Habla, Mon 1.11.10, Afternoon

As we know, Jayyus is not a large village, with about 4000 inhabitants.  The grocery store belonging to Salah in Jayyus is not crowded with customers.  Nevertheless, for us it is a center for communicating with the inhabitants of the village.  Salah himself, a pleasant man of about 50, speaks excellent English, as he worked for 19 years in Saudi Arabia as an accountant and marketing manager.  But here, at his age, he doesn't have a chance to find professional work; so, he opened a grocery.  Today as usual,Salah received us joyfully, and asked us if we would like to visit a very interesting person of his acquaintance.  We happily agreed, so he immediately telephoned, closed the store and went with us.

Mustafa came out the door to meet us - a young man, speaking fluent Hebrew, and invited us into the house.  The first thing we noticed in the salon of the modest, but tidy, house, was the bookcase - entirely Hebrew!  All the books of the Bible in a hard black binding, with commentaries, just as it was in my parents' house;  a Hebrew-Arabic dictionary, as well as books on Jewish philosophy, and a translation of Turgenev into Hebrew, etc.

At our astonishment, Mustafa answered, "I am an autodidact.  All of my knowledge of Hebrew I obtained during many years of work in Israel.  I put letter together with letter, word with word, and I started to read.  At first, simple books, later on, more complex.  I love the Hebrew language, as well as Arabic.  I feel as though the languages are sisters, for the 2 peoples who are the sons of our father, Abraham.

So Mustafa tell us, in perfect Hebrew, his story:

"I am 49 years old, and have 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls between the ages of 9-22.  The 4 oldest are studying at the American University in Jenin and in Jericho, and the Kadouri School in Tulkarm. (Yes, there is one, not only in the Galilee, but also inTulkarm).  I worked for years in Israel as a building contractor.  I made a lot of money and worked very hard.  I had a permit, and a magnetic card.  One day, 3 years ago, they took the card and my ID away from me at the checkpoint, and told me that I wasforbidden entry by the GSS.  Why?  No one has given me an answer.  I never did anything and they didn't charge me with anything.  Since then, I have stayed home.  Here there is no work, I also have some land bordering on Zur Yigal, but, like most of the residents of Jayyus, I only have documentation of ownership, not the Tabu registration, and I have no way of obtaining it."

And how do you maintain yourself? - "Family relatives abroad send me some money.  Of course, this isn't enough for taking care of 8 children.  (And, as an apology, "We didn't know this would happen when we had 8 children”)

"Why do you let this government awaken such hatred?  Why do they humiliate innocent people (this was his term).  A border guard asks for documents, and adds a slap,  or shouts.  Once, I stood at the checkpoint and a soldier pointed at a girl and said to me, "Kiss” her.  This is a terrible thing for us, causing hatred.  I am against terror, against violent acts.  I have read about what they did to the Jews in Europe, and I cried.  I know that your son is important to you just as my son is important to me.  I also know that there are many good Israelis.  I have a lot of friends in Israel.  So let's forgive each other and live in peace.  In the Book of Isaiah, the fourth chapter says,"Nation shall not raise a sword against nation and they will study war no longer."

All of this in fluent Hebrew.  Given his difficult economic situation, nevertheless they brought good coffee to the table, tea with sage, and a huge hot pita which just came out of the taboun,  a saucer of olive oil and another of za'atar.  Unfortunately, his wife did not come out to meet us; we made him promise that she would the next time.  Meanwhile, Salah the store owner, barraged us with questions:  "Were you born in a house that worked for peace?  Or did you start working for it at a later time?  And,if so, when?  Do your children also act like you?"  All of his questions reflected an enormous longing to understand what is happening in Israeli society, and if there is hope.

At the end of the conversation, Mustafa said to us: "Take care that your children follow in your footsteps.  As long as there are people among you and among us who desire peace there is hope, in spite of the fact that I am stuck now at home and have no wayof supporting my family."

We parted with their invitation to come again and bring more Israelis, to talk with them and listen to them.  I hope that I can bring my acquaintances, and maybe it would be a good idea if Daphne and Anat would combine a visit to his house with their routes.  I have his phone number. 

On our way out, we passed through Habla  The gate was open, the hour was 17:10.  People returned from work through the open gate, passing through quickly.