I recently met a Jordanian named Esau in Petra. Interesting name, I thought. No Jew would name his son Esau, the twin and arch-rival of the Jewish forefather Jacob, aka Israel.
The Bible says that Esau demanded red bean stew from Jacob and in return surrendered his birthright as the first-born son.
That birthright has been fought over for millennia, and the battle has intensified in the last century. As of today, even the word “birthright” is contested.
“Birthright Palestine” (BP) was launched this week by the Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies (PCNSS), located, according to its website, in the Deheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem. A program “created by Native Palestinians for Diaspora Palestinians,” Birthright Palestine is designed to “make foreign-born Palestinians feel at home in their homeland” and to rekindle a sense of kinship between Palestinians.
That’s cool, but take a look at the BP goals which embody the spirit of the Biblical Esau:
- The organization claims that it intends to “counter the effects of Birthright Israel, which over the years has brought thousands of Jewish people from around the world to ‘Israel’ in order to encourage their adoption of Zionist ideals and learn about their ‘promised land.’"
“Coming back to visit the land that your parents or grandparents were forced to flee from, is a form of active non‐violent resistance against the illegal Israeli occupation. This is because this simple act opposes everything that the ‘State of Israel’ was founded on (the idea to ethnically cleanse the Holy Land/Palestine of all Arabs, so as to create a purely Jewish State).”
Why the quotes around the word Israel and the phrase State of Israel? Because BP does not and cannot recognize the Jewish state. Will the BPs also visit their cousins, the million Arab citizens of Israel? If they were “ethnically cleansed,” what are they doing serving in the Knesset, caring for patients in Israeli hospitals and studying in Israeli universities?
Will Christian Palestinian Arabs who fled Muslim discrimination and oppression also have a share in Birthright Palestine? - BP promises its participants that they “will become ambassadors for the Palestinian Cause – your cause, and convince other Diaspora Palestinians to return to their homeland so that our nation can continue to survive in exile until the day that we are able all return (sic) home permanently.”
“All” Palestinians will return home? So much for the advocates of the Palestinian “right of return” who argue that only a small fraction of Palestinians would return. - BP participants are offered tours of their “ancestral homeland,” including Bethlehem, Hebron, Jerusalem, Jericho, etc. But a couple of locations stand out in the list: Yaffa, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Akka, Nazareth and Bir Al‐Saba’ [Be’er Sheva].
- The BP website shows a picture of the Mosque of Omar in the old city of Jerusalem. OK, that’s very legitimate; no one denies the Muslim tie to their mosques. But the panoramic view of Jerusalem has the title “Birthright Palestine” right above the distinctive Plaza Hotel and the Clal building in the western side of Jerusalem. A mistake? Doubtful.
- The following is BP’s most interesting appeal to young Palestinians: “Palestinian Citizenship: When you arrive, you may apply for ‘Lem Shaml’ (Government Term for National Reunion in Arabic) – or – Palestinian Citizenship (in addition to your foreign citizenship – not in place of) at the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA); thus, formally requesting your right to return (Haq Al‐Awda).”
BP comes right out and says it’s a vehicle for the right of return.
Imi
tation may be the highest form of flattery. But from its own name and description, Birthright Palestine reveals itself as another form of competition with Israel and a challenge to the concept of a Jewish state. Granted, the BP application requires interns to pledge they “will remain non-violent, both in speech and in actions, throughout my journey and visit.” But every aspect of the organization, including PCNSS’ logo, suggests that they don’t want to share that pot of beans.
PS. I’m reluctant to add to the hits on BP’s webpage, but I guess I have to share their website: http://www.birthrightpalestine.com/
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