Memories & Mirages-The Jews of Tripoli, Libya

Film attitude

mnahum1 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:01:36 +0000

This film is not about facts, though they plau a part.

It is about my own feelings and voyage of discovery.

It is about my personal sense of a place, made up of memories, old images, family memorabilia, research and conversations. The place that will be depicted in this very short animated film .. never existed.. except in my mind

Questions

mnahum1 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:15:39 +0000

If anyone can help me understand these things….please post

Education

What kinds of schools were there?
What was education like for girls?
What was religious education like?

Marriage

Was there arranged marriage? if so, how did it work?
What kind of celebration and ritual surrounded marriage?

Homelife

What was life like for women in the household?
How was cokking handled, for everyday and for holidays?

“It was a Paradise”

mnahum1 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:53:15 +0000

“It as a paradise” this was what I heard when I asked Lillo Naim about Tripoli ,yet as i researched i learned about changes in the political atmosphere that impacted negatively on the community. i learned of religous and government laws limiting Jewish behavior.

When I sat down and spoke to Lillo Naim and Ruggiero Parienti, I asked how was” this a a paradise”? They explained it was a small community. The air was clean. The beach was within walking distance. Everyone knew each other. Life was simpler.

An interesting perspective looking back from the complexity of his life in New York.

If you are part of the community at large please respond.. Was it a Paradise in retrospect?

A place for Community

mnahum1 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:32:04 +0000

This a space for family and others from the community in Libya to post, memories, stories and random facts.

Please use this as a gathering place for information about the community… extend my knowledge.

Websites

mnahum1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:27:12 +0000

Web References

http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/libyajew/index.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16658165

PINKAS HAKEHILOT
Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities
LIBYA & TUNISIA

http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Pinkas_tunisia/pinkas_tunisia.html

The Holocaust in Libya

http://www.zchor.org/libya/libya.htm

Forgotten Jews Libya – Reparations

http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2007/07/discussions-

with-libya-on-lost-jewish.html

http://www.jimena.org/forgotten/Jews%20of%20Libya.pdf

open letter-Raphael Luzon
Chairman of Jews of Libya- UK

http://www.rluzon.com/jewsOfLibya.php

Forced migration

http://www.iflac.com/jac/jac/THE_FORCED_MIGRATION_lybia.htm

Libyan writers- Personal stories

http://www.libyanwritersclub.com/uk/?p=335

Forgotten Refugees

http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/index.php?option=com_

content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=38

The Final Exodus of the Libyan Jews in 1967

http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=5&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=253&PID=0&IID=1901&TTL

=The_Final_Exodus_of_the_Libyan_Jews_in_1967

Tripolitania

mnahum1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:07:13 +0000

Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region of western Libya, centered on the coastal city of Tripoli. Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Tripolitania was captured by Italy in 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War. Italy officially granted autonomy after the war, but gradually occupied the region. Originally administered as part of a single colony, Tripolitania was a separate colony from 26 June 1927 to 3 December 1934, when it was merged into “Libya”. During World War II, Libya was occupied by the Allies and until 1947 Tripolitania (and the region of Cyrenaica) were administered by Great Britain. Italy formally renounced its claim upon the territory in the same year.

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Protected: Visual inspiration – film

mnahum1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:58:45 +0000

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.

Why a Mirage?

mnahum1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:23:21 +0000

Mirage: an optical illusion in which atmospheric refraction by a layer of hot air distorts or inverts reflections of distant objects.
Mirage: something illusory and unattainable

Even though a mirage is a real phenomenon, the interpretation of what is seen is up to the individual.

So, my impression of the Libya of my heritage is part illusion, part imagination and part fact. It remains a mirage.

Recipes and food

mnahum1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:05:24 +0000

In any culture, food is a source of continuity. Wherever you go, you take the tastes of childhood with you. The Jews of Tripoli have been displaced from their homeland, but have not forgotten it’s tastes.

I enjoyed the special delights of this cuisine as I visited my aunts and uncles after they emigrated to Brooklyn.. These are warm, happy memories of family…. so, I was delighted to find a record has been made of the cuisine of the Jews of Libya.

In Sephardic cooking by Copeland Marks..there is a section on the food of the Magreb… including a section on Libya . Featured are recipes for foods I know such as Mafrum, T’fina, Couscous, Burekas and Hrieme. There are also foods I do not know such as Bestil ,Tabikhsa bil Houmas and Tabikhsa bil Karrate. The section on Tunisia featured other familar foods such as Dabla, Harissa and Makroud.
Most recently I was introduced to a cookbook published in Italy- La Cucina Tripolina by Linda Guetta Hassan. Sadly, I am so far not able to get the book here in New York.

Precedents-Video images of a bygone Libya

mnahum1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:35:50 +0000