Iraqi Jews and Muslims cross boundaries in Berlin

At Café de Bagh, Jews and Muslims share arak and sabich far away from the politics of Iraq and Israel

Under a recent law, Iraqi citizens are banned from having anything to do with Israel or Israelis. But here in Berlin, this Iraqi law feels like a parody.

At Café De Bagh, Israeli Jews from Iraq and Iraqi Muslims dance together to the music of Dudu Tasa, grandson of classical Iraqi composers Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaity.

They drink arak, Arab aniseed liqueur, and eat sabich, the Israeli sandwich based on Iraqi breakfast ingredients, which has an almost cult following in Berlin. Activist and writer Yossi Lampal compiled an anthology entitled The Influence of Sabich on German Culture, which was launched at Café De Bagh.

The cafe also hosts open mic and cultural events, like the multi-lingual collective Poetic Hafla, which brings together Israeli, Arab and other international performers.

Café De Bagh is owned by Baghdadi Dury De Bagh, an Iraqi turned Berliner. When I arrive, he is sitting smiling in the doorway of his bar in a brown hat, dark shirt and colourful vest. He is on the phone with an Iraqi poet who had just returned from Berlin to Basra.

He introduces me in Arabic, describing me as “our brother, one of the beloved Jews of Baghdad”.

When I explain that, though my mother was born in Baghdad, I am an Israeli so have never been able to travel to the graves of our ancestors, the Basra poet responds, "Inshallah, one day you can travel. We also miss the Jews of Basra.”