Munir Uzear Qassab whose name in hebrew reads as (Meir Uzear Katsav) was born around the year 1927-1928. Munir is painter and his late brother Daniel died in 2000 at the age of 87 was also a good painter and very famous in Iraq. Shani, his other brother, still living in Israel, is also a painter and his late brother Nahoum was a very good painter too.
I went to Munir's home this year. Both his daughters and grandsons were present. He welcomed me and I saw Erbil the capital in his house. He told me "We are from Erbil and our life was wonderful there. We didn't have any problem there. We had good relations with all kurds. I miss the Masief resort, Shaqlawa, Gali Ali Bag and Rawandouz. I miss the fresh cold natural water of Kurdistan. Now I miss also all my friends there. Where is Ihsan Mustafa, Anwar Ali and his brothers, Niyaz Mustafa and Qarani, Fatih Mezhar, Rashid Haj Qadir, Abdul-Wahab, Jabir, and Hashim. I always remember them. They were very dear to me. We left Kurdistan and made for Israel in 1950. Actually we were deported by the Iraqi authorities. We faced hardship and difficulties. For one the climate in Kurdistan is different from Israel's. Our properties and money were all confiscated. Upon arrival to Israel we had to live for 3 years under tents in a hot weather. Changing your atmosphere and life in that drastic way was very hard. We were living with other jews from Rumenia and Russia who were very strangers to us. I was very often killing the time by drawing paintings about Erbil and Kurdistan. I was also selling them cheap to make a living.
Bashir Sabri Botani
Feb. 2009
Munir Uzear Qassab was born in Erbil (Hawler) - Iraqi Kurdistan about 1927-1928. I visited him at his home in Ramat Chen - Ramat Gan - Israel.
Bashir Sabri Botani
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