The Israeli novel A Girl in a Blue Shirt, written by Prof. Gabriel Bensimhon, has become the first Hebrew book to be translated into Arabic in Morocco this month, and will soon be sold in Moroccan bookstores, in what can be considered as a noteworthy achievement.
The novel, published by Yediot Books in 2013, tells a love story between an immigrant boy from Morocco and an Israeli-born girl who is in love with a Holocaust survivor, against the background of the early years of the State of Israel and the big influx of immigrants from Morocco.
Born in Morocco, Bensimhon explained, "I grew up in the town of Sefrou in Morocco until I immigrated to Israel at the age of 10. As an academic, I have studied Moroccan culture extensively. There was always a warm corner in my heart for the rich and multi-faceted aspects that characterize the Moroccan culture.
"As a Moroccan Jew, I feel that I have come to realize a dream: The fact that my works are read in my hometown is a source of great personal pride."
"My play A Moroccan King, which was produced in the National Theatre Habima in Tel Aviv and won The Lieber Prize for the Jewish classical play by Tel Aviv University, is supposed to be produced by the National Theatre Mohammed V in Rabat," he said. "I hope that in the wake of the peace accords, novels and works by additional Israeli authors will be translated into Moroccan."The book, chosen for translation by Prof. Mohamed Elmedlaoui of the Mohammed V University of Rabat, who has been following and researching Bensimhon's works in the fields of literature and theater, was translated by his student, Dr. Ayashi Eladraoui.
"We are recently witnessing a growing interest of the Arab world in Israel and its culture, in particular with regard to Israelis from Arab countries. We have seen this in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries," said Prof. Eyal Zisser, Deputy Rector of the Tel Aviv University and a Middle East affairs expert.
"The waves of immigration of Jewish communities from Arab states to Israel, who had inhabited these countries for periods of over a thousand years, caused great economic damage," Zisser continued.
"Hence, it is not surprising to find, against the background of the normalization agreements, that there is a yearning for the old times when Jews and Moslems coexisted," he said. "In this respect, the translation of Prof. Bensimhon's book into Moroccan Arabic is an additional tier towards renewed comradeship."