Ceci’s Watson Journey

A friend of mine posted a great question in response to my post “A Little Background on Jewish Moroccans,” and I wanted to reprint it here because it is an important issue to which I have given a lot of thought recently:

“One thing that’s bugging me since reading your statements is what your professor said about “Oh so you’re an Arab, too.” Do the Moroccan Jews and Muslims see that perspective? Is your professor right or wrong? Just curious and something to ask around when you do your interviews… good luck, stick it out with your Arabic!”

Short explanation of the question: She was referring to a formative moment in my life, which I referenced in my Watson application; after explaining my background as a Moroccan Jew to one of my favorite professors, she replied, “So, you’re an Arab.”  Essentially, this moment turned everything I had believed about myself, my family and my identity on its head, and prompted me to begin questioning my identity, which had thus far been constructed for me by the important people in my life.  This analysis of my identity was one of the great triggers for my Watson proposal.  Therefore, my friend was asking about the self-identification of Jewish Moroccans NOT as Arabs, just as I had been accustomed to before the exchange with my professor.   

Here is my answer to her question, which was also the topic I wanted to discuss on the blog today:

“Thats’s a great question and essentially the issue I was alluding to in the post. I almost added a paranthetical statement about it, but decided against it because I didn’t think anyone read my Watson application closely enough to point it out- haha I was wrong. Anyway, its very interesting.

I don’t know if there is a “correct” way to identify people. According to scholars and academics that study the “Arab nation,” an Arab is one defined as a person whose first language is Arabic. In my experience amongst Jews in Casablanca I have met more families whose first language is French, but some whose first language is Arabic. Many children here also only speak enough Moroccan Arabic to get by, but not at all fluently (I see this as indicative of their schools’ curriculum and Jewish families’ tendencies to socialize amongst themelves.) Regardless of what the family speaks, however, the Jewish people identify themselves as Jewish and the Muslims as Arabs.

I am still trying to figure out what exactly determines the language of preference for a family. My hypothesis is that it is related to class, and those Jews assimilated into the upper class by the French during their colonial rule here maintain this language, particularly as a marker of class distinction. Furthermore, I assume that the prevalence of French over Arabic amongst Jews remaining in Morocco could probably be attributed to the fact that the Jewish “lower classes” emigrated from Morocco beginning in the 1950s, in search of better economic opportunities. According to my interviews, the Jews who have remained here, by in large, have economic stakes in the country (probably forged from their placement in the French upper class pre-Moroccan independence) and did not want to give up their comfortable and affluent lifestyles.

I hope that answers your question. Also, please remember that it is difficult to PROVE any of this, and I answered according to my interviews, observations and knowledge on the history of the community.”

Ceci

I should start by thanking everyone for checking in on me and leaving me such great comments!  It really means a lot to me that everyone is interested in my travels and enjoying my posts!

Next, I have to say that I love Casablanca.  It has been 6 days and I must admit that my pre-departure anxieties, thank G-d, have been relatively unfounded.  I have not actually been “alone” all that often; someone from the community is always calling me to make sure I am OK, or asking to come have dinner at their house or go to the beach etc.  The perfect example of this is that I have only paid for 2 meals in the 6 days I have been here- that is absurd haha.  Another, is that when I went to synagogue on Saturday morning for services, I met a very nice woman who spoke English and asked me where I was living.  When I told her I was in a hotel, she insisted I move in with her, so that is where I have been staying;  So many of them have welcomed and embraced me so much and I am very very grateful. 

I have also met many Jewish Moroccans my age, which is unusual in Casablanca because most of them, if not all, move abroad to attend Universities after high school.  Many of them are home this month visiting their families, so I have made some friends my age.  It sucks that they all leave soon, but I have also found a few that live here year-round, so I am set.  I have yet to check out the nightlife here, but I have seen the bars and clubs and will hopefully have details soon (after the Jewish holiday of 9 of Av- a time of mourning).

A normal day here for me so far consists of meetings and appointments with various knowledgeable people holding Jewish positions in Casablanca, taking long walks, and visiting people in their homes.  Its pretty sweet.  I have to admit that the language issue is becoming frustrating; my Arabic is relatively unuseful for understanding Moroccan, no matter how hard I try, and after finally conceding that it is urgent for me to learn French, I cannot find a class, institute or tutor that is open during the summer.  So my language difficulties continue and I am trying to deal with these frustrations.

OK I think that is all for now.  I love all of the comments, so keep them coming!  And if you send me a message, I will try my best to return it.  Miss you all.

