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" Ashraf " is not
used to stay in his house for two months without
work
Every morning , at six o'clock , he used to
go out for his work in the city of " Kfar Sava " .
He used to take three buses to get there a little
bit before seven
Today , he has five mouths to
feed and to clothe , especially with the beginning
of Summer
In this season , expenses tend to double
as there are many weddings along with habits and
traditions that govern both rich , as well as poor
After receiving his firing notification he started
to buy famous Hebrew newspapers from the shop of
" Abdullah Al-Fatma " near his
neighborhood , and read the part that deals with
jobs
" Arieh " , the paper factory owner
, fired him with the excuse that there was a lot of
production and yet the demand was very low . Seeking
reduction in expenses , he was forced to fire some
of his twenty workers , he picked " Ashraf " .
The notification he received
in his hand seemed to have a smell telling him that
it wasn't easy for " Arieh " to fire
a worker of his people and that firing an Arab
worker is
far easier
. He greeted him , gave
him the release letter and thanked him for his
devoted services and loyal work for the sake of the
factory that feeds him and his sons ..
He leafed through the newspaper
, examining everything , and writing down , in a
special note book , phone numbers of factories with
conditions that fit him . He would run to call and
offer his self and his services which include
nothing but one year experience of operating a
machine for cutting and packing paper. Each time he
used his mobile phone to call a factory , and tell
about his identity and his residence , the owner
used to say that he needs a worker with a
certificate of obligatory army service
or that he
talked with some else, one or two hours ago
or
that the factory doesn't need workers any more and
that the owner changed his mind about taking a new
worker
. Others were explicit enough to say that
the work doesn't suit an Arab
.
" Asharf " felt he had nowhere
to go . He felt embarrassed each time he was asked
whether he found a job or whether he was still
unemployed .
Three months passed and all
the search through phones led to nothing . Then , a
candy and pastry factory owner invited him to come
for an interview on Monday morning at nine o'clock
" Asharf " put on his best clothes and then took the
bus from the city of
" Petah-Tikwa
" still referred to by
the Arab as " Mlapis " - to the city of Tel-Aviv
In the air-conditioned office , a
beautiful secretary gave him an extreme cold
reception .
Only after few days he discovered
that she was the owner's wife . All the powders and
colors that she had put on her gentle face made it
more radiant and beautiful . The odor of the
perfume filled the room . She had a thin shirt with
an upper v shape cut decorated with little violet
roses at the edges . Through that cut , two thirds
of her soft breasts appeared as in a blooming
garden
Unlike the old days of school when his
father used to warn him against such things which
might lead to sins
. " the eye , my son ! , it
fornicates , as well as , the ear , the sexual organ
.. and he who commits fornication shall suffer from
fornication in his house
. " - he couldn't keep
from looking .
He filled the form and wrote
down his personal details with accuracy and then
waited for the owner .
Less than ten minutes passed ,
a tall white man in working clothes appeared . His
face seemed to indicate an European origin
He
was humorous , bright-faced and witty . After
shaking the hand of " Asharf " and introducing
himself , he asked him to start immediately . Being
unprepared, they both agreed that he would begin
tomorrow morning .
Why doesn't " Ashraf " listen
carefully to the explanations of " Khizi "as to
learn the nature and the basics of the work as soon
as possible
Why doesn't he follow the
instructions especially when this is his only means
of living ; his father didn't leave him land or
money
.
There were four men among the
workers . They were short , old Yemeni workers that
started here from the first days of the factory
..
At ten o'clock , the break time , they would sit
together and eat their hot pastes chewing tree
olives called " Gat " and addressing different
current political issues
. Being among that group
gave them the opportunity to discuss with him
religious and political matters and then to
enthusiastically accuse Arabs of being weak , coward
, terrorist and hostile
In addition , they claimed
that even though Arabs don't serve at the army ,
they receive monthly salaries from the National
Insurance to begin from children allowance to
unemployment allowance and yet they conceal
aggression against the sate and are not loyal
.
