COPPER CONNECTION

In his new exhibition, Israeli artist Meydad Eliyahu explores the story of his Cochini Jew ancestors, who immigrated to Israel from Kerala in 1954

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

In July 1948, thousands of Palestinian men, women and children left their homes in Ramla and Lydda fearing brutalities from Israel, the Jewish state that had come into being on May 14, 1948. Soon, these ancient towns that lay between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, outside the Jewish state designated in the UN Partition Plan of 1947, were swarmed with Jewish immigrants who returned to their “promised land” from different parts of the world. And, the cities’ character transformed from predominantly Arab to Jewish. In the last six decades, the Jewish state systematically erased much of the evidence of the Palestinian expulsion from Ramla, including stories of the city’s Muslim past.

When Jerusalem-based artist Meydad Eliyahu started researching his solo exhibition ‘Copper Wing’—which is currently on at the Contemporary Art Centre, Ramla—he found a striking similarity between the city’s history and that of his own Cochini Jew community. Eliyahu’s forefathers made the aliyah (immigration to Israel) from Kochi, Kerala, in 1954. “I saw a parallel in the way history was repressed in the case of Ramla as well as in the case of the Cochini community,” he says. “However, the Jewish state alone is not responsible, but the community itself played a part [in erasing its Indian past] to merge with the general population.”

Cochini Jews, also known as Malabari Jews, are considered to be the oldest Jewish sect in the Indian subcontinent. They came to the Malabar coast via ancient trade routes and flourished as a community. When Israel was formed, most of the community members immigrated to the new country. However, they suffered humiliation and prejudice there.