The opposite spectrum of the obstacle of interviewing Muslims is the openness with which the Jews from Casablanca are willing to speak about their identity, their life in a Muslim country, and their long history here. Immediately, one can recognize a real sense of pride among Moroccan Jews; they remain proud of the plethora of Jewish scholars and tzadikim that have flourished in Morocco historically (over 600 of whom are buried and their tombs preserved until today), while also identifying as distinctly Moroccan Jewish, with the latter as the primary source of identity.

However, they recognize and emphasize that life here is not necessarily easy: always having to watch what they say or misstepping the truth around Muslims, and particularly, the extent to which the Jews of Morocco socialize almost exclusively within their own community (this is highly manifested in their personal identification- they are “Jewish Moroccans” and the Muslims are “Arabs”). The same man who told me that my “Arab” friend would probably say he loved Jews also told me it would be interesting for me to ask the following question to Jewish Moroccans (which is probably the most interesting and stimulating proposition for my research I have been presented, of yet): if you could have the same lifestyle as you have here, anywhere else in the world (ie. USA, Montreal, Israel), which would you choose? He hypothesized that the answer would be somewhere else, and a few have confirmed that as such. So for me the questions beg to be asked are when, how and why did the fissure occur between such a strong identity and the desire to leave the homeland that has nutured it for centuries? Hopefully, the answer will become clear…

The wise words of many of my professors have already begun to ring true during my first week in Morocco; research, and particularly of the anthropological sort, is fluid and the mark of an experienced and sound researcher is his/her ability to adapt to the circumstances the field presents.  Interestingly, the same qualities are a necessity for a Watson fellow, and one factor on how they make their decisions.

Now, only in my first week in Casablanca, I am experiencing the difficulties and rewards in learning these skills.  The original focus of my study was to examine the Arab Muslim perspective on the causes for the Jewish migration; however, I am finding it challenging to meet Arab Muslims in the first place, and as for the ones I have met, the problem lies in developing enough mutual trust to allow for a conversation on such a sensitive topic to take place.

For example, I made friends with the receptionist at the hotel I was staying at when he helped me take care of my cell phone and found a sim card I had lost.  He showed me around Casablanca for a few hours and we stopped to have a cup of coffee at a cafe.  There, we began “talking politics,” which since then I have learned is just not a great idea.  He told me that he does not like the king of Morocco because he is friends with Israel; understandably, after that I deliberately concealed my identity and did not feel comfortable enough to ask questions on the Jewish migration.  Later in the week I told this story to a Jewish man whose family has been incredibly welcoming and helpful to me, and he said that if I would have told him I was Jewish, he probably would have told me he loves Jews.  So, this research is truly becoming a balancing act of judgment calls, and it seems that I still have a lot to learn.  Good thing it is only the first week:)

My first real exposure to the non-white (as a majority) world was in JFK airport waiting on line to check into Royal Air Maroc flight AT203 non-stop to Casablanca. It felt as if I was standing at the cross section of the world; I saw people with lighter skin than me and dressed as if they just stepped of a Parisian runway, then African women dressed in colorful, flamboyant garb that is their trademark passed through my line of sight, until I finally laid eyes on the covered heads and thick dark mustaches I had been expecting. I heard people speaking everything from English, to French, to Arabic to Spanish to African dialects, and I had never felt like I had stuck out as so different in my entire life. I suppose this is why I’m here; to occupy my observational post as an outsider (like a good anthropologist), and when appropriate, engaging and immersing myself in the people and culture I have studied from the far reaches of my books and scholarly journals. I wish I could be more specific about “people and culture” in this inadvertent narrative of my personal and academic goals for this trip, but for now I am only certain that I will try to understand something about this part of the world by being here. As of yet, I have no sweeping conclusions to speak of, but it’s only the airport.

Thoughts:

As you could imagine, I had a lot of things on my mind as I walked into the airport. It was definitely difficult to say “see you in a year” to a lot of people, but the strangest was saying “bye” to my home in New Jersey. After living in a place for most of your life, you get attached, but the time has come for new beginnings for me and the rest of my family.

Hey everyone!

Welcome to my website and thanks for checking in Over the course of the next year I will be blogging right here about all of my travels, research and other stuff.  So, I hope you enjoy, and feel free to post comments!

I am including a link here to the Watson proposal that won me the fellowship! Enjoy:)

http://www.cecisibony.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/personal-statement-watson.doc

http://www.cecisibony.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/watson-proposal.doc

ps I want to say thank you to Mike Coyne for creating and helping me to maintain this website.  It looks awesome, and we know if I would have done it, it would have had stick figures on it.  THANKS!!!