A recent article in the The New York Times was not only interestingly revelatory about a community of Jews living in Iquitos, a Peruvian town deep in the jungle near the headwaters of the Amazon rain forest, but it added, unintentionally, to the Palestinians argument for the right of return. According to the article, a number of Jews found their way to the Amazon in the 1800s, establishing businesses and raising families. Many of their descendants still live there and in recent times have experienced a reawakening of their Jewish heritage. Some of the younger generation have gone so far as to emigrate to Israel, serving in the armed forces and making new lives there. It is impossible not to ask what kinds of ties these people have with the state of Israel that allows them to be accepted automatically for emigration to Israel? How is it that the descendants of people who voluntarily sought out homes in the Amazon, built businesses and families have any connection to the state of Israel while the descendants of families who owned homes and land in what became Israel have no right to return to those homes or those lands? They don't even have the right to return to the prison-like conditions of the territory onto which native Palestinians have been forced to live. If peace and justice is ever to come to Palestine, there must be concessions made by all parties. The question of Israeli settlements may ultimately be resolved by international pressure placed on an Israeli government more dedicated to a real solution than the one presently heading the government there. The need for a secure Palestine that polices its own extremists and does everything possible to prevent them from taking innocent lives is, it seems, becoming self-evident to true Palestinian leaders. But if any negotiation is to become even remotely possible, then it is incumbent upon Israel to stop opening its doors to every Jew in the world who decides he or she wants to make Israel their home. Why is seeking to end the Jewish diaspora any more important than to end that of the Palestinians? __
