Moderate Muslim and an ardent Zionist - Razak 'Abd al-Qader

Submitted by Keila (United States), Oct 16, 2020 at 13:54

What happened to a moderate Muslim and an ardent Zionist - Razak 'Abd al-Qader?:::

Revolutionary and Zionist: The Unbelievable Story of Muhammad's Descendants

In the Afikim cemetery, Razek 'Abd al-Qader - the grandson of the father of the Algerian nation, who fell in love with Israel and even spied for her, is buried. • His support for Zionism was condemned as a traitor, and he passed away, helpless, in a trailer in the Migdal settlement

David Sle

Posted on: 08.10.2020 16:23

He has never received the respect he deserves for his actions for the State of Israel. Razek 'Abd al-Qadir

It was a hot summer day in early August, 1998. Some elderly people quietly led a corpse to the cemetery of Kibbutz Afikim in the Jordan Valley. The cemetery is located at the foot of the cliff facing east, from which there is a magnificent view of the valley and the Golan Heights.

The graves of the kibbutz members, who died since its establishment in 1932, are located some distance from the edge of the cliff, facing south, towards Jerusalem. But it was precisely there, at the eastern end of the cliff, where a fence had been erected to prevent the possibility of falling off the cliff, that Razek 'Abd al-Qader, the most Zionist Muslim ever, reached his final journey. His grave faces - according to his oral will - towards Damascus and the Golan Heights, which he loved so much.

Twenty-two years have passed since then, during which some have tried to dispel the mystery surrounding Razek 'Abd al-Qadir. In an article in the Haaretz newspaper in 2009, Assaf Inbari, a member of the kibbutz, wrote about a Muslim man with a Hebrew name, Dov Golan, who is buried in the Afikim cemetery. In 2018, I came across an article by Avi Moshe Segal, a guide from Ramat Gan, who prepared a tour dedicated to members of the intelligence community who worked in the Sea of ​​Galilee area. Segal tried to gather more information about Dov Golan, but found very few details.

The Algerian. 'Abd al-Qader

He discussed the subject with historian and author Muki Tzur, a member of Kibbutz Ein Gev, and then passed the material on to the Council for the Advancement of Israeli Heritage (which is headed by the author of these lines). In recent months, the council has conducted a comprehensive historical investigation, tracing the whereabouts of Razek 'Abd al-Qader, who became Dov Golan. This research spawned the amazing story unfolding here.

Razek's great-grandfather was born in Algeria in 1809 and was given the name 'Abd al-Qader. Already as a child he excelled in his unique skills: he was said to have known the Koran by heart, and already in his youth he had the reputation of a charismatic leader. By 1832, when he was only 23 years old, he had already led the barbarian tribe in Cabilla, and in that year the elders of the tribes chose him to lead the revolt against the French, who had conquered the country two years earlier.

'Abd al-Qader has been the leader of the tribes for 15 years. He established on most of Algeria a reformed Islamic state, with an orderly education system, a system for collecting taxes and public infrastructure, alongside a regular and organized army, which waged a war of attrition against the French army. Throughout the period there was a warm bond with the Jewish community, and so he continued the tradition of his father, a Sufi Muslim sheikh, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, who had a warm relationship with the community and especially with the Abu family, from the wealthy Algerian families who immigrated to Israel.

[Covered the walls with pictures of people he admired. In a trailer in the tower, probably his last picture // Photo: Batin Amir Margalit]

Already at the beginning of the uprising, 'Abd al-Qadir entrusted all his family's treasures - gold and jewelry - to a Jewish family. Years later, when he asked for the treasure back, he received it in full, making sure to tell his sons and grandsons about "the extraordinary decency of the Jews."

In 1843, Islamic rule in Algeria collapsed, and France took control of the country. 'Abd al-Qader continued the guerrilla war against the French for another five years, until he surrendered and was exiled with his family to France, where he was imprisoned. The day of his departure from Algeria became a national day of mourning, to which the nickname "Al-Jazeera" ("Algerian") was added, and he was later considered the father of Algerian nationalism, the uncrowned king. Its white-green flag became the flag of Algeria when it finally gained its independence from France, after more than 100 years.

