Jews and the Right of Return

Here's a very interesting article in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency archive about calls for Sephardic Jews to granted the right of return to the Spain of their ancestors.  Note that the article, pasted here in full, is from 1933:

Ayala Urges Spain Right Wrong of 1492; Asks Citizenship for Sons of the Expelled

October 15, 1933

A movement for the return of the descendants of those Jews who were exiled from Spain in 1492 has been started by the famous Spanish author and statesman, Franzesco Ayala. His plan, which has a very large measure of support behind it, provides not only for the repatriation of Sephardic Jews, but also for the granting of Spanish citizenship to such of them as care to accept it, wherever they may be living.

Spain has long begun to realize the enormous loss it suffered by the banishment of the Jews, for by this means it lost some of its most intelligent, wealthy and enterprising citizens. The desire to make good this wrong and to receive back at least part of the descendants of these exiled Jews, is not entirely new. But the abolition of the monarchy and the setting up of the republic, and the abrogation of the supremacy of the Catholic Church that soon followed, strengthened this sentiment, and the Nazi persecution of the Jews gave it a new impetus. Franzesco Ayala’s plan has now given it practical shape, and it is all the more important since it has the full backing and support of the Spanish Government.

FAITHFUL TO SPANISH TRADITION

According to Ayala, there are anywhere from 800,000 to 1,000,000 Sephardic Jews scattered all over the world, but chiefly in the Balkan countries and in Holland. For more than 400 years, down to the present day, they have continued to speak a beautiful old Spanish dialect, they have stuck to their old Spanish traditions and customs, and have kept up their old Spanish culture. No better proof could be required of their loyalty and devotion to their old fatherland, in spite of its cruel treatment of their ancestors. It would therefore be no more than an elementary duty, Alaya says, to thank them and to extend a hearty welcome to them to return to their old home.

Ayala tries to show that the old Spanish anti-Semitism was a very different thing from the present German brand. In Spain in the fifteenth century, anti-Semitism was not political, but purely religious, and it was in accord with the views of the time, and with the laws of the land, for the Catholic Church was at that time the only recognized religion in Spain. Nazi anti-Semitism, however, had no such excuse, for it is based exclusively on political and racial grounds which it is impossible to justify, and it is a breach of the laws of Germany, for the Jews had lived there for generations and had been granted full civil rights.

ALL RELIGIONS NOW EQUAL

The new Spanish Republic had abolished the absolutism of the Catholic Church, and the new Constitution provides for absolute liberty of thought and freedom of worship. All religions are now equal in the eyes of the law, and there is now no reason why the Jews should not return to Spain in large numbers.

Ayala realizes the enormous political, cultural and economic benefits Spain would derive from a large Jewish population, and therefore wishes to incorporate the million descendants of those Jews who were banished over 400 years ago in the Spanish people. Since it would be impossible, however, to get them all to come back, he at least wants to make them “Sons of Spain” again, by granting them Spanish citizenship, whether they come back or not.

Ayala’s movement has a great body of support, and is growing form day to day. The Government supports it whole-heartedly. But there are many technical and legal difficulties in the way of its realization.

MORAL SIGNIFICANCE

At the same time its moral significance cannot be overestimated. At the very moment when Germany has turned back the clock of history, and is depriving its Jews of their citizenship and driving them into exile, Spain, which did the same 400 years ago, is doing her utmost to retrieve her error, is welcoming her Jews back, and offering them all the rights of Spanish citizenship.

In Spain, the last act of a great tragedy is being played, the first act of which took place in the Middle Ages. In Germany, it is the first act that is being played now. But there too the last act will come sooner or later.

I wonder what the Zionist movement made of the proposal at the time.

Right of Return not Law of Return?

I could have said, JC's Marcus Dysch nearly right, shock! but I think I use that shock headline or tweet too much.  But here's the Dysch article on the law/right of return in The Jewish Chronicle:
The headline states, Greece passes 'law of return' for Jews who fled.

The Law of Return is of course the main legal instrument underpinning Israel's segregationist system privileging Jews over non-Jews.

So, Law of Return, has been given a bit of a bad name among anti-racists.  But what does Dysch say in the article?

Greece has passed legislation allowing Jews who fled the country before the end of the Second World War the "right of return" and to claim citizenship.

Former deputy foreign minister Dimitrios Dollis instigated the new law - which will come into effect within a month.

He said it was unlikely many Jews would claim Greek citizenship, but that he had acted out of principle.

So the right of return, for Greece, and actually for international law, is a principle. Is that the JC's position?  Marcus Dysch might want to be careful what he wishes for.

