream did not come true and I had to be satisfied with the Volvo of the (Beersheba) municipality. Except for that I don’t think I feel that I’ve missed anything. God has given me more than I deserve.
Q. In your CV you do not say anything about your family and how you arrived in Israel. Could you tell us a bit about that?
A. A whole book could be written about the Nawi family, and of course I would not attempt to do so here. We came to the Palestine out of Messianic hopes. Some Babylonian Jews believed that the Balfour Declaration was a replay of King Cyrus’ declaration permitting the Jews to return to their homeland, and that Herbert Samuel, the Jewish High Commissioner for Palestine, was a successor of Nehemiah son of Hakhaliah, the Persian governor of Judea.
My father was well-to-do. People with money did not need a certificate in order to immigrate to Palestine at that time. My father came to Jerusalem, rented a shop and a storeroom, and in the Old City hired an apartment, hired two maids for his two wives, and registered me in a school. After he completed all these preparations he sent two Mercedes cabs to Baghdad to bring us all together, without any need for smugglers or for stealthily crossing the borders.
Q. In what way was the Iraqi Jewish community different from others? How do you explain its successful integration here?
A. Babylonian Jewry is like old wine that has been fermenting for 2600 years: “It has not been emptied from one vessel into another and did not go into exile, and therefore it has preserved its taste and its aroma has not withered”, even after the main centers of Jewish life moved to other lands.
The Babylonian community is characterized by a liberal tradition and mutual respect, its members neither fanatic ultra-orthodox nor apostates out of spite, persevering and lovers of knowledge, and knowing how to help themselves. As an example take the Babylonian Immigrants Educational Fund, established in the wake of the great immigration wave, which helped hundreds of thousands of students who today occupy senior positions in administration, in the economy, and in the legal and the political systems.
Q. You were mayor of Beersheba for twenty-three years; why did you leave?
A. After five terms of office I felt that I had given all I could to the job, and that it was time for a new generation take the lead.
I also liked the challenge of setting up an independent judiciary in the Histadrut Labor Federation, when it was still in its prime, when Kupat Holim, Kur, Bank Hapoalim and more were still part of it.
Q. It has been said that the wall behind your desk in the Beersheba mayor’s office was filled with daggers; why daggers in the office of such a peace-loving person?
A. It’s true that I have a very nice collection of daggers and swords, some of them mementoes and presents. They have always hung in my den, and never in the mayor’s office. I can promise you that everyone whom I’ve “done away with” is still happily alive to this day.
Q. How about the loves of your life? In an interview you said that you have two loves, the Bible and folktales. Can you tell us a bit more?
A. I inherited these two loves from my father. I still enjoy both very much, and I will be very happy if I succeed in passing them on to my grandchildren.
Q. And now to the role by which people remember you more than anything else, that of “Daud al-Natur”. How was this idea born? How was your true identity exposed, and why did you stop doing this very popular radio program?
A. Palestinian hostilities began after the UN resolution according to which Palestine was to be divided into a Jewish and an Arab state, on November 29, 1947. The simple Arabs were mostly illiterate and some people thought it would be a good idea to transmit news and commentaries in colloquial Arabic so that everyone would understand. The British ruled the land at the time, and if I had introduced myself by my true name I would have been arrested immediately. I stopped broadcasting at the request of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, after I was appointed to a judgeship.
Q. If we are already on the Palestinian issue: now after the disengagement in Gaza how do you see the future of our relations with our cousins?
A. A considerable part of the Arab nation is at present becoming affected by religious extremism, as can be seen in the events in Iraq, the activities of al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the extremists in Saudi Arabia. Islamic fundamentalism has become quite popular among Palestinians; it is not by chance that Arafat called the second intifada “the el-Aqsa intifada”. Certainly it is true that agreements can reduce the enmity, but there will always be those who want to take the path of terrorism. However, we must remember that not all the Arabs are against us. We have peace with Egypt and with Jordan, and economic ties with some countries in the Persian Gulf and North Africa. Also, let us not forget that historical trends can also change direction.
Q. And one final question: what is the message you would like to leave to future generations?
A. I have no ambitions to leave messages for future generations. But I do have a word of warning: corruption and doubts as to the legitimacy of the Zionist cause are more dangerous than terrorism or even the Iranian bomb.