Five years after his imprisonment, 'Abd al-Qadir was released from prison by the President of the French Republic, Napoleon III, in exchange for a commitment to emigrate with his fans to the territories of the Ottoman Empire and never to return to Algeria. He left for Damascus with 3,500 of his supporters and was received with royal respect by the Ottoman government, which also ruled Algeria in the past and its leaders saw al-Jazeera as a hero.

The Ottomans showered him with honor and money and gave him and his supporters huge tracts of land in the southern Horen (now the southern Golan Heights) and in Eretz Israel - from the south of the Sea of ​​Galilee to near Mount Tabor, and in the Shefar'am area. It is estimated that the al-Qadir family covered 100 square kilometers. 'Abd al-Qader was even appointed an official arbitrator in disputes between ethnic groups and various elements in Syria, a position that brought him and his family additional money.

In the vast areas of land he received, 'Abd al-Qader set up a large agricultural farm near the al-Rukad River (Nahal Raked), on the eastern border of the Golan. He allotted land to his fans and established several agricultural villages for them. His family quickly became a wealthy feudal family, with ties to both the Arab world and Europe.

[ The recruiter. Shamir in his youth // Photo: GPO]

The family home in Damascus was a place of pilgrimage for prominent figures in the Arab world. Visiting there were, among others, Lawrence the Arab, Faisal I (later King of Syria and King of Iraq), Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Founder of the Republic of Turkey and President I) and many others. Meetings of government officials were held in this house and fates were decided.

The Algerians established no less than 12 agricultural settlements in the Galilee and the Jordan Valley. One of them was the town of Samah in the southern part of the Sea of ​​Galilee (later Tzemach), the first of five settlements established in the Lower Galilee. Before the arrival of the Algerians, there were about 30 mud huts, where fishermen lived on their families; At its peak, Samach became a town of about 2,000 inhabitants.

At the same time, 'Abd al-Qader renewed ties with the Jewish Abu family. Every year, on the same day, he used to descend from Damascus to the Banot Yaakov Bridge, to meet the members of the Abu family.

In 1883 al-Jaziri passed away, leaving behind three sons and six daughters, and a large fortune.

Al-Jazeera's grandson was born on October 13, 1914 in Damascus. His parents, Emir Said 'Abd al-Qader and Hosnia, a woman of Albanian descent, chose the rabbi of the Jewish community to perform the circumcision ceremony. Their eldest son is named after his great-grandfather: 'Abd al-Qader. The title "Razek" ("The Defender", in Arabic) was added to his name.

Already in his youth he saw sparks from his grandfather's occupying personality, and then he also began to confront his father, who was impersonal, greedy and cruel. According to Yohanan Sharet, 56, later Razek's best friend who knew him when he lived in Moshava Migdal, "he said that his father used to abuse his eight children, and Razek, the eldest, found himself protecting his brothers and sisters from his anger. On one occasion, the father beat one of the brothers. "He was bleeding, and Razek took a gun and fired into the air to warn him. There were several times when they came to exchange blows."

[ "Were glued to each other." Razek and Celina hoist the Algerian flag in East Germany, 1957 // Photo: Lavon Institute / "Davar"]

As befits an aristocratic family, Razak was sent to study in prestigious schools in Beirut. During the holidays, the family would come to Eretz Israel for many weeks. While in the country, his father combined a vacation with businesses that touched the family lands.

Razek's family lived in Israel in several places - including Kiryat Shmuel near Tiberias, as well as Shefar'am and Mount Carmel. He told Yohanan Sharet that as a child he traveled with the family from their summer home in Moshava Kinneret to Haifa, and then traveled to Tel Aviv and traveled there. "His parents said that the Land of Israel was much more interesting than Damascus, and took every opportunity to stay there."

In the early 1930s, Razek's father was killed during a brawl. Young Razek stepped into his father's shoes, became the head of the family and began to manage the vast property she owned. At the same time, he showed great interest in what was happening in the world, especially in areas related to statesmanship, philosophy and worldviews such as Communism and Marxism. "I was a Marxist from the age of 12," Razek said in an interview with him in France in the 1960s.

