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This story by Neri Livneh in the Guardian today, reprinted from Ha'aretz, interested me because of the refusal of Israelis to countenance a "Right of Return" for Palestinian refugees (analogous to the Aliyah or Jewish Right of Return) in past peace negotiations.
No room at the inn for Palestinians but plenty for Peruvians, it seems. I summarise:
A delegation of rabbis travelled to Peru and, during their two weeks in the country, they converted 90 people to Judaism, most of them of Indian origin. They converted only those who said they were willing to emigrate to Israel immediately. The 90 new immigrants, comprising 18 families, were taken straight from the airport to two settlements.
Theoretically, the new Jews had the option of joining the Jewish community in Peru but that was ruled out. "The community in Lima consists of a certain socio-economic class and did not want them because they are from a lower level."
It turns out that Peru also had a Jewish patriarch of its own, "It is known that Christopher Columbus was a Jew," says Batya (née Blanca) Mendel, who was a Peruvian citizen until two months ago. Columbus was Jewish? "They always say that about him in Peru, and he visited many places in Peru and left Jewish blood everywhere."
Officials of the settlements refer to the 90 new Jews as the "third aliyah" as there were two previous groups who came over from Peru in 1990 and 1991.
According to Nachshon Ben-Haim (né Pedro Mendosa), "the idea that there are Palestinians here at all is a lie. The Palestinian people never existed and only when the Jews leave their country, the Arabs come in and try to take over and prove they have a right here. But we cannot agree to that because the Lord gave the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for all time, and all the Jews will be united and love the Lord with all their heart, and then all the problems will be solved."
Ben-Haim is not bothered by the fact that, by being sent to a settlement, he has also been effectively recruited to a particular political group, "...I have no problem with that because I do not consider the territories to be occupied territories. You cannot conquer what has in any case belonged to you since the time of the patriarch, Abraham."
Ben-Haim says that after he finishes the Hebrew course, he may join the army, "...because I want to defend the country and, if there is no choice, I will kill Arabs. ...I am sure that Jews kill Arabs only for self-defence and justice, but Arabs do it because they like to kill."
He bases this belief on his scientific view of Judaism, "The Arab has the instinct of murder and killing, like all gentiles, and only Jews do not have that instinct - that is a genetic fact." But if you were not born a Jew genetically, don't you have that instinct? "Maybe it was there, but it makes no difference because now we are all Jews."
[ZoCher, the Patriarch, shakes his venerable greying head and sighs in despair...] |
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