A flag-making business with a rich history knows no political boundaries.
by Chana Falik
To most of us, flags are synonymous with passions of patriotism and independence. To Yitzhak Berman, flags mean an endless diversity of people and causes, as well as a deep pride in upholding top standards of customer service.
Berman's Flags and Embroidery was founded in 1946 by Yitzhak's parents, Hela and Kalman Berman, refugees from war-torn Poland. Possessing a little knowledge of embroidery, they set up a small business on Heleni Hamalka Street in Jerusalem; Hela was the seamstress and tough businesswoman, and her husband acted as the gentleman who brought in new orders.
Flag making started quite by accident, Yitzhak recalls. "One day, around the time of the declaration of statehood [in1948], a man poked his head inside the doorway. 'Can you sew Stars of David onto flags?' he asked. 'Sure,' answered my father. As it turned out, the man worked with the newly established government, and brought my father a large order of flags. Since then, the orders haven't stopped coming."
When the pressure became too great, the Bermans hired another seamstress, and later their two children, Yitzhak and Ruti, joined the business. The small store gradually became more and more crowded with sewing machines, irons, hanging racks and other equipment. Passersby would often see flags drying on racks on the pavement outside. Eventually, the family moved the main flag-making operation into two large rented halls in an industrial warehouse. The original store, however, still houses a Berman's Flags salesroom. .
Today Berman's employs 19 workers, including five Berman family members. Yitzhak is in charge of new orders and customer relations. As he lists the names of organizations making up their clientele, there is a twinkle in his eye.
"It's an interesting porridge. We've made flags for Dor Shalom (the Peace Generation), and for Shalom Im Hagolan (Peace with the Golan). We've made flags for the 'Women in Green' and for 'Hebron is Forever', at the same time as we made flags for 'Land for Peace'. During the elections we made flags for the Labor Party, for the Likud, and many other political parties. We also make the flags for the Palestinian Authority."
Yitzhak is obviously proud of the parade of customers with divergent political aims into his office. Politics, however, doesn't get past the front door. When asked if any of his customers ever protest and chide him for his policy of serving all, he replies, "Yes, one person did. But I told him that if I didn't make a flag for them, someone else would."
The Berman's practical open-mindedness is the source of one interesting story. Two months after the Six Day War, in August 1967, eight Arab heads of state met in Khartoum for a major conference. This conference produced a resolution calling for "No peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of Israel." However, when preparations for the conference were underway, the organizers realized that they lacked the flags of the participating countries. Who better and more reliable to turn to than Berman's Flags in Jerusalem, Israel! "They ordered the flags, requesting only that we remove the 'Made in Israel' label," comments Yitzhak.
To date, Berman's has made flags of 122 countries, for government and diplomatic functions. Yitzhak recalls the legendary visit of then-President of Egypt Anwar Sadat to Israel in 1979. "We were given two days to make thousands of flags. At the time, Egypt belonged to a confederation with Libya and Syria, and all three countries shared the same flag. As the flags were being hung along the welcoming route, one sharp-eyed municipal worker who knew Arabic said, 'Hey, wait! These flags have the word 'Libya' on them!' We took back all the flags and replaced 'Libya' with 'Egypt'. It was a complicated job, but we finished it on time."