Posted on 02/08/2007 6:25:14 AM PST by Alouette
Hamdi El-Hilu from Ramallah is expelled in police raid. One way or another I will come home, he says
Roi Mandel Published: 02.08.07, 14:35 / Israel News
"I cannot live without my wife and daughter. I will do anything to return to my family," said Hamdi El-Hilu after he was deported to the West Bank by Israeli police.
El-Hilu, who lives in southern Israel, is married to an Israeli and has a three-year-old daughter. He was expelled after being arrested on Wednesday following a raid on the quarry at which he works.
El-Hilu had previously requested Israeli citizenship on account of his being married to R., a Jewish-born Israeli. After his deportation extradition he asked Physicians for Human Rights to intervene on his behalf. He is aware that the chances are slim that he will ever receive citizenship but now he is far from his family and hopeless. "If I can't go back legally, with the authorities' permission, I will find another way back," he said.
R. is in their home in southern Israel, waiting anxiously by the phone. "We were always afraid that this would happen," she said. "I am scared and I don't know what to do. I don't know if he is eating properly or drinking. The police won't even tell me where he is. But I must be strong for him and for our daughter."
The ever-so-complicated love story between 30-year-old R. and El-Hilu, from a village near the West Bank city of Ramallah started seven years ago in Jerusalem. "We met when I was living on the streets," says R. "He walked through the park I was staying in and started talking to me. After we met several times we started to feel a connection and started dating. He helped me rent an apartment and even paid the security check for me. He helped me back on my feet. I owe him my life."
I married a person, not a nation
Five years ago the two were married under Muslim law. She says she knew exactly what she was getting into: "we had been dating for two years and it wasn't easy. He was always worried that people might think that he is with me for the citizenship. But I was marrying a person, not a nation or a religion. We both believe in the same god. His family accepted me very well. My family was a different story. Only my mother knew about it."
Three-and-a-half years ago their daughter was born and they moved to the South. They tried to lay low until he received his citizenship. "In Jerusalem," she says, "we were persecuted. We couldn't be seen together. We could only relax after we moved."
El-Hilu's arrest came out of the blue. The quarry he works at was raided and he was sent to Hebron. "He is from Ramallah, not Hebron. What is he supposed to do there?" asked R.
R. is not sure whether she should hope for the best and wait, or to join him where he is. "I don't want to change my daughter's routine, and it would be dangerous to go there with her, but I also don't want her to be without her father. She is a smart child. She knows something is wrong," she said.
Negev District Police said that El-Hilu had no ID or permit on him and therefore he was taken to the Shama'a checkpoint so he could return to the territories.
Ali Waked contributed to the report
What a freaking retarded idiot. Women who marry Moslems are CLUELESS.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Make his way to Ramallah, for starters.
There is a trend for moslem men to marry Israeli women as a path to Israeli citizenship. Israel is very concerned about this because of the demographics issue.
As things stand now there are quite a number of Arabs with Israeli citizenship and they have large families. In the future there is a chance that Israel will be overwhelmed with them and it will no longer be a Jewish majority.
So, there has been a push (opposed by liberals, of course) to deport those who do not as yet have Israeli citizenship.
We could learn from the Israelis.....Europe could learn too - except for Europe it is too late.
As for a woman being foolish enough to marry a moslem man - quite a number of American women have done this - much to their sorrow.
The true story "Not Without My Daughter" - has happened many many times. There are also American women kept againt their will in moslem countries when they foolishly agreed to go to his country to "visit his family."
So why can't she go with him?
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT
..................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.