featuring: doris cohen dumani (malka, malika, queen, center) entangled with a star of david and emblem of the IDF and/or wearing it as a cross), followed by an interwoven portrait of 7 swiss jews featured in the sig’s 150 year equal rights celebration: Vera Rottenberg, Jonathan Schächter, Marc Bloch, David Goldblum, Talia Wigger, Martin Mürner, Edna Epelbaum, Joel Basman, Naomie Chriqui, Jules Bloch, Ariel Wyler. the painting is engraved with a continuous mural of historic iconic housees of worship: the magen abraham synagogue of beirut (left), the grossmuenster of zurich (left), the grand eliahu hanavi synagogue of alexandria (center, crowning malka doris), the synagogue of lengnau (center left, crowning naomie chriqui), the bensimon/shaa’ar hashamayim synagugue of el jadida (right, crowning talia wigger). 

synopsis: forgive me mama. an ode from an egyptian son to his beloved wronged egyptian mother. the painting is an attempt to honor the life and legacy of the petite but grand swiss jewish community. at its center shines its crown jewel, doris cohen-dumani. born 1946 in alexandria, egypt, same time and place as my parents mohamed and khalida. she spent a beautiful childhood in a blossoming cosmopolitan city which, like the rest of the arab and persian world was infused and enriched with diverse rites languages religions and traditions: interwoven communities of arab berber kurdish turkish farsi sephard y ashkenaz y karaite armenian italian greek coptic catholic druze bahai families identities tribes living laughing thriving side by side. but just like the rest of the world their harmonious coexistence was severed by the raging fire of the supremacist sword. namibia. nama. herero. belgian congo algerie francaise. vilna. warsaw. shoah. sorry we can’t take jews no more, us eu borders closed, no exit routes, only way out: give us your money for german c/wars haavara to nakba. millions of deeply rooted jewish communities from ouarzazate sanaa to isfahan felt the heat of the torched homes and villages in palestine committed in their name. raids riots and arrests of indigenous jews for the crimes of others in zion leading to fear hostility isolation. fast forward to 1956. israel france and uk attack egypt, egypt’s jews caught in the midst. forced to pay the price for a crime they never committed, forced leave everything behind, home, friends, memories, lives, she like millions of fellow jews is forced to leave her beloved native home on the esperia to embark on a new life start from scratch a nouveau, to dock at the beautiful shores of lac leman, rising to become school dean police boss and amazing maman. twenty years later, my parents would arrive as war torn refugees in the same magical place, lausanne, reliving a brief time capsule of jewish christian muslim communion and unity in the bellerive bains et plages d’ouchy. shoshana, souad and khalida humming songs of laila mourad umm kulthoum and abdelhalim hafez sharing mahshi baklava and beautiful memories of their beloved shared lives and legacies left behind on the nile. I never met her. but if i did, this is what i would want to tell her: forgive me mama. im sorry i wasn’t able to protect you. I acknowlege the injustice. the expulsion. the crimes against the brave innocent jewish mamas babas et enfants from rabat tripoli tunis alexandria cairo beirut vilna warsaw endingen lengnau all the way to baghdad. I pledge to honor and protect your life and legacy. here. now. everywhere. i value you. i miss you. we miss you. in egypt and beyond. 

annex

JAMC

jewish arab muslim circle of truth reconciliation and healing 

what: forum where jews arabs and muslims can share their story. the injustice. the violence. the traumas histories life stories. of displacement. of pain. of oppression. discrimination. extermination. dehumanization. 

why: expressing hearing and acknowledging the story of the other is key to human healing. the story of the jews of switzerland and the people of gaza is deeply intertwined with the story of the jews of algeria, morocco, iran, iraq, yemen, egypt, the ostjuden of warsa vilna and russia, the people of bosnia, rwanda, south africa, europe, america and switzerland. learning of people cultures communities languages and identities whose existence has been erased from history and memory, hearing and acknowledging the many untold unrecognized stories of suffering in circles of interconnected pain is the pathway heal the wounds stop the violence and start healing. 

who: people identifying as jewish arab muslim (first phase) with the option of opening up circles to other identities upon group consent. people who are open and willing to share listen and acknowledge the experience of the other. be kind. be honest. no other prerequisites. 

concept: weekly/monthly meetings in a rwandan modeled communal truth and reconciliation hearing settings. circle members invite 2 invitees willing to share their story. leah whose grandparents were murdered in treblinka. shoshana who was uprooted from her roots in yemen and north africa. tawfiq who is trying to save his family in gaza. idea is to have each time two distinct jewish and arab/muslim identitied represented share their stories to illuminate the interconnectedness between them, fostering empathy and reconnection. focus on untold stories and marginalized identities whose voices and stories have been muted silenced or erased from our conscience. 

organization: democratic inclusive open egalitarian association. governance to be determined agreed by circle members. 

next step: invitation to discuss and plan realization of this vision.