hilaJo Amar was a Jewish Moroccan singer who moved to Israeli in 1956, where he became a pioneer in the introduction of Mizrahi music to the mainstream Ashkenazi-dominated cultural scene in Israel, despite discrimination. Written in 1959, following the “Wadi Salib Riots” in Haifa, one of the first acts of rebellion against the Ashkenazi establishment, this protest song tells the story of the discrimination experienced by Jewish immigrants of North African descent. Sung mostly in Moroccan Arabic with two paragraphs in Hebrew, the lyrics describe the separation of immigrant families by the authorities, the ridiculing of Ashkenazi kibbutz members, the hopelessness of the transit camps in which they were forced to live, and, of course, the humiliation and lack of support experienced by Mizrahi Jews when they showed up at the employment office to try get work. This article presents a deeper analysis of the song and its impact on Israeli society, including the interpretation of Reuven Abergel, leader of the Black Panther protest movement of the 1970s. An English translation of the Hebrew paragraphs of the song appear below:
I went to the employment office,
he says where’re you from
I said from Morocco,
He says get out of here…I went to the employment office,
he says where’re you from
I said from Poland,
Come in, please.