Economist: Exile for a bookseller

"...Is it Mr Fahmi's role in keeping the debate about the conflict alive that has annoyed the Israeli authorities? Perhaps; but more likely, he is just another of what are thought to be thousands of Palestinian-born repatriates whom Israel kept in legal limbo by letting them stay as tourists but is now forcing out as part of its attempt to maintain the demographic upper hand of Jews over Arabs. Legally, it is within the country's rights to do so. But Mr Fahmi's case does it no favours on the public-relations front (an international petition in support of his right to live in East Jerusalem is making the rounds). It merely highlights the injustice of a system that allows members of one tribe to return after 2,000 years, but forbids members of another, even if they were born there, to come home after two decades"

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/03/munther_fahmi

Munther Fahmi

Exile for a bookseller