Former TY Resident Writes from LA, USA

hey, how r u ?

well i just found about your blog yesterday the one between turmosayya and shilo. i even put up a post , not showing up so far.. well im not writing this email to bash the jews and say this land is my land, b.c this thing will never get us any step closer to peace.

i noticed u guys asked the turmosayya resident about his reaction to the bombing in Tel earlier this year, can i ask u about ur reaction about what the palestinians suffer, lets say ur reaction to a pic of 6 month old babe killed ? would u also say thats a self defense??? and other subject i wanted to see ur reaction on is that of confiscating palestinian lands ?? do u just say its a jewish land we havee the right to it ?? before u answer that question think of this indian american tribe takes over lets say chicago and say this land was ours before any american stepped on it!!!!!! and they started to confiscating and demolishing whatever comes in their way.

anyways im from turmosayya and now in the U.S grew between tormusayya and Los angeles, always dealt with jews, i'd love to see ur blog more active, one more thing about confiscating lands!! how was ur reaction when i don't know who made the move, but in maybe 2000-2002 the started a small settlment all the way east of the valley on top of the mountains.. im looking forward for ur answers and have no problem with posting this if u want on ur blog..

Sammy

Clash of Cultures : Dialog II

Jihad, Turmos Ayya resident too said ...

Well Palestine is for Palestinians, and its promised to U guys by Great Britain. They promised that because they wanted an apology from U guys for what happened to Jews in the Nazi Death Camps.
One day as we will all will fight to fight for our land back, we will retain it sooner or later, Inshallah (Allah Willing) it will be Arab owned again.
One last thing: It is a great thing to talk about and hear from both sides. I lived in Turmos Ayya for almost 10 years, look from my house, two sides and I see Shilo. I wonder how you guys see us from that side? I would like to see some photographs of Turmos Ayya taken from Shilo's side.

Salam Jihad,

I too prefer to exchange words and ideas than bullets or other lethal means. I'll try to put up some photographs of how Turmos Ayya looks from the Shilo side of the valley.

As for your other comment, I don't think the Jewish People are here in the Land of Israel because of the British, the United Nations or some misconstrued compensation paid the Jewish People for the tragedy of the Holocaust of the Second World War.

First the Jewish People always lived in the Land of Israel, at least since Avraham left Haran some three thousand years ago. As for the British and the so called Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, that predated the Second World War by twenty two years. I think it more realistic to see both the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations decision at San Remo in April 1920 as a recognition of the reality. The Jewish People, after 1,795 years of oppression and forced exile, having demonstrated their eternal devotion to the Land throughout all the centuries, was poised to return and recreate a nation-home for themselves. We can argue what might have happened if six million Jews had not been systematically murdered during the Second World War ... how many of them might have followed in the footsteps of those countless Jews that returned to the land generation after generation. It is interesting to think that the demographics might have resolved the question of who would build a country on the shores of the Mediterranean and on the hills of Judea and Samaria, without recourse to the influence of outside powers?

What fascinates me is the duality of your comment. On one hand you inform me, Mr. Jihad, that Arabs will rise up to fight for the land, yet on the other you seem to look forward to dialog with those you claim 'stole' the land from you? Please help to understand how these two, on-the-surface contradictory interests sit together in the same personality.

I look forward to your response.

Yoel Ben-Avraham
Shilo, Benyamin

(called Ibrahim Iben Ibrahim by my Arab friends in the Galil)

Clash of Cultures : Dialog I

As a Turmos Ayya resident living in the US I would like to say that it is always good to listen to the others opinions, especially to people from Shilo. I was amazed by the level of dialog between Turmos Ayya resident and Avraham. I wounder why Turmos Ayya resident is not writing any more. please keep talking, please to all.
Posted Friday, September 22, 2006SA

I of course cannot answer for the residents of Tumos Ayya but I suggest it is relatively simple - real open honest dialog between equals is not a possibility between an Arab in Palestinian society and a Jew who lives in the Land of Israel. Not because the Jew is not capable of being open and listening to divergent opinions. No, simply because if such an Arab were recognized by his peers/neighbours his life would be in danger.

I might be wrong, but it would be interesting if someone from the Palestinian side could come up with a better explanation.

Ibrahim Iben Ibraham
Yoel Ben-Avraham
Shilo, Benyamin