" Ashraf " wouldnt stand
aside ; he would knit his brows and gird himself :
" Indeed , in this state we receive
small allowances from the National Insurance yet
this is our right and no one is doing us a favor
here . All the time we feel that we are a second
class citizens
We have suffered from
discrimination on all levels for a long time
and
that is because the state takes a lot from us and
gives us nothing but little
. It collects taxes ,
high taxes , and deprives us the necessary budges
for the infrastructures in our villages and cities
Where are the hospitals and the universities ? Where
are the parks and the industrial zones ? How long
will this injustice last ??
If the situation was too
dangerous and the discussions were to bring more
tension , why didn't " Khizi " interfere to stop the
argument and contain it before going out of hand
.
and indeed his interfering came firmly and he asked
both sides to utterly avoid any dealing with
political issues at the work place .
" Khizi " didn't expect that " Ashraf "
would master his work and learn the skills so fast
. This led to an increase in the production and
consequently in the profits ..
" Khizi" kept watching him carefully
, examining both all his actions and his sincerity
in following the instructions
. He invited him to
his office and said with passion :
- "
I want to appoint you as the supervisor of the
second shift which will start with the
the beginning of next month
I hope
you'll live up to my expectations
.You have to look
after the factory as if it was yours
. You are
going to supervise the men during the work
. and I
will double your salary " .
. supervisor ?
.second shift ?
. and double salary ??
Why not
this is awesome
. I've
never dreamed of it
. what a luck !!! Don't be
afraid , I won't disappoint you .
A whole night without sleeping
moving restlessly in bed
.floating in his past
while thinking about his new position which he never
dreamed of
. Then he remembered " Arieh " and his
factory and how he had made cuts in his job before
dumping him
He also remembered his father and his
insistence to go and work and not to study at a
university or a college , despite his high average
at the general secondary school examinations
Like
an iron machine that works continuously from
morning to evening , he became a hard working
worker , yet there was no progress whatsoever in
his life
He remembered how he fought a fierce
battle against his father when he wanted to marry
his current wife and how his father opposed that
marriage because of difficult circumstances that she
had
. Soon enough his memory led him to those
dwarfs that ridiculed both himself and the other
Arab workers on the first day of his work
He still
remembers his boldness and courage as he squared up
to them in firmness and determination
The second shift included eight
workers
. three of them were Arab
two were his
cousins and the other one was a friend of them . He
showed one of them the way to operate the machine
for cutting chocolate . He asked the others to pack
the product and arrange it in paper boxes and then
attach it as they are full .
It wasn't wise to treat them in
a special way , or to be tolerant towards them or to
treat them as he used to treat them before
.Now ,
they have to obey him and fulfill all his requests
. If they refuse , they will be fired
. Also , it
is not logical to bargain away a high salary for a
friend or a relative
In addition , " Khizi " or
his wife might suddenly show up any time to see how
things are going
..
You won't believe it
. as he
was in his office leaving his final thoughts and as
the clock reached nine , he heard the voice of Mrs.
" Leora " :
- Good evening " Ashraf " .
He jumped of his place frightened
and overwhelmed with emotions of uneasiness as he
stood to honor her . He was under clouds of
suspicion regarding her visit at this late hour
.
After taking a tour to check on the factory , they
returned to the office . There, she came near to him
, placed her right hand on his waist and gave him a
long kiss on his cheek . It was a kiss that he had
never experienced until he met her
She kept
pressing her lips till he hugged her with his both
arms . The kiss turned into kisses and then clothes
were taken off , private parts were revealed ,
bodies fused with each other as she trembled out of
joy , satisfaction and ease
. She said to him with
happiness filling her face :
- You are a real man
. What an
excellent man you are " Ashraf "!
She fixed up herself and whispered in
his ear : next week at the same time
Then she left the office trotting as
a horse
***********
Translated by: Hasan
Ahmad Sarsur
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