Meeting MK and learning about his story shows me how ignorant and unaware I am of the lives of people like him. Take his name for example, the ongoing Arabisation of Darfur forced K to adopt the name M, which is more Arabic in character than his African name. We make it a point to call him K and not M. Nonetheless, K has adopted his dual identify for better or worse; he goes by the name MK on Facebook even.
We mostly discuss his life in Tel Aviv and the marginalisation of asylum seekers in Israel. On a normal day, K hears the word ‘slave’ used to refer to him at least twice a day. “It is not easy but it is better than my life in my home country. I would not know if I would be alive today if I was in Darfur,” he says. K is part of an NGO that works for asylum seekers from Sudan. In Darfur though K does not have the freedom of association.
His narrative that juxtaposes life in Darfur versus life in Tel Aviv is very powerful. While I constantly wonder why come to Israel where you are not recognized as a refugee and have fewer rights than you should, he gives me reasons to believe that a country that does accept him is far better than a place where his life is in constant danger.
Racism, K says, is not restricted to colour and religion. Even the language you speak could attract racist comments. Arabic is the language of the educated class in Darfur, “if I speak the language spoken by my tribe, then I am looked down up on.” K is fluent in Arabic, however making friends with Palestinians is more than sharing a common language. His friend N points out, “the Arabs are oppressing us in Darfur and here in Israel the Arabs are in a difficult situation. It is very strange for me to see this.”
The class on racism ended with K asking me, have you faced racism in India? I felt miserable when I said, “I am a Hindu, and belong to the majority, so I do not face harsh racism.” I certainly have witnessed racism (or casteism) in India; just never had to face it.
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