Alon Hilu
Alon Hilu is an Israeli of Syrian origin who has written two very well received books, "Death of a monk" and "The House of Rajani." He spoke about them recently at the Writer's Center in Bitan Aharon near Netanya.
As a speaker of Arabic and influenced by his parents' good memories of growing up in Damascus, he feels a natural affinity for Arab culture. Although he is a practising lawyer his interest was sparked by the famous "Damascus blood libel" of 1840, in which members of the Jewish community were accused of killing a Catholic monk, Father Tomaso, who had disappeared a month before Pesach, and they were accused of using his blood for making matzoh. This was considered a very primitive accusation in the West, but nevertheless several Jews were arrested and tortured to obtain information. Notwithstanding this, the body of the Monk was never recovered and under international pressure the Jews were released and the case was never solved. One aspect of the case attracted Alon's attention. First, a poor Jewish barber was arrested, then he implicated a rich Jewish family and then they accused another Jewish family, all trying to pass the blame. But, one young man came forward and strangely accused his father of the murder. Alon wondered why a young man would do this. His conclusion was that the boy, who was forced into marriage to a woman he could not stand, hated his father and also wanted to transfer the blame from himself. If so then he might have had a homosexual relationship with the Monk, and the monk might have died of a heart attack while having sex with him. It was this theory of the case that became the basis of his book.
His recent book "House of Rajani" takes place in Jaffa in 1895 and was based on real characters in the early days of Jewish immigration. As an Israeli with sympathies for the original Arab inhabitants, he conceived of a book that takes the two "narratives," Jewish and Arab at that time and alternates them. He discovered that there was a rich Arab family that once owned land in Jaffa and elsewhere named Dajani, and in the original Hebrew version of his book that was the name he used. In the story, they had an estate in Jaffa that was not being farmed because there was a local belief that there were ghosts in the house. Enter an Ashkenazi Yiddish-immigrant who is based on a real character who was active in buying up land at that time. In the Hebrew version Alon presented the book as one based on actual diaries kept at the time by the two protagonists, but that is untrue. In the Hebrew version he also used the actual names of the people, but was forced by threat of legal action to change the names. According to his plot, the Ashkenazi schemes to obtain the ownership of the land and intends to treat the Arabs well, but they distrust him and are uncooperative. The Arab son of the owner of the land is depicted as mentally unstable and also homosexual. This has caused some consternation on both sides, since both the Jew (aggressive, land-grabbing) and the Arab (passive, mentally disturbed) are depicted in nearly stereotypical ways. But, the book is well written and has received some prizes.
I pointed out that just because there are two narratives that doesn't mean that they both have to be equal in morality or significance. Also, when the British forces invaded the area that is now Tel Aviv in 1917, when they tried to cross the Yarkon River that was then a swampy marsh, they came under fire from Arab villages on the other side. Troops were sent over to stop the firing and they massacred the villagers and destroyed three villages. The area is now part of Tel Aviv north of the Yarkon. Sometimes there are more than two narratives.
Alon Hilu said that he tries to create an "alternative" history that may be loosely based on real incidents and people, and he always wants to include a homosexual theme. His work is controversial and has come under fire for being anti-Zionist. It was praised by President Shimon Peres and the Arab MK Ahmed Tibi. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
As a speaker of Arabic and influenced by his parents' good memories of growing up in Damascus, he feels a natural affinity for Arab culture. Although he is a practising lawyer his interest was sparked by the famous "Damascus blood libel" of 1840, in which members of the Jewish community were accused of killing a Catholic monk, Father Tomaso, who had disappeared a month before Pesach, and they were accused of using his blood for making matzoh. This was considered a very primitive accusation in the West, but nevertheless several Jews were arrested and tortured to obtain information. Notwithstanding this, the body of the Monk was never recovered and under international pressure the Jews were released and the case was never solved. One aspect of the case attracted Alon's attention. First, a poor Jewish barber was arrested, then he implicated a rich Jewish family and then they accused another Jewish family, all trying to pass the blame. But, one young man came forward and strangely accused his father of the murder. Alon wondered why a young man would do this. His conclusion was that the boy, who was forced into marriage to a woman he could not stand, hated his father and also wanted to transfer the blame from himself. If so then he might have had a homosexual relationship with the Monk, and the monk might have died of a heart attack while having sex with him. It was this theory of the case that became the basis of his book.
His recent book "House of Rajani" takes place in Jaffa in 1895 and was based on real characters in the early days of Jewish immigration. As an Israeli with sympathies for the original Arab inhabitants, he conceived of a book that takes the two "narratives," Jewish and Arab at that time and alternates them. He discovered that there was a rich Arab family that once owned land in Jaffa and elsewhere named Dajani, and in the original Hebrew version of his book that was the name he used. In the story, they had an estate in Jaffa that was not being farmed because there was a local belief that there were ghosts in the house. Enter an Ashkenazi Yiddish-immigrant who is based on a real character who was active in buying up land at that time. In the Hebrew version Alon presented the book as one based on actual diaries kept at the time by the two protagonists, but that is untrue. In the Hebrew version he also used the actual names of the people, but was forced by threat of legal action to change the names. According to his plot, the Ashkenazi schemes to obtain the ownership of the land and intends to treat the Arabs well, but they distrust him and are uncooperative. The Arab son of the owner of the land is depicted as mentally unstable and also homosexual. This has caused some consternation on both sides, since both the Jew (aggressive, land-grabbing) and the Arab (passive, mentally disturbed) are depicted in nearly stereotypical ways. But, the book is well written and has received some prizes.
I pointed out that just because there are two narratives that doesn't mean that they both have to be equal in morality or significance. Also, when the British forces invaded the area that is now Tel Aviv in 1917, when they tried to cross the Yarkon River that was then a swampy marsh, they came under fire from Arab villages on the other side. Troops were sent over to stop the firing and they massacred the villagers and destroyed three villages. The area is now part of Tel Aviv north of the Yarkon. Sometimes there are more than two narratives.
Alon Hilu said that he tries to create an "alternative" history that may be loosely based on real incidents and people, and he always wants to include a homosexual theme. His work is controversial and has come under fire for being anti-Zionist. It was praised by President Shimon Peres and the Arab MK Ahmed Tibi. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:28 AM
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