What's in a Name

My mother is a refugee. She is a Jewish Refugee from Lybia , one of more than Million Refugees from Arab countries. My mother was born in Lybia in 1933. She was about 10 when she had entered a Natzi concentration camp called Jiado. It was located in Lybia for the usuall purpose of sending the Jews to death camps in Eastern Europe. When she left the camp she was twelve . Not too long afterwards Arab riots took place in Lybia . Jews were murdered , raped , kidnapped , attacked . The government tacitly encoureged the riots. This was the reason why my mom and her older sister were sent to Israel first . The year was 1949, they were two girls alone here in Israel. Two years later the rest of the family joined them. Like so many other Jews in other Arab countries , the Jews of Lybia left behind land , property , money and a long long past .

Because of the riots, my mother's family had to leave as quietly as possible in the middle of the night . They owned a beautiful big house ,which they left behind . I remember my grandmother talking about her beautifull dishes, carpets and furniture all were left in the house..If people meerly suspected that a Jewish family was about to leave for "Palestine" then , that family's life was in danger (It didn't really matter what they did , their lives were in danger). There was also a two stories supermarket that belonged to my grandfather and many acres of land that belonged to his parents. They had no choice ,and they couldn't take much except for a few suitcases.

Here in Israel along with other refugees my mom's family lived for 10 years in a shack. Other people lived in tents and badly built  little tin  huts. The young state was not ready for the mass of homeless people . They were put in special camps called Maabarot (Passage camps) .  Many think that Israel is a desert land ,but the fact is that in the winter of 1950 for example all of Israel was covered with snow. Have you ever tried living in a tent with children when tempratures are between 15 -5 ? There was a price to pay ,and it was paid.

What was the price?

well...agony , poverty ,humiliation. Most of Israel's criminals were born and raised in those camps. By now there is a second generation... So how come we are not as miserable and hateful as the Palestinians ? Why didn't we attacked Lybians for example - in demand of  our stolen land and property ?

Well...We simply couldn't afford it.

So much for now :)