Around Razek was a group of about 60 assistants, who ran his business in the southern corner for him. They supervised the lands and collected the money from the villagers. He himself traveled a lot from Damascus to the Golan Heights to supervise his workers and toured the territories the family held in the country.

He made warm connections with members of kibbutzim founded in the area in those years, such as Afikim (1932) and Ein Gev (1937). "He was a socialist-Marxist at heart," says Muki Tzur (82) Maayan Gev, "and as such, he saw the collective settlement as the embodiment of socialism." In 1934, he applied to the secretariat of Kibbutz Afikim to be accepted as a member of a kibbutz, but was rejected, due to being a Muslim.

The more he fell in love with the idea of ​​the kibbutz, the more Razek was exposed to the principles of Zionism. He soon began to take an interest in the history of the Jewish people and read every book he could get on these subjects. According to him, he found in Zionism logic, justice, wisdom, ideological quality and an optimistic view of the future, and concluded that it was not only the fulfillment of the socialist vision, through the kibbutzim, but also the most tangible example of a revolution in people's lives. His, the revolutionary who succeeded in turning tribes into a people.

In the 1930s, Razek sold some of the family lands to PICA, the Jewish settlement company in Eretz Israel, founded by Baron Edmund de Rothschild. The lands were sold at low prices and on favorable terms, although Arab officials offered him much higher bids, and even threatened his life. Exploded.

Moreover, Razek made contacts with Yosef Nachmani, who was the land agent of PIKA and the JNF, and on Nachmani's mission, persuaded acquaintances and Arab families to sell land to Jews. Later, Mordechai Oren, one of the leaders of Mapam, told his friend: "When I sold the land to the Jews, I did it out of a vision. I knew that one day the Jews would win the state, and the lands would belong to them. "There is no doubt that the map of Jewish settlement in the Galilee and the Jordan Valley would have been completely different had it not been for the active involvement of Razek Abdel Qader.

[ Lectured all over the country. An advertisement for Razek's lecture]

In June 1941, when Free French forces joined the Allies in their offensive against the Vichy army in Syria, Razek immediately joined them. He fought against Vichy forces, and after the conquest of Syria was released from his service. For his service he received the French "Lauren Cross" award.

In 1943, Nakdimon Altshuler was appointed PIKA and JNF representative in Syria. Free French forces, taking control of Syria, conducted a land registration operation ("Cadastre"). In Horen, it is estimated that more than 100,000 dunams were Jewish-owned, although the area was empty of Jewish settlers: all the Jewish settlements established in the area were dismantled. After the abandonment of the Jews, the lands remained empty, and Rothschild redeemed them and handed them over to PIKA.

Altshuler did not like the arrival of Horen in the eyes of the local Arabs, who refused to cooperate with him. He turned to Teddy Kollek, the Mukhtar of Kibbutz Ein Gev, who had developed a warm relationship with the Horan Arabs and the Syrian governor. Kollek asked Razek to exercise his good relations in Damascus and Paris.

"Razek was a good friend of mine," Kollek later said. "He helped adapt Nakdimon in the Golan, and then I met them, and they worked together. When the Sea of ​​Galilee success competitions began in the early 1940s, I invited Razek to participate. He was the first Arab to participate in the Sea of ​​Galilee's competitive success."

In order to establish Jewish ownership of land in Horen, Altshuler is required to become acquainted with the forces operating in the field of land in the area. Razek shared with him his extensive knowledge of the lands in Horen, and according to later testimonies from his friends in Ein Gev, he was also recruited by Altshuler to the Palmach's Syrian department, which in 1943 became the "Arab Department."

Altshuler's activity in locating and registering the Jewish lands in Horen, with the help of Razak, established Jewish ownership of these lands, which were officially registered as owned by PICA.

In early April 1946, French forces in Syria collapsed, and Syria declared its independence. The next day all the lands in the country were nationalized. The lands of the 'Abd al-Qader family in southern Horen, as well as the lands that belonged to the Jews, were non-existent.

