as a Jewish Palestinian refugee
The right of return to Israel, granted to Jews all over the world gets its full meaning when coupled with the denial of the right of return of the Palestinian refugees. It does say that the Palestinian people is to give place to the Jewish people.
As a Jew, I am granted the right of return to Israel. But I am also a Palestinian. My father and my paternal grandfather, were both born in Palestine at the time at which it was still part of the Ottoman empire. Persecuted by the Israeli authorities, I cannot land in Israel without risking my life.
As a Jew standing against the iniquities of the Israeli occupation and persecution, I protest against the right of return granted to me as a Jew. But as the Palestinian which I am, I cannot give away my right of return to Palestine, equal to that of all the Palestinian refugees. I therefore do claim my right of return, but not as a Jew, but rather as a Palestinian persecuted by the Israeli authorities.
Clement
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Clement Leibovitz
e-mail: info@cleibovitz.org
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