Jews for Palestinian Right of Return Statement

Jews For Palestinian Right of Return January 1, 2013 “For Palestinians, the right to return home and the right to live in dignity and equality in their own land are not any less important than the right to live free of military occupation.” –Prof. Saree Makdisi[1] For more than a century, Zionists have sought to construct a “Jewish state” through forced removal of the indigenous Palestinian people. In 1948, this state was established through the Nakba (Catastrophe): erasure and occupation of more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages, dispossession of over 750,000 Palestinians, and a terror campaign of which the massacre at Deir Yassin is but the most infamous example. Since 1967, Israel has also occupied and colonized the remainder of historic Palestine. Today, this relentless ethnic cleansing continues — armed and financed by the U.S. and its allies — on both sides of the 1948 “Green Line.” As a cumulative result, seventy percent of Palestinians are in exile, the world’s largest refugee population. Nowhere is this clearer than in Gaza, where Israel inflicts particularly brutal collective punishment on 1.7 million people — most of them refugees — for defiantly resisting expulsion from their homes throughout historic Palestine. “Pick a point, any point, along [Gaza's] 25-mile coastline,” writes Gaza City resident Lara Aburamadan, “and you’re seven or so miles — never more — from the other side. The other side is where my grandparents were born, in a village that has since become someone else’s country, off limits to me. You call it Israel. I call it the place where the bombs come from.”[2] To hide these crimes and shield itself from their consequences, the Zionist regime officially denies the Nakba, the ethical equivalent of Holocaust denial. It has even authorized legislation to penalize those who memorialize the Nakba — a step toward criminalizing its observance altogether. As it is for all colonized peoples, liberation means reversing dispossession. “The Palestinian cause,” writes Dr. Haidar Eid in Gaza, “is the right of return for all refugees and nothing less.”[3] Return — one of the key demands of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign — is affirmed in U.N. resolution 194, but derives from the principle of universal human rights and, as such, cannot be renounced or abandoned by any body or representative; it inalienably attaches to Palestinians, both individually and collectively. Despite this, even some who criticize Israel’s 1967 occupation claim that Palestinian return is “unrealistic.” However, solidarity means unconditional support for the just aims of those resisting oppression. As Palestinian journalist-activist Maath Musleh explains: “If you think that [return] is not possible, then you are really not in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.”[4] Some also object that refugees’ return would mean an end to the “Jewish state.” But supporters of social justice must ask themselves how they can defend a state whose very existence depends on structural denial of Palestinian rights. Recently, more than a hundred leading Palestinian activists reaffirmed their opposition “to all forms of racism and bigotry, including, but not limited to, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Zionism, and other forms of bigotry directed at anyone, and in particular people of color and indigenous peoples everywhere.”[5] Such racism and bigotry is reflected precisely in Zionism’s attempt to erase the Palestinian people, a century long campaign that dishonors the memory of Jewish suffering and resistance in Europe. The moral response is clear: “There is one geopolitical entity in historic Palestine,” writes Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah. “Israel must not be allowed to continue to entrench its apartheid, racist and colonial rule throughout that land.”[6] As Jews of conscience, we call on all supporters of social justice to stand up for Palestinian Right of Return and a democratic state throughout historic Palestine — “From the River to the Sea” — with equal rights for all. The full measure of justice, upon which the hopes of all humanity depends, requires no less. Initial signers List in formation; affiliations listed for identification only To sign as an individual or organization, e-mail jfpror@gmail.com Max Ajl, Writer and activist; Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine Gabriel Ash, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network Switzerland Max Blumenthal, Journalist and author Prof. Haim Bresheeth, Filmmaker, photographer and film studies scholar Lenni Brenner, Author and anti-war activist Mike Cushman, Convenor, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (UK) Sonia Fayman, French Jewish Union for Peace; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network France Sherna Berger Gluck, Founding member US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; Israel Divestment Campaign Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Coordinator, Fellowship of Reconciliation Peacewalks, Mural Arts in Palestine and Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence Hector Grad, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (Spain) Abraham Greenhouse, Blogger, Electronic Intifada Tony Greenstein, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (UK) Jeff Halper, Director, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) Stanley Heller, Host of “The Struggle” TV News Tikva Honig-Parnass, Former member of the Zionist armed forces (1948); author of False Prophets of Peace: Liberal Zionism and the Struggle for Palestine Adam Horowitz, Co-Editor, Mondoweiss.net Selma James, Global Women’s Strike; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network UK David Klein, Organizing Committee, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel Dennis Kortheuer, Organizing Committee, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; Israel Divestment Campaign; Dump Veolia LA David Letwin, Activist and writer; Gaza Freedom March Michael Letwin, Co-Founder, Labor for Palestine; Organizing Committee, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition Antony Loewenstein, Australian journalist and author Barbara Lubin, Executive Director, Middle East Children’s Alliance Mike Marqusee, Author If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew Hajo Meyer, Auschwitz survivor; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network Linda Milazzo, Participatory journalist and educator Prof. Ilan Pappé, Israeli historian and socialist activist Miko Peled, Author of The General’s Son Karen Pomer, Granddaughter of Henri B. van Leeuwen, Dutch anti-Zionist leader and Bergen-Belsen survivor Diana Ralph, Assistant Coordinator, Independent Jewish Voices-Canada Dorothy Reik, Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains Prof. Dr. Fanny-Michaela Reisin, President, International League for Human Rights (German Section FIDH); Founding member of Jewish Voice for a Just Peace – EJJP Germany Rachel Roberts, Civil rights attorney and writer Ilana Rossoff, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network Carol K. Smith, Activist and civil rights attorney Lia Tarachansky, Director, Seven Deadly Myths Hadas Thier, Contributing author of The Struggle for Palestine; Israeli-born daughter and grand-daughter of Nazi Holocaust survivors Dr. Abraham Weizfeld, Montréal; Jewish People’s Liberation Organization Sherry Wolf, Author and public speaker; International Socialist Organization; Adalah-NY Marcy Winograd, Former Congressional Peace Candidate; public school teacher Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg, Non-Executive Director, Pluto Books Ltd. —————- Notes [1] Saree Makdisi, “If Not Two States, Then One,” N.Y. Times, December 5, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/opinion/global/if-not-two-states-then-one.html?_r=0 [2] Lara Aburamadan, “Trapped in Gaza,” N.Y. Times, November 16, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/trapped-in-gaza.html [3] Haidar Eid, “The Palestinian Left and RoR,” ZMag, October 8, 2012, http://www.zcommunications.org/the-palestinian-left-and-ror-by-haidar-eid [4] Maath Musleh, “Communique: Palestine #4 Brief Thoughts on International Solidarity With Our Struggle in Palestine,” September 8, 2012, http://internationalsocialist.org.uk/index.php/blog/brief-thoughts-on-international-solidarity-with-our-struggle-in-palestine/ [5] “The struggle for Palestinian rights is incompatible with any form of racism or bigotry: a statement by Palestinians,” Electronic Intifada, October 23, 2012, http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/struggle-palestinian-rights-incompatible-any-form-racism-or-bigotry-statement [6] Ali Abunimah, “Mahmoud Abbas’ real ‘accomplishment’ was not the UN vote on Palestine,” Aljazeera, December 2, 2012, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/2012122165114321474.html. See also, “The Way Forward for Palestine Solidarity, June 23, 2010, http://al-awdany.org/2010/07/statement-the-way-forward-for-palestine-solidarity-please-endorse/

