US Servas - Israeli Travelers Welcomed

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Israeli Travelers Welcomed

November 20, 2023 12:35 PM | Bill Magargal (Administrator)

by Ulla Whitmont

My husband and I are Servas members. However, we have not had much chance to travel due to Covid. We live in a small town near Yakima in central Washington. Unbeknownst to us our Servas listing showed us as a host family. The call came on the Wednesday night before Labor Day: Could we host the coming weekend? We agreed, even though it was a new one for us.

As it turned out we had a delightful visit. We shared meals and information about the wonderful things to see and do in our area. Our travelers came from northern Israel near the Lebanese border. Like many Israelis, they contribute as needed to local defense. These days we think of them often as they live in an area where there is a danger of an invasion. We hope they will be safe.

Author’s note - We cannot share more information about our visitors due to their past and current roles in Israel. We do not want to put them at any more risk than they already are.

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Comments

November 27, 2023 7:34 AM | Anonymous member

Servas has a peace mission. Peace comes only with justice. Otherwise, it's just a truce. Power imbalance prevents justice. Israel occupies other people and their land. If your visitors are concerned only with defending that theft, I hardly see how that helps us toward peace. Friendship across borders without addressing issues of dominance and dispossession does not help us. And certainly doesn't help Palestine.

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- November 27, 2023 7:55 AM | Anonymous member
  
  I agree. I have been to Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Israel and have studied the conflict from multiple sides. The history of the area is clearly one of dispossession authorized by European powers, and analogous to the treatment of Native Americans by Canadian and US expansionists. We must remember that there are many in Israel who oppose the policies of the government and are crying for peace, and also remember criticism of the state of Israel is not the same as being anti-Jew, no matter how some want to conflate them.
  
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  - November 27, 2023 5:51 PM | Anonymous member
    
    The return of Jews to their land of origin was not "authorized" by European powers, but grew from (a) a desire to return to their national home, and (b) the danger of being a Jew in Europe or the Arab world. There is no legitimate comparison to the treatment of Native Americans.
    
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- November 27, 2023 5:49 PM | Anonymous member
  
  Unfortunately, this post ignores the basic history. Jews have been in the land that is now Israel for many centuries. Much of the land where they live was paid for in the 19th and earlier 20th centuries, not stolen. Jews there seek only to have a place that is their own, where they will not be subject to the type of murderous pogroms that happened repeatedly in that land in the 1920's. Rather than sharing the land, the Palestinians have said that no Jews belong there at all, and have repeatedly tried to eradicate the Jews. As soon as the Palestinians have leaders who truly want peace, it will happen.
  
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December 02, 2023 1:54 PM | Anonymous

The hateful comments posted on November 27th by Mssrs. Lippman and Mitchell show their ignorance of many things, including the mission of SERVAS: "to help build world peace, goodwill and understanding by providing opportunities for personal contacts among people of different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities." Thank you, Ulla Whitmont, for opening your home to travelers from Israel, learning about them, and sharing about yourselves. You are truly carrying on the mission of our beloved organization.

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