Secret Passage
Movies haunt me days after I watch them. I inevitably cry for the mistreated heros. I relive the scenes in my sleep. I mix poignant images from critical scenes with everyday subjects in front of my eyes. So, the fact that I am still thinking about Secret Passage comes as no surprise. This is an epoque piece, about two Spanish Jewish sisters who are forced to convert into Catholocism during the Spanish Inquisition. They leave their homeland (or borrowed land of well over 1,000 years) and move to Venice via Antwerp. They want to survive and live openly as Jews. No place in Europe will grant them that right, so they must move East to Istanbul -- where Jews live in peace with other ethnic groups and are allowed to practice their religion as long as they abide by the Ottoman governance.
The story invokes a romanticized image of Istanbul at the time, despite all that I know about the Ottoman "millet" system. My ancestors in Istanbul, like other ethnic minorities, were allowed to practice their religion but their clothing had to be certain material and color. Their houses could not be as tall as those in the majority. They could deal money but did not cultivate land or serve in the army. (For more on this topic, see Bernard Lewis's Jews of Islam.) Yet the past should be evaluated in the context of that era. It took states numerous stages of social evolutions to deliver today's idea of democracy and equality.
I fast-forward to 21st century. I visit Venice in awe. The sea brush over the city center in breathtaking waves. Tourists and pigeons galore. The canals are like lacework. We play pose-click-run with my brother on the bridges connecting old pieces of land. I pass by the gates of the Jewish ghetto and peek in. I walk halfway down the first street veering by the Holocaust memorial, but I turn back - scared to get swallowed by the roar of the past. I focus on the espresso, the sing-song of Italian and the artworks that spills on the streets.
I call my parents in Istanbul. As usual, they are complaining about the everyday oddities of living in Turkey. It's either the blackout in the middle of the day, the senseless drivers or the political situation. They are perhaps no different than other rational-minded Turks who want to live in a civilized, secular country without service outages and corruption.
I hang up to read the New York Times. I lean in to read the article about the new Israeli foreign minister. The daughter of hard-core zionists is not exactly repeating her parents' idelogical discourse. She is vying for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. She admits it's still about the same issue that has daunted Jews since the beginning of time. It's a matter of survival!
The story invokes a romanticized image of Istanbul at the time, despite all that I know about the Ottoman "millet" system. My ancestors in Istanbul, like other ethnic minorities, were allowed to practice their religion but their clothing had to be certain material and color. Their houses could not be as tall as those in the majority. They could deal money but did not cultivate land or serve in the army. (For more on this topic, see Bernard Lewis's Jews of Islam.) Yet the past should be evaluated in the context of that era. It took states numerous stages of social evolutions to deliver today's idea of democracy and equality.
I fast-forward to 21st century. I visit Venice in awe. The sea brush over the city center in breathtaking waves. Tourists and pigeons galore. The canals are like lacework. We play pose-click-run with my brother on the bridges connecting old pieces of land. I pass by the gates of the Jewish ghetto and peek in. I walk halfway down the first street veering by the Holocaust memorial, but I turn back - scared to get swallowed by the roar of the past. I focus on the espresso, the sing-song of Italian and the artworks that spills on the streets.
I call my parents in Istanbul. As usual, they are complaining about the everyday oddities of living in Turkey. It's either the blackout in the middle of the day, the senseless drivers or the political situation. They are perhaps no different than other rational-minded Turks who want to live in a civilized, secular country without service outages and corruption.
I hang up to read the New York Times. I lean in to read the article about the new Israeli foreign minister. The daughter of hard-core zionists is not exactly repeating her parents' idelogical discourse. She is vying for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. She admits it's still about the same issue that has daunted Jews since the beginning of time. It's a matter of survival!
posted by Mimi Media @ 2:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home