The journey of an Iraqi-Israeli-British man and what he learned
In From Babylon to Jerusalem, Nathan (with an assist from his friend Andrew Edwards) reflects on his life.
By GLENN C. ALTSCHULERARAB-ISRAELIS ATTEND a 2006 ceremony in Kafr Kassem memorializing 49 Arab-Israelis killed by Israel Police for allegedly violating curfew during the 1956 war. The memoir notes the author’s involvement in the commission that probed police actions.(photo credit: GIL COHEN MAGEN/REUTERS)
Born in Iraq in 1931, Aharon Nathan attended the prestigious Shamash secondary school, where almost all the students were Jewish, the teaching was in Arabic, the curriculum featured English language and literature, and classical music evenings ended with English tea and biscuits. One day, Mohammed Al Sadr, instructor in Arabic language, history and culture, asked his class, “Why are you Jewish?” Several boys talked about the Bible, God, Moses and the Red Sea. Aharon said, “My parents were Jewish. So naturally I am Jewish. But it is no great matter... because all religions preach virtues and teach us to be good people, fear God and respect our parents.”Having grown up in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society ruled by Arabs and modeled on the Ottoman Empire, where Jews were second-class citizens but relatively safe and respected, Nathan sensed it was important, difficult and yet possible for people of different backgrounds to live and work together. That conviction, he writes, has defined his life.In From Babylon to Jerusalem, Nathan (with an assist from his friend Andrew Edwards) reflects on that life. He escaped an increasingly intolerant Iraq in 1949, we learn, enlisted in the Israeli Army, and served (in his 20s) in the Prime Minister’s Office (as secretary to the fact-finding commission investigating the shootings at Kafr Kassem, and as civilian governor of Gaza). In 1960, Nathan relocated, temporarily, he thought, to England, where he completed his education, married and founded Hamlet International, a wholesale business. Nonetheless, Nathan remains an Israeli citizen and continues to be deeply involved with the Jewish state.In this book, Nathan addresses what he views as Israel’s unsympathetic and aggressive behavior toward Arabs in Israel, the occupied territories and Arab and Islamic nations in the region, and stresses the “importance of earning the respect of the rest of the world.”And so, alongside Nathan’s autobiographical reflections, From Babylon to Jerusalem includes thumbnail histories of the Arab Middle East, the founding of the State of Israel and the Suez War, impressions of Israeli leaders in the 1950s, and proposals for reforming Israel’s electoral system and forging a new and constructive relationship with Palestinian Arabs.From Babylon to Jerusalem, alas, is deeply flawed. As the ubiquity of the phrases “I already explained,” “I will elaborate later” and “back to our narrative” indicate, the book is disjointed, digressive and repetitive. Nathan introduces many of his friends for no discernible reason. And Nathan’s descriptions of women – Mrs. Daghestani wore “tightly designed skirts that excited many teenage boys in the class”; Captain Rogers’s English wife’s “elegant summer dresses brought warmth to every body in the room except her own”; the “beautiful Ziva Pritzsker attracted everyone’s attention (mine not least)” – are inappropriate in 2021.MORE IMPORTANTLY, because Nathan relies almost exclusively on his memory (rather than correspondence, government documents or other contemporary sources) and had only superficial contact with early leaders of Israel (except Moshe Sharett), his analysis of individuals and events is often vague and unreliable. Although Nathan is proud, and justifiably so, of his efforts as an administrator to help integrate Arabs with the Jewish population, he acknowledges that as civilian governor he was not invited to discussions of plans to move refugees out of Gaza, and had no advance warning of prime minister David Ben-Gurion’s decision to withdraw from the area and transfer responsibility to the United Nations.As his 90th birthday approaches, Nathan remains remarkably resolute about the urgent necessity of expanding democracy and toleration in Israel. He has spent considerable time and money in his retirement promoting electoral reform (“total representation”) that combines the constituency system in the United Kingdom with Israel’s system of proportional representation. According to Nathan, the plan benefits large political parties and disadvantages small ones, except some religious parties and those concentrated in Arab areas.Total representation makes it more likely that two dominant groups will emerge in elections, each capable of assembling strong coalitions or ruling alone. And yet, “Three times the Knesset was offered this attractive fruit. Three times it was left to shrivel.” Although no one has “picked up the baton,” Nathan hopes “the day may yet still come.”Nathan maintains Israel has “gone seriously astray” in three critical areas, and that brute force will not work. Nothing if not bold, Nathan recommends:1) Instead of castigating Iran for its nuclear ambitions or its desire to be a major power in the region, Israel should develop relations with Iran and Hezbollah based on trust and mutual respect.2) The occupied territories should become two independent countries, one in West Bank Palestine, the other in Gaza, with Israel providing them practical and financial assistance. East Jerusalem would be assigned to West Bank Palestine. A wall built toward the side of the Temple Mount would protect Jewish worshipers below. And the State of Palestine would accept Jewish settlements within its borders, “in the same way that Israel accepts Arab villagers within its territory.”3) In addition to providing citizenship for Arabs who live in Israel, the Jewish state should “deepen and extend the sense of one nation” through education, the armed forces, curbing discrimination, eliminating no-go areas, and encouraging joint ventures.Critics, Nathan recognizes, dismiss him as naive, misguided, or worse. But he prays that the country he loves, for which he laid his life on the line, “may come to see the light before it is too late.”The writer is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.FROM BABYLON TO JERUSALEM:MEMORIES & REFLECTIONS OF A WANDERING JEWBy Aharon Nathanand Andrew Edwards370 pages; $16.50
