It is interesting that he doesn't call himself a palestinian but an arab.
He
> also shows that far from being the indigenous people that the world likes
to
> claim he tells it like it is 'my grandfather came from Iraq', just like
the
> vast majority. And lastly it is most telling that he signs off 'name
> withheld for security reasons'!
> MK
>
> I am a lucky Arab
>
> My grandfather, Mohammed, travelled on foot from his home in Iraq in the
> early part of the last century looking for work. Jews had come to British
> controlled Palestine in the thousands, joining the Jews that had always
been
> here, buying up land from absentee Turkish Muslim owners, and they needed
> many workers to help them build the land. He married, raised a large
family,
> worked hard, and lived quietly.
>
> I live in Haifa in Israel. In 1948 when Israel declared its independence,
> Arab armies from surrounding Arab states attacked with the intention of
> destroying the new state. I was about 15 years old and remember well the
> radio broadcasts from Arab states telling us to leave our homes and move
> eastward 'temporarily' while the advancing Arab armies wiped out the Jews.
> They told us we would then return in triumph to our homes and would have
the
> joy of taking over all the Jewish assets-their homes, farms, shops, cars,
> and bank accounts.
>
> My father, Ibrahim, was a very wise man, a learned man, and a man of
peace.
>
> We had good relationships with our neighbors, Christian, Jew, and Muslim.
>
> He gathered the entire family and explained why he did not believe it wise
> to flee, that he did not believe the Jews would mistreat us. We stayed put
.
> We are still here.
>
> Today I still live in my father's old stone house with my wife and the
> youngest of our eight children. My older children and my many
grandchildren
> all live nearby. We have never been mistreated, and we are much better off
> than those Arabs who fled and who ended up in miserable refugee camps
being
> supported by the UN and charities. I want you to know what my life is like
> as an Arab citizen of Israel.
>
> I was educated in Israeli schools and universities. I became a pharmacist
> and worked in a large pharmacy in Haifa. I was paid the same salary, and
> received the same benefits as my Jewish colleagues. Now I'm retired. I
> receive two pensions; one based on the investment plan to which my company
> and I contributed. The other comes from the Israeli government National
> Insurance plan.
>
> I have eight children. Every month I received child allowance payments
from
> the government until each became 18. I know of no other country where this
> happens, certainly not any Arab nation. Our entire family is covered by
the
> National Health Plan which provides good medical care. All my children
were
> born in hospital, my wife received excellent ante and postnatal care. All
> medical and surgical is covered from the first Shekel from birth to death,
> and when we die even the cost of burial is covered!
>
> My children went to school with Jewish children, they were members of the
> same sports clubs and the community center, and they all received
university
> educations, some with state scholarships.
>
> I pray in a Mosque, which was built on land donated by the Jewish National
> Fund. I am a citizen, I have a passport, can travel anywhere, anytime. I
> vote in local and national elections, and we have a number of Arab members
> in Parliament.
>
> I have a very good life, and so has my family. I feel for those Arabs
forced
> to live under Arafat, for they are being used and abused badly. I long for
> the day that Arafat is no more, that a real peace treaty can be negotiated
> with Israel, so that the Palestinian Arabs can have a be tter life also.
>
> I long for the day I can travel to visit cousins in Ramallah without fear
of
> being called a collaborator and executed. I thank Allah my grandfather
came
> here. I thank Allah my father did not leave in 1948. I thank Allah my
> children were raised here, in the only free country in the Middle East.
>
> We are very lucky Arabs.
> [Name withheld for security reasons]
>
> Posted by Rajiv Singh at August 9, 2004 05:21 PM | TrackBack
>
> Comments
> I happened to have been born in Haifa myself. It is a pleasure to read
this
> beautiful story and I wish to heartily thank the gentelman for (bravely)
> telling it.

___________________
We don’t thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient.