The Christian Peace Teams in Hebron do their best to spread the light of partisan misunderstanding about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They bring a message of 'justice' for one side only. That cannot be 'justice.'
Hebron is dear to my heart, because my mother was born in Hebron. Though our family left Hebron long before the troubled times of the British mandate, ex-neighbors, and virtually everyone in mandatory Palestine, lived through and remembered the
massacres of 1929 and
1936, the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish community of Hebron by the forces of the fascist
Mufti Haj Amin el Husseini, with the collaboration of the sometimes anti-Semitic officials of the imperialist British Mandate.
The Christian Peace Teams know too.
Yossi's family, like other Jewish and Muslim families, settled in Hebron in the late 15th century, after they were expelled from Spain during the inquisition. They were there during the 1929 massacre in which 67 Jews were murdered by an Arab mob. Unlike most Jewish families they decided to remain in Hebron and Yossi was born there in 1934. He told us his family finally left in 1947.
....
It was wonderful to hear him speak affectionately about his Muslim Palestinian neighbors from Hebron. They are neighbors no more, but have remained in close contact. He told us that this family saved his family during the 1929 massacre. "They are my brothers," he said.
There might be a bit more more to the story than that, because most Jewish families were forcibly evacuated by the British in 1936. The problem is that Yossi wants to live in Arab Hebron apparently, and we meany Israelis won't let him, as CPT tell us: Yossi regards himself as a refugee. His dream, like that of many Palestinian refugees, is to return to his ancestral home, to live again with his neighbors and 'brothers'. Unlike the present Jewish settlers, he cannot live here. Perhaps the government is concerned that a legal precedent would be set if they allowed a Jewish Palestinian refugee to reclaim his home?
Of course Yossi is a refugee. There are 900,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Some want to return. But CPT know perfectly well that Israeli travel to Palestinian controlled areas was prohibited in recent years after several Israelis were murdered. The regulations exist to protect Yossi. He can live where he pleases, but he cannot expect the protection of the Israeli government there, and he is violating Israeli law if he goes there. CPT also know that the current Jewish settlement in Hebron was started by squatters who came to live in Hebron without government permission. CPT do not approve of that settlement, I believe, and would be very upset if a group of Jews went to settle in Nablus or Jenin or Arab Hebron. Therefore, it is just as well that the Israeli government prohibits Yossi from settling there. CPT know all this. So their distortion of reality is not done in the name of 'justice,' but rather of a wicked and depraved perversion of 'justice.'
The CPT letter is below (at http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000341.html ). You can write to CPT at cptheb@palnet.com.
Ami Isseroff
Hebron: Defying Definition
By Janet Benvie
2 February 2006
I have met many different and interesting people in my life. Nothing, however, prepared me for meeting Yossi.
Yossi is Jewish. He calls himself "a child of Palestine" and a refugee, but he lives in a settlement. His philosophy is simple, that everyone should be allowed to live where they want. He lives where he does until he can fulfill his dream to return to his home in Hebron. The Israeli authorities, he says, have told him that he cannot return to Hebron.
Yossi's family, like other Jewish and Muslim families, settled in Hebron in the late 15th century, after they were expelled from Spain during the inquisition. They were there during the 1929 massacre in which 67 Jews were murdered by an Arab mob. Unlike most Jewish families they decided to remain in Hebron and Yossi was born there in 1934. He told us his family finally left in 1947.
It was good to meet with Yossi. It was good to see photographs and hear stories of a time when Jews and Muslims lived together here in Hebron, unlike now, when Jewish settlers violently harass Palestinians.
It was wonderful to hear him speak affectionately about his Muslim Palestinian neighbors from Hebron. They are neighbors no more, but have remained in close contact. He told us that this family saved his family during the 1929 massacre. "They are my brothers," he said.
He proudly showed us olive oil, a special 'butter' and dibs (a drink made from grapes) that these 'neighbors' had brought him from Hebron. He sadly told of having to meet them at a checkpoint to receive these valuable gifts. Israeli government restrictions mean that he cannot legally travel to their home in Hebron and they cannot travel to his home. He said he also worries that Palestinian extremists would "cause trouble" if he went to Hebron.
Yossi regards himself as a refugee. His dream, like that of many Palestinian refugees, is to return to his ancestral home, to live again with his neighbors and 'brothers'. Unlike the present Jewish settlers, he cannot live here. Perhaps the government is concerned that a legal precedent would be set if they allowed a Jewish Palestinian refugee to reclaim his home?
Yossi is, after all, only one of 6-8 million Palestinian refugees worldwide who the Israeli government do not want to return to their pre 1948 homes.
Original content is Copyright by the author 2007. Posted at ZioNation-Zionism and Israel Web Log, http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000341.html where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Disributed by ZNN list. Subscribe by sending a message to ZNN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please forward by e-mail with this notice, cite this article and link to it. Other uses by permission only.
Replies: 1 Comment
From the original 600,00 yo 800,000 arab refugees of 1948 we have today 6-8 million. With their number doubling every 15-20 years yo can write in 15-20 years about 12-16 million arab refugees, in 30-60 years about 24-32 million and so on. Jusst remember that in Iseael there are today 1.2 million Arabs many more than their total before 1948.
ami farkas, Friday, February 2nd
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