Livelihood and relationships with 'non-Jews'

Dedicated to my husband and son, Zecharia and Benyamin David

 
Name of speaker: 
Naʿama David
Gender of speaker: 
Female
Occupation of speaker: 
Agriculture
Age of speaker at time of recording: 
87
Year of immigration: 
1950
Speaker's country of origin: 
Speaker's community of origin: 
Language: 
Judeo-Arabic
Documentation: 
Yaʿel Wecsler and Naʿama Ratsaby
Year of recording: 
2019
Translator: 
Naʿama Ratsaby (assisted by Yaʿel Wecsler)

Translation: 

What did they let you do when you were little?

My mother taught me straw weaving. For a living, I would weave and my husband was a blacksmith.

We sold our products to non-Jews. The Jews worked with leather and my father was a shoemaker.

The relationship with the non-Jews was good. They would give us milk and cheese. The Jews had no lands, only the Arabs did. They said that the lands belong only to the Arabs.

If the Arabs had a wedding – we would go. We were like brothers, but the Jews dressed different.

We asked them what was milk and what was meat. They would say “Allahu Akbar” – God is greater. We give you proper food.

The Imam loved the Jews. After his murder there were pogroms. He didn’t want Jews to enter the Land of Israel.