To support the Jews for Palestinian Right of Return statement below, please:

• Go here to sign as an individual or organization.
• Or e-mail jfpror at gmail.

Palestinians celebrate Abbas

From The Angry Arab News Service:

Sometimes Palestinian hold portraits of Abbas

It's a right of return thing.

The right of return

Here's an interesting article on Der Spiegel website about how increasing numbers of Jews are exercising their right of return to the land of their parents and grandparents, Germany:

An increased number of American children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors have applied in recent years for the German citizenship stripped from their family members by the Nazis....

Under Article 116 of Germany's constitution, known as the Basic Law, anyone who had their citizenship revoked during the Nazi regime for "political, racist, or religious reasons" is eligible to reapply for German citizenship. The provision also makes allowances for the descendants of Nazi victims, and does not require them to give up the citizenship of their new home countries......

It's been an option for American Jews with German roots for years, but the number of applicants nearly doubled from 2007 to 2008 and has remained high, according to statistics from the German Federal Office of Administration in Cologne. In 2010, there were 815 such applications from the US. There were more applicants from Israel, but the number has steadily declined -- from 3,505 in 2003 to 1,459 last year.

The stats raise more questions then they answer and the answers aren't in the article. I'd be interested to know why there were so many more applications from Israelis of German descent than Americans. Is it because life is better in America than Israel? Is it because more holocaust survivors went to Israel? I doubt if it's that latter.

I suppose I should just be pleased that Germany supports the right of return.

Hassan Hijazi, the prophet of the Palestine to come

Rahela Mizrahi, a radical Arab Jewish writer, welcomed Hijazi from Tel-Aviv as "the first returning refugee":

Hassan Hijazi reminded Israelis that he is not going to give up his hometown of Jaffa. For now, Tel Aviv exists as a European colonial bubble protected by the human shield of Sderot, the violent settlers in the West Bank and Jewish-Arab Mizrahim pushed by white gentrification to settlements such as Maale Adumin and Pisgat Zeev. But that bubble, surrounded by fences and more fences, is soon to pop.

