Karachi's forgotten Jewish community 

(9 Jun 2011)
AP Television
Karachi, April 11, 2011
1. Mid caretakers of the Jewish graveyard walking past graves
2. Close up of grave stone
3. Pull focus of grave stones
4. Mid of graves
5. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Mehrunnisa Bibi, Caretaker, Gulshan Graveyard:
"The last they came was six months ago, put flowers on graves and left; they do live here in the neighbourhood of Gulshan, but they don't make themselves apparent. They told me not to tell anyone who they are, they go by the surname of Koreshi, they stay very quiet about their identity."
6. Various graves
7. Chand Arif cleaning dust off tomb stone
8. Various of tombstone
9. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Chand Arif, Caretaker, Gulshan Graveyard:
"I remember seeing three or four funerals here, they used to bring the dead on a horse driven carriage, they used to place the bodies on a platform inside the graveyard and perform the last rites. They were tall people, well built and used to wear small caps on their heads, they were very nice people, they used to give us money to look after the place, and never gave us any grief. Normally around 400-500 people would visit each funeral."
10. Various of the graveyard
AP Television
Karachi, 12th April
11. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Mumtaz Ali, Hashoo, Curator, Karachi Museum :
"They weren't that rich or influential, what or how they were thinking about the future of the Jewish community wasn't really known, unlike the Christians, who were very well organised at that point, their commission, and their churches, the Christians had a direct link with Italy (Vatican). By comparison, very little was known about Jewish people here, people close to them did think that they were from the desert of Sinai."
12. Various of Madi Hashoo shopping mall which now stands on the site of the Magain Shalome Synagogue
13. Various of people shopping
14. Various of shopping mall
15. Wide exterior of living quarters of Jewish people who lived in Karachi
16. Various of interiors
17. Tilt up from traffic to clock tower
18. Mid of traffic
19. Close tilt up of the star of David on the tower
20. Mid of tower
21. Close up of name plate inside the tower
22. Wide of tower
23. Close up tower
24. Pan of architectural drawings of a mosque drawn by Jewish architect
25. Tight of the front facade on the drawing
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Yasmin Lari, Architectural Historian:
"Moses Somake has a very definite style that he pursued, all his buildings are very robust in nature, they all use the beautiful Gizri stone of Karachi and a lot of times they are nicely treated - the stones are not just put in there - they are properly treated."
27. Tilt up of mosque drawings
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Yasmin Lari, Architectural Historian:
"It was a very tolerant city, that Muslims of the area were quite willing and happy to commission an architect who was Jewish. That means a lot of trust and faith in the architect, they obviously held him in great esteem, maybe he belonged to that community, maybe he lived there, we don't know where he actually lived, we do know where he worked because we found his (business) letterheads."
34. Tight pan of Moses Somake's official letterhead
35. Wide of the same
LEAD IN:
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and financial hub, was once home to a thriving Jewish community.
Most left the city after an increase in anti-semitism in Pakistan following the 1967 Six Day War.
But the community left their cultural mark on the city - and some say a handful still live here in secret - watching over their architecture and graveyards.
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