Razek refused to continue living under the Syrian regime. He found refuge with his good friend Nicodemus Altshuler in the streets, and lived with him for several weeks. In June 1946, at the age of 32, he left the country for France. From there he continued to run his business.

In Paris, he was contacted by Lehi members, who acted from France and Belgium against the British in Israel. Among other things, they sent threatening letters and explosive envelopes to the homes of British army commanders.

At the beginning of the War of Independence, Razek decided to join the Jewish fighters in Israel. He discussed the issue with Lehi members in Paris and promised to bring with him a "dowry" - his three brothers, who were officers in the Free French Army. After several unsuccessful attempts, he contacted his friend, Joshua (Josh) Falmon, director of the Arab Department of The Jewish Agency, which he knew well from their joint work in the Arab department of the Palmach. A few months later, when Falmon managed to overcome the bureaucracy and obtained Razek's permission to join the fighters, Israel declared its independence. Falmon informed Razek that there was no need for additional volunteers for the Hebrew army.

Loved the northern landscapes. Razek in the Banias Falls, 1943 // Photo: Kibbutz Weekly, Yad Tabenkin

In 1952, when Issar Harel took over as head of the Mossad, he pressured Lehi members to enlist in the Mossad. According to Gad Shimron, a former Mossad member, Harel believed that "former Lehi members are professional ideologues who will suit the needs of the Mossad." Some of Razek's friends in France did enlist in the Mossad, and he assisted them with intelligence, which he collected as part of his many connections.

In 1953, Razek used his connections with Nakdimon Altshuler and his friends in the working class settlement to return to Israel and volunteer at the kibbutz. He entered the country on his French passport. He later told his friend Yochanan Sharet that he was looking for a place "with a clear and uncompromising socialist ideology. His plan was to study the kibbutz issue in depth, so that when Algeria gained its independence - he would teach kibbutz theory and establish identical settlement frameworks."

He first arrived at Kibbutz Reim in the Negev, and did not get along. Members of the kibbutz recommended that he try Kibbutz Hatzor, where he was successfully absorbed. To his friends who came to visit him, he said: "I am happy, I have finally become part of the fulfillment of the socialist-Zionist dream. Without the kibbutzim, the State of Israel would not have been established."

Even then, Razek spoke about the vision of Arab-Israeli cooperation. "When the state of Algeria is established and kibbutzim are established there according to my vision, Israel and Algeria will maintain a close friendship," he told his friend, Mizrahi Yosef Ginat...

Razek spoke fluent Hebrew, in addition to Arabic and French, and was an excellent rhetorician and thinker in his soul. Never tired of ideological conversations about socialism and Marxism, which charmed the pilgrimage. His European manners reminded her of her childhood and adolescence in Poland. And he was also a hopeless romantic. For months he used to lay a flower on Celina's doorstep every morning, until it was finally conquered by its charms.

"They were my neighbors," says a member of Kibbutz Hatzor, in her 80s. "They lived in a tiny hut and were glued to each other like a button and a flower. In the gossip talks for the kibbutz, we wondered how it was that she chose Brazak, who was at least ten years older than her, out of all the suitors around her all the time."

Partner in the revolution. Razek and Jozet with Mordechai Oren (left), one of the leaders of Mapam, Kibbutz Hazorea, 1966 // Photo: Kibbutz Weekly Yad Tabenkin

In early 1954, Razek estimated that the Muslim revolution in Algeria was imminent. The French army lost in Vietnam, and it predicted that the next in line for independence would be Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. "It's time to start action," he told his lover. In 1955 the two packed up some belongings and set off. Razek rejected her offer to travel immediately to North Africa and join the revolution. He first sought to understand the ideological line of the leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN), who fought against the French army.

The two drove to Razek's house in Nice and followed the events. After receiving the FLN political and political platform, they decided to join. Razek knew that the French authorities in Algeria would not allow him to enter the country, so he decided to join FLN operations in Europe.

In 1956, Yitzhak Shamir, a member of the Mossad, landed in Paris and began trying to recruit agents from among the Lehi people he knew, who were living in France at the time. They told him about their Algerian friend Razek, and Shamir met with him and offered to join the Mossad. Years: Razek admired Shamir, and Shamir greatly appreciated the contribution of the Zionist Muslim.

