Lest We Forget Our Jewish Refugees

Nadene Goldfoot

One of the second groups of people to enter "Palestine" were Jewish refugees from the 2nd World War, the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. Many just got off a boat only to find themselves handed a gun in the stuggle to live. All these Jews were undernourished people from the German camps that were used to gas and then cremate Jews. They survived long enough to help establish Israel. The book, "Exodus", by Leon Uris tells of the stuggle to get to Eretz Yisrael. This epic is about an Israeli freedom fighter involved in the birth of Israel which was in the midst of enemies. We're still surrounded by the same enemies and finding out that force is the only thing our enemies respect. This book as been made into a movie.

Palestinians have not been the only refugees in the world. Their predicament was created by their own decision to leave their homes, thinking the Arabs would win the fight and they would return to take over all the Jews' homes. When little Israel won the fight, their leaders chose to keep them in camps to gain pity. If they couldn't win one way, they'd try another.

When Israel was created in 1948 by the United Nations' vote, 820,000 of our Jewish brethren living in Arab countries were forced to flee without their belongings between the years of 1947 and 1949. They have never been compensated by Arab governments for their losses. They came to Israel as refugees.

Besides that, those living in Arab countries were upheld as of dminni status, second class citizens with the results of not having priviledges of true citizens. Often many times they even had to pay taxes for things others did not have to do. This is why Israel was created in the first place; as a place to Jews to come to when the world turned against them.

The Arab countries would not take in the Palestinian refugees. All seemed to think it best they stay in refugee camps. Finally, many did get into Jordan, and the two groups had a bloody war with each other. Now Jordan is made up mostly of Palestinians. The king even married a Palestinian girl. The same did not happen with the other countries.

Russia is a country without G-d. It seems that they prohibited people from attending church or synagogue. Israel has taken in many of these Jews and their descendants who were not permitted to know about their own religion. While I lived in Israel, I was in an Ulpan with many other Russians. My own grandparents were Russian and were immigrants to the states. In a class of 40 people, about 3/4 were Russian English teachers. My husband and I and other American and English teachers made up the other quarter. While we Americans did not give up our American citizenship, Russia did not allow dual citizenship, so they were there to stay, and hopefully never wanting to return, anyway. The problem is that they give up the chance of seeing family, and that's hard to do.

The world has had many refugees, but none have lasted as long as the Palestinians. They still are receiving handouts from the United Nations, paid mostly with money from the United States. Usually the Arab countries are in arrears to pay their fair share of the money for them. These refugees are not seeking a better life, but are being encouraged by other Arabs to stay in this position. It curries hatred for Israel, which is their goal in life.