Welcome home to Jaffa, Hassan Hijazi — the first returning refugee!

(Time to tear down the fences, Rahela Mizrahi, The Electronic Intifada, Tel Aviv 28 May 2011)

Return!

Humaniterrorists and the return to wherever

Here's an interesting and funny clip which I can neither download nor embed but I can link to it here. It's the Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert hosting Israeli Ambassador to the USA, Michael Oren. It's not great all the way through but the ending is well worth the wait. You could even say that the end justifies the means.

Many thanks to Michael T in the comments for sending the link.

From Zochrot, an awkward request for Nakba day

A request from the Palestinian Refugees

by Eitan Bronstein

My sisters and brothers the refugees of Palestinian, today is the 15th of May, the Nakba Day, and I have one request from you; a heartfelt request from the son of occupiers, as an occupier, to those who paid the price for this occupation.

No, I do not ask for forgiveness for the occupation, or the destruction and expulsion that occurred in the Nakba of 1948. I can’t really expect forgiveness for these horrors, not in the true sense of forgiveness, the religious or spiritual sense. And since this forgiveness cannot truly take place, so can Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation occur only as a political and cultural settlement that will allow us to stop the killing and the mutual fear (and this mutuality does not mean symmetry, because it absolutely does not exist between the sides). Religious forgiveness belongs, therefore, to a different dimension, an unrealistic dimension utopian to a radical degree. This perhaps is a Platonic idea or guiding principle that guides us in the right direction that we must strive towards even if we’ll never get there.

Therefore, my request is more modest, and I hope that you could relate to it because without it I will not be able to continue to hope and to believe that it is possible to live in this land. And by “living” I mean really living, in the true sense of the word—to speak its language, to know its history, not just to conquer it, to turn it into a myth, to be afraid in and to want to be someplace else, which is not this land, when a good opportunity happens to come up, to run away to foreign lands (always in a Western direction) in every opportunity…

My request is, therefore, that you persist and will not give up your right to return. It might sound a little strange because who am I to ask of you to insist on your own rights, the basic right of people who were uprooted from their land and their homes. But despite this, despite how awkward or absurd this request may be, despite it sounds as minefield, I insist. Please, you and your children, don’t ever give up your right to return. Not (only) for yourselves but for me also. Do you understand? If you give up this right all chance for a just life in this land will be lost and I will be sentenced to the shameful life of an eternal occupier, armed from the soles of my feet to the depths of my soul and always afraid, like all colonizers. From my point of view dangerous things might happen to us, the Israelis, if it happened that you, the Palestinian refugees, give up your right to return. If that day arrives, the day where you give up your right of return, the great haters of the Jews will be able to celebrate their ultimate victory. When the Jewish Israelis’ position as conquerors and bringers of woe will be made permanent, their haters will prove that they were right when they blamed them for having a badly damaged humanity .

Our humanity is bound up with your right to return. The day we expelled you from your land you carried a part of it with you. Only when you can return we will be able to restore our humanity. It is hard for us to continue in this way, with damaged humanities. It doesn’t mean that all our humanity has left us, but, as you know, we were left mainly with vulgarity, condescension, militarism and fear. Yes, we have some beautiful things but about real humanity occupiers cannot even dream of.  Actually to dream of it may be possible. About a life in cooperation with you here in our shared land. It is a beautiful and moving dream.

In my dream I see a life in cooperation with my friends, Palestinian refugees, who have exponentially grown in numbers ever since I started to learn and teach about the Nakba. From then, many places here have ceased being (only) training grounds for the army, JNF forests, national parks, ancient Jewish towns, ancient ruins, Crusader fortresses, liberated towns, picturesque villages, empty wilderness…

Miska, Qula, Bir’im, Saffuriyya, al-Ghabisiyya, ‘Ayn Ghazal, Yaffa, Haifa, Tabaria, Ijzim, Dair Yassin, Safsaf, Ijlil, Qaqun, ‘Innaba, al-Lajjun, al-Ghubayyat, and more – Israel destroyed an entire life, an entire page of civilization, in destroying these places. For me these places have a real face, one that I met personally, and there are many refugees that are demanding their right to return to them.

When you return these empty towns and villages will be filled with people, they will be bursting with life and will stop being only a testimony for death and sad memories as they have been for 62 years. Filling up these spaces will also fill up the empty space in my own humanity.

Your right to return is my opportunity and that of all Israelis to begin restoring our humanity.

Eitan Bronstein,
Tel Aviv, May 2010 (Zochrot)