That same year, Razek and Celina moved to East Germany, where they set up a FLN interest office. Why did the two choose East Germany? Know-it-alls claim that the target was set for Razek by his operatives at the institution, who sought to expand their operations in Eastern Europe. Celina, who lost her family in the Holocaust, hated Germany with all her heart and soul, but agreed to move there "in the name of the revolution."

For the purpose of the move, Razek was forced, for the first (and last) time in his life, to get married, so that Celina would gain French citizenship and be able to obtain an entry visa to East Germany. This is despite his ideological opposition to the institution of marriage. According to Yochanan Sharet, he used to say that "getting married is bourgeois," and that "children should not, because there are already too many people in the world."

Arriving in East Berlin, Razek and Celina began propaganda about the war in Algeria, making their way to the nationalist line of the FLN underground. Celina's command of languages ​​was helpful, and she translated Razek's lectures from French into German.

In 1958, Razek left Berlin and traveled to Tunisia to join the FLN fighters. Tunisia was already an independent state at the time and aided the Algerian underground. Underground members left Tunisia for armed action against the French army in Algeria. Razek, then 44, was not enlisted in the fighting, but received the title of "brigadier general" (ideologue) of the brigade, which lectured to the soldiers and strengthened their belief in the righteousness of their way.

Celina continued to manage FLN affairs in Berlin. At the end of 1958 she joined Razek. Then, for several years, she wandered between Tunisia, Germany and France. It is not inconceivable that they worked from these places for the institution as well.

In 1962, Razek's first book, The Illusion of Arab and Pan-Arab Unity, was published. This was one of the few times when a senior Muslim figure frantically attacked the Arab regimes and portrayed them as corrupt, degenerate and short-sighted. Moreover, Razek presented Israel in a positive light, wrote extensively about the many possibilities inherent in reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel, and accused Arab leaders of exploiting the Arab-Israeli conflict to cover up their failures.

As expected, the book caused a great stir in the Arab world. Razek 'Abd al-Qader, the flesh and blood of the Arab nation, has become the official enemy of the people, by the definition of the Arab League. In Egypt, a "fatwa" (Muslim halakhic ruling) was issued that forbade every Muslim to read the book, and gave in advance the title of "rasul" (messenger) to those who would eliminate Razek. At many conferences in the Arab world, believers have sworn to bring about the elimination of the "heretic."

Razek will spend the next decades in hiding and in secret, moving from place to place, from country to country. Even many years after the fatwa was published, he will still fear for his life. Only at the end of his life, in Israel, will his security return to him.

In March 1962, Algeria gained independence. The National Front for the Liberation of Algiers, the FLN, took power and its leader, Ahmad bin Bela, was elected its first president. Razek and Celina, who were in France at the time, hurried to Algeria to attend the Independence Day celebrations. They were immediately granted citizenship and received with royal respect wherever they went, as befits the grandson of Algeria's first national liberator in the 19th century, 'Abd al-Qader al-Jaziri.

Soon after, the new president began working to restore public order, running the military and leading a series of reforms that were contrary to the views of some party members. "This is not how independent Algeria should look like," Razek said. "The revolution is not over, it is probably just beginning."

He returned to France with Celina, and together they began to organize the next revolt - this time, against their former leader, President Ben Bella. After a few months they traveled to Algeria again, and within a few months they organized a group of about 2,000 rebels, most of them former FLN members. On October 1, 1963, his men declared a revolt in power, but the next day they were attacked by the Algerian army, and the revolt was eliminated. Razek and Celina were arrested and thrown in jail.

Celina's Israeli identity was revealed, and Razek was denounced in the Arab world as a "Zionist." The Arab League issued a statement against him, stating that "the truth has come out, now the reason for his love for the Zionists is clear, and it is clear that everything he wrote in his book is a lie." Posters bearing his picture were pasted throughout Algeria, with the words "Traitor! Agent of Zionism and Imperialism, the No. 1 Enemy of the Arab People."

