Roy Hasan is an iconic Mizrahi Israeli contemporary Hebrew poet from a low-class development town. His poetry is regarded as a rebellion against the Ashkenazi elitist political and cultural establishment in Israeli society, that has often discriminated against Jews of Mizrahi descent. In the following poem, translated to English by Micha Meyers, Hasan describes the perception of Mizrahi Jews as dirty, lazy, barbaric, immoral and superstitious by mainstream Ashkenazi Israeli society.
In the Land of Ashkenaz
In the land of Ashkenaz the almond tree blossoms
In the land of Ashkenaz they are expecting a guest
Not to stay
Washing hands with soap and even then
Touching at a distance
Not shaking hands
In the land of Ashkenaz I am spicy food
I am a cosy home
In the land of Ashkenaz I am a mofleta
I am Haflah
I am honour
I am lazy
I am everything that was not here before
When everything was white
I am the destruction
I am the slaughter
I am the armed fucking robbery
The crook with the kipah
In the court of law
I am the graves of holy men
And talismans
I am a pimp
I am clapping hands
And cheap music
Low culture
Low grade
I am a stubborn root
And a pain in the arse
I am a liar
Because racism is a relic of the past
And long dead
I am: ‘they sucked me dry’
I am just a crybaby
I am a bone
Unidentified
Grafted to you here