On Shavuot, the Iraqi Jews like to…they don’t (just) like to, they have a custom of making kahi and qemar. And Shavuot in Baghdad, they would go to the Prophet Ezekiel and visit his tomb. And on the morning of the holiday, they eat cheeses…they eat kahi and qemar. That’s the custom of Shavuot in Baghdad. When the wake up on Shabbat, all of the Iraqi Jews eat eggs and eggplant. And we, at home, like to eat pita…hot bread…and eggs and eggplant, salads and amba. And that’s the custom of all Iraqi Jews on Shabbat morning. On the evening of Shabbat, when we do the Shabbat blessings, we say Iraqi Shbahot (Jewish songs of praise). We do it…in our house, we like the Iraqi customs.

Iraqis like sad songs. Without having a sad thing (song), they won’t be happy. Iraqi songs, most of them, are very sad. Like the original ones. And there are also very happy ones. But Iraqis like sad songs of our language. There is a song…”it isn’t fair of you, for your absence to go on so long. And if people ask me about you, what should I answer them? What should I say?”.

That is very, very nice…(it’s by) Salima Pasha. And there’s another song…”the rules of life are all injustice”. That’s also by Salima. 

And there are other songs…happy (ones). All of them are in beautiful Iraqi Arabic.

And we grew up…most of us grew up on the Iraqi shame (modesty). We really respect elders, us Iraqis. And basis in our family is…about shame (modesty) And respect for elders. That’s what we grew up on. This…all Iraqis give their children an education of Baghdad. Even if they came here to Israel, they still…their nature is about Baghdad. That’s how we are at home. I don’t know about others, but that’s how we are at home. And this…is our story.

Greetings to you all. I want to tell you the story of my father and mother. My father left Baghdad in 1959 with his mother. His father passed away in Baghdad, and they came to Israel. The stayed in Turkey…for a year and a half they were in Turkey. Then they went to Italy. They stayed in Italy for a year and (then) came to Israel. His brother…stayed in Baghdad. His name is Nadem. He came…he stayed in Baghdad, and died in Baghdad. He didn’t agree to leave Baghdad. In 1994 he passed away in Baghdad. His children left to London. One of them, Fawaz, the younger one, remains in Baghdad to this day. He’s a doctor there in Baghdad. He didn’t agree to leave Baghdad. My father’s older brother, the eldest in the family, left Baghdad in 1973 with his family. They left Baghdad and lived in the Netherlands for a year, and (then) came to Israel. He, his wife and his children. Both of my uncles passed away. And we…my mother left (Iraq) in 1951, her and her family (left) to Israel. She left as a little girl aged around nine or ten years old. And her whole family left Baghdad in 1951…and came to Israel. My father worked here in wholesale. He worked in wholesale. He used to sell fruit at the wholesale market. And he passed away - may G-d have  mercy on him. He had another brother here, Naim, who lives on a farm. He had two sisters. I had one aunt - aunt Ktorya, and (another) aunt Madlen. They came here…and in Baghdad they lived in the Karada neighbourhood. Their financial situation was very good. And their coming to Israel was difficult for them. They always reminisced on Baghdad, and their days in Baghdad…how it was there, how they lived there, the servants, and the (other type of) servants. And the parties in the houses. They had…like…they saw it as difficult, life here (in Israel), because they came here and…the financial situation of the Jews here was very difficult. Not like in Baghdad. Everything there was […] good. And everything was happy. My cousins…my cousins (from my uncle) Nadem left Baghdad in the 1980s. Some of them came before, some of them (came) after…and they got married and lived in London. We were…I travelled to London to meet them. We would sit and have fun there. Afterwards, they got married. Nearly all of them. They stayed in London. And their father, my uncle, may G-d have mercy on him, would come to London to see us all and then go back to Baghdad. He didn’t like (the idea) of leaving to London. May G-d have mercy on him. And my whole family…all of them left (Baghdad) and stayed here. That’s the…the Iraqi Jews don’t change.

It was a bit difficult, but they all got married and had children, and grandchildren. And we also came and arrived here. And we continued speaking Iraqi (the Jewish dialect of Iraq) at home because my mother’s grandmother lived with us in the house. She was…she never had (her own) house, and she lived with us and only spoke Arabic (the Jewish dialect of Iraq). So my sister and brother and I learned to speak Arabic (the Jewish dialect of Iraq). Later, I liked the language and started making tours for Iraqis, and parties, and singing in Iraqi. I really liked the dialect of the Iraqis, the speech and…the entire life of Iraqis in Israel remained as it was in Baghdad. And I really liked the songs, (and) being […] with Iraqis. And today I do for them…I work on events in Ramat Gan. I organise parties for Iraqis every week. They sing songs by Salima Murad, and they sing Egyptian (songs) by Umm Kulthum and Abdel Wahab…every Wednesday we organise parties for them. And that’s our story, of my family that came to Israel. And we’re all (here). Greetings to you all.

In (19)58 (was) the revolution of Abdel Karim Qasem and Abdul Salam Arif. The king (Faisal II) and his family were killed. But in general, that period of Abdel Karim Qassem between 1958 and 1963 was…could be considered the second golden age for the Jews. He was a bit…didn’t distinguish. 

So in relation to…at that time, some of the restrictions Abdel Karim Qasem removed. For example, they could travel and stay abroad, so lots of students left. After finishing school, they studied abroad. Those who came back would go to Baghdad University. It was…okay. Business and such…all that was okay. 

The one thing that was, as they say, a black thing, in the history of that time, between (19)58 and (19)63…the old Jewish cemetery, Abdel Karim Qasem decided that he wanted to build a tower. Like the Cairo Tower. And they said to the rabbi that he wanted to remove all of the cemetery. And he (the rabbi) said to him, “that’s not okay to remove the cemetery.” But what happened to this situation…in the summer of…1961, it did happen. 

At that time they […] as in, this was a bad thing. A bit later on, a year or so later, Abdel Karim Qasim was killed.