[ Yonatan Gotschalk from Migdal // Photo: Gil Eliyahu - Ginny]

The couple's friends from the FLN underground, most of whom had already settled in comfortable positions of rule in Algeria, were shocked. They began to put pressure on the president to hang the "Zionist traitors", and had it not been for the opposition of Chief of Staff Boumedienne, who feared that the hanging of French citizens would harm the advancement of relations with France, Razek and Celina would have been hanged immediately.

Various French organizations began pressuring Algeria to release the two. Yitzhak Shamir was a secret partner in the use of pressure. Celina was released after a few months, and Razek remained in prison for a year and a month. He was released in December 1964, only after signing an undertaking not to return to the country again. From prison he was taken directly to the airport, and his Algerian citizenship was revoked from him in a humiliating ceremony. Some of his FLN friends came to the airport, spat on him, cursed at him, and swore that "even if it takes generations and generations, we will take care of you one day."

Upon his return to France, Razek purchased a secluded farm about three hours from Paris. Each of the farm rooms was named after a different area in Israel, where he lived with Celina and several FLN-era friends who, like him, advocated the removal of the Algerian president. Every week guests, communist thinkers and others came to the farm.

The late Barami Lugassi Maayan Gev, who was his close friend and visited him on the farm, said that "the atmosphere there was military. "The people were wearing khaki uniforms, walking around with weapons, guarding, living a spartan life and having ideological conversations into the night."

Not long after the couple settled on the farm, Celina expressed her frustration to Razek. "She told me she was tired of revolutions," he said in interviews he gave to the French media. One morning she disappeared, and since then her traces have not been known.

A few months later, a new woman entered the life of the indefatigable revolutionary: Jozet Dodisco, a Jewish dentist, divorced with a child, who was 20 years younger than him. The fire of the revolution also burned in her, and she made sure to wear khaki clothes, also in the dental clinic where she worked in their apartment in Paris.

Razek began to feel more confident. His great fear of assassination in his life subsided, following the security system he had built for himself on the farm, and the new partnership allowed him to return to writing his second book. In this book, published in early 1966 and entitled "The Jewish-Arab Conflict: Arabs and Jews in the Face of the Future," Razek gave up attacking the Arab regimes and focused on analyzing the sources of the conflict between the parties. "The Arab peoples are not hostile to Israel," he wrote, "the problem is with the rulers." He detailed a tortuous theory he had developed regarding the possibilities for restoring relations between Jews and Arabs, through a shared recognition of ideological theories.

His second book did not cause as much commotion as the first, but bought him many fans, especially in Israel. At the beginning of June 1966, he arrived in Israel for a series of lectures commissioned by Mapam, together with Jozette. Jozette left her son with her ex-husband.

[Turns towards Damascus and the Golan Heights. Razek's grave in Kibbutz Afikim Photo: Gil Eliyahu - Ginny]

Razek met with his good friends at Kibbutz Ein Gev and was warmly received. Every morning, during the preparation of his next lecture, Jozet provided dental care to the members of the kibbutz.

He was a fine orator, who knew how to captivate his listeners. Familiar with the teachings of the revolutionaries, from Mao Tse Tong to Marx, from Angels to Che Guevara. He had impressive analytical abilities of events and processes and the ability to predict political and social developments long before they occurred.

He used to divide his lecture into two parts: in the first part he spoke of "the full rights of the Jewish people on the land of Israel", emphasizing that "the historical connection between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel needs no proof, because it has existed for thousands of years." "As long as it is, you will not be able to weaken the bond between the people and their addiction."

In the second part, Razek spoke about the Arab world and the enormous possibilities inherent in peace between Israel and its neighbors. He will spice up his words with interesting and amusing anecdotes from his experience as a Muslim that has come and gone between Arab and Western countries. He soon gained many fans across the country and was nicknamed the "Algerian friend".

Despite this, he maintained modesty. His acquaintances say that he never bragged or was arrogant, and the only two things he allowed himself to get out of his restrained figure were drinking wine and his great love for women. "He had style, and he spoke at eye level," says Bettin Amir-Margalit. Rami Lugassi said that "it was fun to talk to him, or just be by his side. At the end of each session, after hours, I was already starting to wait for the next session."

