East of Nakba (5)

 (Japanese Version)

(Arabic Version)

Part I. Israel bombs a nuclear plant in Iran

 

Chapter 5 Three little birds (2)

 

The "Mafia" was the son of a poor farmer of the Ukraine whose religion was Russian Orthodox Christianity. Ukraine was one of the republics of USSR when he was born.  The USSR denied all kind of religions, neither Christianity, Islam, nor Judaism. The Moscow government has broadcasted that the collective farming system would free farmers from tyranny of the old Russian empire, and governmental factories make workers happy. However, instead of making their life more comfortable, the farmers and workers were chased by hard workload. It looked like that their ruler was changed from landowners to bureaucrats of the government. They prayed quietly to the icon of Christ at home and at the chapel. They believed that they would get grace of the God someday in the future.

 

When the Perestroika broke out all over the USSR in 1985, a large number of immigrants, almost one million, flowed into Israel from the USSR. They were inspired by the Law of Return of Israel. The Law of Return was that if one of their grandparents were Jewish, they could immigrate to Israel.  The" Mafia "family remembered that their mother's grandmother was Jewish. They immigrated to Israel when the “Mafia” was five years old. There were a lot of families immigrated to Israel by buying fake certificates that their grandparents were Jewish.

 

Immigrants from Russia became to be either doctors or farmers. The number of doctors per capita in Israel, therefore, is highest in the world. Doctors have been employed in the hospitals or became practitioners. They are merged in the Jewish and Arab societies. However, those who had no choice but to cultivate the soil should live in the cooperative settlements prepared by the government. The Mafia’s family migrated to kolkhoz together with their relatives. They could not speak neither English nor Hebrew language. They used only Russian in their community. They prayed to Christ. The government forced to learn the Hebrew, but the old generation was too late to learn the new language.

 

Israeli society was icy for Russian immigrants who could not speak Hebrew. Establishments in the society looked down them as if they were second-class citizens. Israeli constitution assured that all of the citizen were equal by the place of origin, religion, or educational background. But this was only principle. The "Mafia" used to play with his friends in elementary school without being conscious of the color of the skin or the profession of their parents. But when he grew up, he became aware of discrimination. In order to overcome his disadvantage, "Mafia" studied Hebrew hard at school and achieved excellent grades. He joined the army where there was less discrimination.

 

(cont’d)

 

Areha Kazuya