28/6/99
A
Jewish
woman's
Moslem
warriors
Naima
Tefilin's
life
should
be
made
into
a
movie.
Hollywood
thinks
so,
but
the
problem
is
--
who'd
believe
the
story?
A
psychiatric
nurse
living
in
the
brooding,
crime-ridden
desert
town
of
Ofakim,
Naima
dedicated
her
life
to
resurrecting
the
sorry
dregs
of
society
--
the
druggies
and
whores,
the
forlorn
aged,
the
dead-end
youth.
They
originated
from
conditions
she
was
familiar
with:
she,
too,
had
experienced
the
dirt-poor
subsistence
in
a
ma'abara
(transit
camp)
during
Austerity,
but
she
was
now
comfortably
ensconced
in
a
fine
villa.
Yet,
she
was
vulnerable
nonetheless:
her
own
family
was
scythed
again
and
again
by
the
Angel
of
Death.
There
was
tragedy
and
triumph:
her
husband
pulled
back
from
the
precipice,
her
four-year-old
daughter
was
ravaged
with
brain
cancer,
Naima
herself
was
stricken
with
breast
cancer
--
all
at
around
the
same
time.
All
of
them
survived,
but
others
in
the
extended
family
did
not.
Quite
a
story.
But
that's
merely
the
prelude.
Here,
the
plot
shifts
to
far-off
Iran.
Fanaticism
reigns
and
war
ensues.
Many
Iranians
have
fled
across
the
border
and
joined
arch-enemy
Iraq
in
the
fight
to
free
their
homeland.
The
war
plays
itself
out,
and
instead
of
showering
these
mujahedin
with
accolades,
Saddam
Hussein
orders
them
to
join
another
war,
against
the
Kurds.
The
Iranians
refuse,
and
thousands
are
jailed
--
all
but
a
few
who
manage
to
flee
(again)
and
make
their
way
to
...
Israel.
The
mujahedin
cross
the
border
into
what
they
faithfully
believe
is
a
compassionate
country,
and
they're
greeted
with
a
hail
of
bullets.
One
of
them
is
killed.
The
rest
are
captured
and
detained.
Israel
doesn't
know
what
to
do
with
13
Moslem
warriors
pleading
for
sanctuary,
so
it
does
nothing.
They
fester
in
a
Beersheba
jail.
One
day,
they
think
they
must
be
dreaming:
a
well-dressed,
good-looking
society
lady
(Naima)
arrives
out
of
nowhere
--
speaking
their
language
and
promising
she
will
win
their
freedom.
She
does.
And
then,
she
insists
they
all
move
into
her
home,
which
they
do
for
seven
months,
until
finally
they're
awarded
asylum,
and
they
live
happily
ever
after.
Well!
The
end
of
the
movie?
No;
it's
only
intermission.
NAIMA
TEFILIN
is
57,
and
made
aliya
in
'57.
In
that
time
she
has
built
up
a
remarkable
CV
of
social-welfare
involvement,
and
has
won
a
hatful
of
awards
and
certificates.
Her
work
earned
her
respect
and
cooperation
from
the
police,
the
courts,
institutions
and
bureaucracies.
So
when
she
heard
of
the
plight
of
the
mujahedin
and
took
action,
all
doors
were
open
to
her.
"I
identified
with
them,
they
were
countrymen,
but
they
viewed
me
with
fear
and
suspicion,
thinking
I
was
a
spy.
I
smiled,
and
said
I'm
just
a
regular
citizen,
Iranian,
I
live
nearby,
I
like
to
help
people.
They
didn't
believe
I
was
for
real.
They
said
people
had
come
from
the
UN,
the
Red
Cross,
Iranian
organizations,
and
they
couldn't
get
us
out.
Then
the
prison
guards
told
them,
'if
anyone
can,
she
can.'
"I
won
them
over.
They
started
calling
me
'Mama,'
and
hugged
and
kissed
me."
She
worked
the
system
beautifully,
and
won
almost
unlimited
access.
She
brought
them
clothes,
books,
toiletries,
food;
her
friends
pitched
in,
and
then
strangers
too.
"These
men
hadn't
tasted
Iranian
food
for
years,
and
now
they
were
sitting
in
an
Israeli
prison
and
feasting.
Dozens
of
people
came
to
see
them,
with
gifts.
One
lady
came
by
bus
with
a
pot
of
food
--
all
the
way
from
Ramat
Hasharon!"
Naima
worked
tirelessly
and
eventually
won
their
outright
release.
"That's
when
the
court
told
me
there
were
two
more
Iranians
in
Ramle
prison,
so
I
got
involved
there
too,
the
same
thing.
And
then
those
two
said,
'Listen,
there's
two
more
in
the
same
situation,
but
they're
from
Sudan.'
So
I
included
them
too.
They
were
so
sweet.
They
said,
'but
we're
black,
we're
from
Sudan,
why
would
you
want
to
help
us?'"
Naima
now
had
15
Moslem
men
on
her
hands.
"We
had
a
huge
party
at
our
house
--
a
party
that
lasted
seven
months.
They
moved
in
with
us,
all
of
them,
we
were
like
a
big
family.
They
cooked,
cleaned,