Razek has been invited to dozens of lectures and events all over the country. He felt loved, wanted and safe from any harm. His lectures were extensively covered in the Hebrew and foreign press, he participated in radio programs and was invited as a guest of honor at various events, such as the Algerian Immigrant Conference, a symposium on the future of the labor movement, the Histadrut Arab Conference, and more.

During this period, a connection was formed between him and Aharon Amir, a connection that grew rapidly. Amir invited Razek to write for Keshet, a quarter he edited, and introduced him to the Canaanite group, which was one of its founders. The ideological views of the "Canaanites" fully matched Razek's views: the Greater Land of Israel, the separation of religion and state, the creation of a revolution that would bring a new culture, and more.

Razek offered Jozette to stay in the back eye, and she agreed. However, a letter from her ex-husband, in which he wrote that her son needed her, caused her to return to France in September 1966. Three months later, Razek joined her.

He returned to Israel alone in 1968, for four months, during which he continued lecturing. In his remarks, he rejected the concept of "territories for peace", which was widespread in the wake of the Six Day War, and claimed that "this is a defeatist idea." He even invited tour guides in the Golan Heights (now controlled by Israel) who did not know the area.

In 1975, he returned to Israel once again, as a guest of honor at the World Congress of North Africans. On the opening night, which was held at the nation's buildings with the participation of thousands, he said in his speech: "Even if the rulers of all Arab countries come tomorrow and agree to peace with Israel in exchange for concessions on its part - Israel must not give up even one thing. For the Jewish people, according to the Promised Land." "From the Nile River to the Euphrates - he has already made all possible concessions." The thousands present in the hall applauded him for a long time.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Josette and Razek relocated to France several times. Some of the time they lived in the modest apartment of Josette in Paris, which also served as a dental clinic, and at other times they secluded themselves in remote places, such as forest huts. Their last place of residence was in a forest near Nice. There, one morning in November '89, Jozette died of a stroke at the age of 55.

Her death struck in Razek a severe blow. He was 75 at the time, and his friends say it was the first time he looked weak, confused and at a loss. Jozet was not only a spouse but also a full partner in his ideological path. Towards the end of 1990, lonely and exhausted, he packed some of his belongings in his Opel Ascona car and drove from Nice to Marseille. There he boarded, with his vehicle, the ship that sailed to Haifa. From Haifa he drove to Ein Gev, and late at night he knocked on Rami Lugassi's door.

Why did he come to Israel, towards the end of the eighth decade of his life? Perhaps because he felt his days were running out and wanted to move them to his favorite place, near the Sea of ​​Galilee and in front of the Golan Heights. Maybe because he has no relatives left in France. Perhaps because he was afraid that without Jozet, who had had his back for so many years, he would be overtaken by his persecutors, who swore to eliminate him. And perhaps that he was impoverished, after decades in which he had devoted his life and all the wealth he had accumulated to the revolution.

The old friends in Ein Gev were happy to see Razek, but the kibbutz was already run by young people, and he felt he was no longer wanted. One of his friends, Yossi Fogel, contacted the Gotshlak family in Moshava Migdal on the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee - a family of Christians who love Israel who converted to Judaism.

Towards April 1991, Razek was invited to live at the home of a doctor in the Migdal colony, who had immigrated to Israel from France shortly before. She allowed him to park in the yard of her house a trailer he had purchased, which was connected to her house's electrical and water system. He covered the walls of the trailer with pictures of people he admired: Yitzhak Shamir, Yigal Alon and Yitzhak Sadeh, as well as Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Mao Tessa Tong, Engels and Marx. And of course, pictures of his lover, Jozette.

Not long after Razek's arrival in Israel, a meeting was arranged between him and Prime Minister Shamir in his office in Tel Aviv. "There was great excitement in the air," says Yochanan Sharet, who accompanied the meeting. "Shamir, who was known to be restrained, smiled from ear to ear throughout the conversation, which took place in French. They shared memories of their days in Paris and talked about policy and politics. After about half an hour, Razak told Shamir he did not want to waste any more time, and the meeting ended."

