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Indybay Feature

supporters, members of the International Jewish Anti Zionist Network celebrate passover

by M.
On Friday, April 10 2009, members of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, supporters and parts of the Jewish community, celebrated Passover.
As a kid, my only memories of Pesach (Passover), was drinking three glasses of wine on somewhat an empty stomach, mumbling incoherently phrases out of the hagada (the book read during the ritual of Passover) while my grandma and mom insist that I look skinny and that I should eat more. My grandpa and father, also full of wine and food, sleeping on the traditional big pillows that Jews are suppose to sit on during the ritual of the Seder. Needles to say, opening up the hagada during Passover every year always seemed like new experience, only to be erased before the next year ritual.
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Passover, observed throughout the world by Jewish communities has been marked by the exodus of Jews out of Egypt. The rebellion of the Israelites, belonging to the slave class with the assistance by god, is marked as the movement from slavery to freedom, from oppression to liberty. This Passover, celebrated by IJAN members, represented a real search for those who are oppressed. People who are living under the boot of imperialism, those who are fighting sexual discrimination, and those who are struggling to survive. An olive was added to the traditional plate, representing the olive trees that are being uprooted by the Israeli Army, the land that has been taken away from the Palestinians. The lighting of candles (which is done every Friday) was connected to the search for the innate Justice of all existence.
Another important date that coincides with Passover is the bombing of the Baghdad's El-Dar El-Bida Café, in 1950, where Jews were observing Passover. Four people were seriously injured. At night leaflets were distributed throughout the Jewish neighborhoods urging them to immigrate to Palestine. This event was followed by other bombing of Jewish restaurants and synagogues where a number of members of the Jewish community were killed. Latter it had become known that behind the bombing was the Zionist underground. The purpose of these bombing was to convince the Iraqi-Jews that Muslims are responsible for the bombing, and that they should immigrate to Palestine. Further, traces of the explosives used were found in a suitcase belonging to a member of the arm wing of the Zionist underground. It is a bit shocking for me to see Zionist exploit the story of those of us who emigrated from Arab countries, comparing us to the expulsion of Palestinian by the state of Israel, as if Zionist institutions had nothing to do with encouraging and forcing Jews to leave Iraq. .
Those who left Iraq to Israel faced discrimination and abuse by the Zionist establishment. Our culture was ridiculed and considered primitive, our language composed of a mix of Arabic Aramaic and biblical Hebrew was erased. Until today our history is not taught in Israel’s school.

Looking through the hagada latter that night, I found a very interesting sentence that might shade light on the dogmatic support to Israel by some Jews.
”And she stood for our fore bearers and for us. For it is not one alone that has stood up on us to destroy us. Rather, it is in every era and generation that there are those who are trying to destroy us, and the holy one saves us from their hands”.

This sentence can be somewhat believed by those who are ignorant of the history of Jews in Arab countries (and of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) and are only aware of the over emphasized history of European Jews, who has indeed been subjected to oppression for hundreds of years. Further, the idea that Israel through its brutal occupation of Palestinians and Lebanese is somehow the victim ("those who trying to destroy us"), is ridicules. Jews should wake up and reclaim our true identity and culture, not the racist and xenophobic ideology of Zionism.
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by View from Eye
Thanks for sharing your insight. A lot of thought was put into this. I like this kind of sharing instead of all the relatives at Passover griping at one another about who is the better Jew.
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