SANA A, Yemen: It is imperative that we acknowledge and affirm the historic relationship between us Arabs with the people of Israel, with the true Jews, whom sources unanimously agree are our cousins, our kinfolk.
I do not comprehend why some people insist on boycotting the people of Israel, why some people consider any form of communication with Israeli Jews to be some type of normalization with this Jewish entity called Israel.
I admit that despite having been raised in a country where Jewish community members still do reside, I never met any of them during my childhood or early youth. Millions of Yemenis, and perhaps Arabs and Muslims who were born and raised after the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, were taught that Jews are the enemy and should not be dealt with in any way.
One day, I found myself in the city of Boston in the United States, meeting with American Jews, one of whom was a lecturer in a university. I was stunned by how much they knew about Yemen and Yemeni Jews.
I admit that I was overwhelmed with embarrassment-they were talking about something I knew nothing about, though it had been right in front of me my whole life, though I was supposedly a journalist.
During that same trip, I met more American Jews in Philadelphia, but by then I had learned from my previous encounter, I prepared myself for dialogue.
I received an invitation to attend a monthly meeting between American Palestinians and Jews. Held at the house of one of the participants, guests would bring homemade dishes. Together, we would share dinner, and discuss many issues, including, obviously, the Palestinian (Arab, at the time) Israeli conflict.
Some of the guests were suspicious of my presence after they found out I was a journalist. They were concerned that news of their meetings would leak out, and perhaps expose them to questioning from some parties. I assured them that I would forget about the meeting the minute I left the house. That was in 1986.
During that visit to the United States, I shook hands with Jews for the first time in my life.
In 1988, I had another opportunity to visit the US, where I met two Israeli journalists – a man and a woman. The man was born in an Arab country and spoke Arabic well. He was working for Yediot Ahronot at the time.
My emotions were different during that trip, and I developed a conviction that there was no harm in talking to or holding a discussion with Jews, even if they came from Israel. I had grown up considering them an enemy that should never be approached. I do not remember ever shaking hands with or talking to Yemeni Jews.
Memories of those meetings, of shaking hands with Jews from Israel and the US, still linger in my mind to this day, although I have since met with many Jews from Yemen and other places.
In Sana a, the subject of Yemeni Jews became one of my interests by virtue of my profession. During my travels following the US trip, I had the opportunity to meet a number of Jews. The dialogue about Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict was omnipresent.
I then found myself in Britain, meeting with a number of Jews from Yemen and elsewhere. I started a friendship that bordered on intimacy, in spite of our differences in opinion regarding the Arab/Islamic-Israeli conflict. We agreed that disagreement in opinion, especially regarding the Palestinian-Israeli issue, should not spoil a warm friendship. It was the late 1990s, more than a decade after my first human encounter with followers of the Jewish religion.
In London, I had the opportunity to meet many Jews who had emigrated from Yemen over the past two decades. These Yemeni Jews still have fond memories of their country of origin, have kept their passports and identity cards, and continue to visit Yemen whenever possible.
I even had the opportunity to have a meal with these people, and talk at length, especially during occasional Qat-chewing sessions. I had the opportunity to better understand their mode of thinking, and their position regarding the long-awaited peace between Palestinians and Israelis. I also met in London with a number of Israeli Jews of Yemeni origin. Among them, for example, is the singer Sion Golan, who is famous for his songs and tunes derived from Yemeni heritage.
Their views of Arabs or Palestinians varied according to their knowledge about Arabs and Palestinians in general, and to their knowledge about the emergence of the modern state of Israel, the events that ensued, and the resolution to divide Palestine. Some Yemeni Jews do not know that the modern state of Israel was established on Arab lands, and that the founders of the state killed and displaced the Arab population in order to realize their promised dream. Some do not, or did not know that the survivors among that land s original people, the Arab Palestinians, suffered a great deal-either being forced from the land of their ancestors, or accepting the status quo and being known as the Israeli Arabs.
What is quite interesting is that once you talk to the other side and explain facts they were unaware of, you hear what you never expected. They admit that it is possible to coexist with Arabs and Palestinians, and even that destitute Palestinian refugees may return to their land and families in Palestine or even in Israel.
Some on the other side do not discount the possibility of Jews and Arabs, Muslims and Christians living together in one state. If one day we reach a conviction that there is no way to live but in peace, if we discard our differences and the history of struggles from which we have long suffered, we will achieve our desire for reconciliation, we will live together, and we will live in peace.
Will this happen, or will we have to wait for this seemingly distant dream? I wonder.
This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
