MOSHE

“My mother came here as a little girl to flee the rise of Hitler. My father felt he had no choice but to come here after his wife and four children were killed in the Holocaust. My relatives who remained in Europe were all killed by the Nazis.

I won the right to return to this land after so many Jews died in the Diaspora, waiting, wanting to return to here. My fingers, my legs, my soul all belong to this land because as a Jew, it is my land according to the Bible. For 2000 years this land waited for us to return, then she welcomed us back and embraced us. And look at what the Jews have done with this land. It’s as if the land is laughing at her children the Jews by allowing us to make this land so much greener than the Arabs did. Even a Bedouin once told me, ‘ with the Jews, comes the rain.’

I do not accept that it should be forbidden for me to live in Judea and Shomron (the West Bank). Jews lived here in ancient times, in Ramallah, Jenin and Schem (Nablus), but ironically, not in Tel Aviv. How could I say no to God by not living here after He gave it back to us in the Six Day War? It’s not as if I am taking anything away from the Palestinians. They didn’t even live in Soosiya before we settled it. There is a 1400 year-old synagogue here – maybe the Jews that lived here then were my relatives.

A Jewish state is more important than a democratic state because God gave us this land – he didn’t give us democracy. We chose to live democratically. I’m ok with Arabs living on this land as long as they don’t disturb the existence of the Jewish people.”