[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
International News Title: Jewish passengers retrace Exodus journey to Palestine 60 years ago Sixty years after a landmark sea voyage that symbolized Jews' yearning for a homeland in Israel, some 300 Jewish passengers are retracing its route from Europe to the Holy Land. The passengers left the Cypriot port of Larnaca yesterday, bound for Haifa, Israel, in an emotional journey following part of the route taken by the Exodus 1947. Exodus pilgrimage The pilgrims arrive in Israel retracing the steps of their ancestors who took the landmark journey in 1947 The dilapidated Exodus carried some 4,500 Jewish illegal emigrants trying to make it from southern France to Palestine in 1947 after the Nazi Holocaust. This week's tribute trip was in a luxury Israeli cruise liner The Royal Iris. French trip organizer Pierre Besnainou said: "The main message is that we're coming back to our land and no one will ever prevent or expel us from it. We Jews are proud of who we are." In 1947, in a high-profile stand-off, the ship was forced to stop by British authorities who then governed Palestine. Exodus 1947 An image of those who embarked on the original journey to escape post-Holocaust Germany Exodus passengers were sent back to France, where they refused to disembark and went on hunger strike, before being sent to detention in Germany. Many of the passengers were eventually detained in military camps in Cyprus along with other Jews deported from Palestine. The ship's ordeal focused world attention on the British blockade of Palestine and the plight of Jews fleeing Europe after World War II. When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, the Exodus' passengers were able to move there. Exodus pilgrimage Forty passengers are using the voyage to settle permanently in Israel while others will stay for five days Passengers from France, Britain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, the United States and other countries paid £1,800 for this week's journey. They were joined by a handful of original Exodus passengers, including the captain. "I will shake their hand and try not to cry," said passenger Jose Carp, president of Portugal's Jewish community. "It's very moving and an honor to be participating in such an important event...the Exodus was first to break the barrier for other immigrants." Exodus pilgrimage People came from all over the world to go on the symbolic pilgrimage and were joined by a handful of the original passengers from 1947 Carp was joined by his 24-year-old daughter Caroline, a musician who is making her first trip to Israel. The 300 passengers flew to Larnaca on two flights from Paris, and will spend five days in Israel, touring sites and retracing the steps of original Exodus passengers before a planned meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, organizers said. "It really is a pilgrimage of spiritual significance, a moving way to start the 60th anniversary commemorations," said American Israel Singer, chairman of the Council for World Jewry. About 40 passengers are using the voyage to settle permanently in Israel. Among them are the Assimantou family who have packed up their life in France. "It's the only place I choose to put down my luggage," said Samuel Assimantou. "My grandfather lived in Ethiopia, he always wanted to go to Israel...I'm making his wish come true." Assimantou, 37, said a move to Israel had been on his mind for years. His partner Isabelle, 42, agreed last September and they are traveling there with their two daughters, 4-year-old Hannah and 1-year old Ellie.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|