Lew Shaw’s Blog from Haifa

When I lived in Alonei Abba (1972-1976) I worked in the dairy (refet).  Along with us moshavniks were two bedouin hired workers sharing the load, Abdullah and Jassem.  When I visited Hanna, Ron, and Abbie recently, they told me that they had told Abdullah that I was now in Haifa and he invited us to visit.  Abdullah and I were work buddies and I recall long conversations about family and life, and several visits to his traditional bedouin hut/tent for great meals, Arab coffee, and conversation.  So I was very much looking forward to seeing him after all these years.

Abdullah is now retired.  He’s not exactly sure when he was born, but sometime between 1930 and 1935.  He remembers the British, he also remembers the German Templars who originally settled in Waldheim, now Alonei Abba.  Abdullah has nine daughters and one son (finally!).  All but three are marrried and live in houses built on land he owns surrounding his own house.  Three remaining daughters live at home.  Since my last visit, he has built a house, but prefers to stay in the bedouin-style permanent tent adjacent to the house.  His wife, Fatma, runs the household with such efficiency that could have kept GM on an even keel through this financial crisis.

Ron, Abbie, Hanna, and I arrived Saturday at around 1 PM.  A table had already been set up outside and was loaded with the beginnings of our meal.  Abdullah was sitting there waiting for us, while the women bustled around setting out food, grilling meat, and making sure all the details were attended to.  When I looked at him, it seemed like we had last talked yesterday, not 30+ years ago.  He did look a bit older, but not much!  We greeted with a warm handshake and a hug, sat down and began a feast to rival any I’ve ever had.  There were an assortment of salads set out, along with humus, home-made pita, olives, various pickled vegetables, and kubbe (ground meat wrapped in bulgar wheat and deep-fried).  Then came the meats – piles of grilled chicken wings and mutton kebabs.  Fatma just kept piling more food onto each of our plates, totally ignoring any pleas that we had enough already!  I finally realized that there was no way I was going to finish what was piled on my plate and just slowly ate to be polite, leaving what I couldn’t touch. 

After a long, leisurely meal, we moved to Abdullah’s tent and sat around a wood stove on pillows and cushions for rounds of sweet Arab coffee, candies, and pastries.  I learned about how life had changed in the two bedouin villages, the conflicts between the various families, local politics, family politics, and much more.  Abdullah retired many years ago and enjoys his life surrounded by family and villagers.  I got an update on others from the village that I remember – Jassem, Mustafa, Yassir (now village muktar).  The family feuds I had heard about long ago still persist.  But Abdullah says life is much better now (under the Israelis) than it used to be (what else would he say?).  He told of how the regional council had organized a bus trip for senior citizens in the villages to the upper Gallilee and the Golan, including lunch! 

Abbie, with her interest in foods and cooking, asked Fatma about recipes, shopping, and how she manages the house.  Fatma doesn’t speak Hebrew, so Abdullah translated.  She doesn’t trust store-made foods and everything must be made from scratch.  She doesn’t even trust flour, prefering to buy wheat berrries and have them ground especially for her, in loads of 100 kilograms.  Abdullah still takes his tractor to Alonei Abba to take some milk directly from the dairy rather than buying at the store. 

He asked about my life since I left Israel.  Several times he asked me how many hours it takes to fly to America.  This is also a question he asked me many times years ago.  I think he can’t fathom someplace so far away!