Small Venerable Neighborhood Window

28 October 2007

by HRM Deborah

From the time, I can first remember, I have always believed in the existence of Allah and I will even admit it was not because my mother told me He existed, but it was just that He was there and I always knew it in my heart.

When I got to the age of schooling, I had a teacher ask the class because this was the time to start learning to read, if we learned to read and we ended up on an island what one book would we take with us and which book in this life was most important to us.

For me, it was to be able to learn to read the Quran, because I felt if I knew as much as I can in this life about Allah, that I would learn the most important things in this life.

The teacher was so surprised because she had never heard a child pick any type of Holy book before and I can say, I did not understand her thoughts.

However, I have always had one problem living in exile, especially in a Christian country and this went before even 9/11, that you tended to be a little shy when it came to talking about what was really in your heart. Because people would think you were odd or ask where I came from as if I was from another planet.

Most people think the hardship’s for Muslim’s not withstanding Palestinian’s came after 9/11, but I can attest this is not so. I grew-up at time when the idea of Muslim’s let alone Arab in a place other then the Middle East was more unheard of even though we where everywhere, but mainly in isolated pocket’s like neighborhood’s; not like many people see today.

This was done more for self-protection and anything outside of the neighborhood could be any number of hardships.

Every once in awhile, someone would wish very much to live in our neighborhoods because usually the crime rate was almost nonexistent because as far as I know their was only one murder and furthermore, everything seemed peaceful.

Mainly, in these neighborhood’s were Muslim’s and Jew’s, the people that wanted to live inside the most was Christian’s, to this day; this has always been another question of why?

I have spent a lot of time on this question and one day, I will know the whole answer.

Around the corner from my Grandmother Dora’s home was a Jewish market, the market was in the front and their home was attached to the back of the market. We were told if we went to this market, we were always supposed to be nice and respectful to the man that ran the market. My Grandmother always said, they were very nice, good people and deserved respect.

Until one very sad day, the market was robbed at gunpoint and the man was murdered. The Jew’s and Muslim’s in the neighborhood mourned for this family and if I remember correctly, my Grandmother even took food and her kindness to the wife of the man that had been murdered.

So you know, the robber was not from the neighborhood.

Again, what I did not understand is I never heard anything from the few Christian’s that lived in our neighborhood, except for one black family that were friends with my grandmother.

When this all occurred, I was still a very young girl and thing’s like this you just never forget.

Finally, to not be misunderstood, these Jewish people where not Zionist, but where true to Judaism.

Note:
I thought I should add a little note, at the time of these events; my Grandmother Dora was Palestine’s Queen.