After the meeting, Shamir ordered Mordechai Tzipori, the director general of the National Insurance Institute at the time, to meet with Razek at his home, and to personally check how a "friend of arms" could be helped, as Shamir defined it. .

Even after ending his term as prime minister, Shamir worked to make Razak an Israeli citizen. Indeed, in early 1994, Razek was notified that he would receive civilian status. For long days before the date when he was invited to the Interior Ministry branch in Tiberias, he would touch his head on the question of which Hebrew name he would choose for himself. "For some reason he thought that according to Israeli law, he could not change his first name but only his last name," says Yochanan Sharet. "When it became clear to him that he could also change his first name, there was no end to his joy. He told me: I can finally cut my Arab tail, which has been chasing me all these years."

Only on their way to the Ministry of the Interior in Tiberias did Razak tell the servant about the name he had chosen for himself. "First name - Dov, because it indicates strength; last name - Golan, because it was his favorite part of the country."

On February 16, 1994, a new citizen named Dov Golan was registered in Israel, ID number 3...... Father's name, as recorded on the certificate: Said. Mother's name: Hosnia. Date of birth: October 13, 1914. "It was the happiest day of my life," Razek / Golan told Sharett.

Shortly after Razek brought his trailer to the tower, Jonathan Gotschalk moved him next door to his family home. "We developed a deep friendship," says Gotschalk, 50. "He became a family member with us. Although the differences in thinking between us were deep - he was a communist in his views, who defined religion as 'opium for the masses' and opposed marriage and childbirth, and I am a national-religious, But we got along wonderfully. "

"We would meet him almost every evening in the trailer and talk a lot. He spoke fluent Hebrew and was a very sociable and quiet person. I never saw him angry. Occasionally he would talk about his longing for Jozet. During the day he was busy gardening and arranging the trailer, doing a lot of sports. "He read a lot and listened to music. He never asked us for anything."

Yad disappeared worrying about paying Razek's property tax, water, electricity and phone bills. He did not associate much with the people of the colony, but with one of them, John Sharett, found much in common. Sharett, too, was imbued with ideological fervor and spoke French. A brave friendship developed between the two.

The rumor that Razek was in the country quickly spread among his old friends, who began to come to visit him. He received them all with bright eyes. In the meetings, which sometimes lasted until the wee hours of the night, he always talked about revolutions and Zionism.

"I came to visit him from time to time," said the late Yossi Fogel, his friend from Ein Gev. "There was not a single time when he did not pull out a bottle of wine. He spoke of Marxism and socialism in the same pathos as before, and analyzed in depth movements that had long since lost their power. He would go into a trance, stand up, and speak in the tone of a lecture, sometimes closing his eyes.

"I could not disagree with one thing - the praise for the Zionist movement. He always said that Zionism had revolutionized an area of ​​backward Arab feudalism and established a paradise in Israel. I would look at it in amazement every time and say to myself: Lock the world and the sovereign of Petah Tikva That pious Zionist? "

From time to time, as in previous periods when he lived in Israel, Razek would pack some things and set off - sometimes in his car, and sometimes in the cars of people who came to pick him up. He never told where he went. The Gutschalk family and his close friends never tried to tear the veil of mystery that surrounded him. They knew little about his security past, from the long conversations with him. Rami Logsi said that once, late at night, Razek told him: "I work for Israel."

On Thursday, August 6, 1998, members of the Gotschalk family noticed that Razek had not been visiting them for several days. One of the family members approached his trailer and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. After calling his name several times, he tried to open the door handle, but the door was locked. Hours later the man returned to the trailer, and was not answered again. He heard running water in the shower and thought Razek was taking a shower. When he returned later that evening, running water was still heard, and then his suspicion arose. He called several members of the family, and together they broke down the door.

The trailer was tidy, but Razek had no trace. When they went to open the small shower door, they noticed that it was blocked from the inside. After breaking down the door, they were surprised to find him lying on the floor, lifeless. The police and MDA were called, and a doctor determined his death. The death certificate states, in the cause of death section: a broken wrist.

After learning of his death, Yochanan Sharet informed his friends that Razek had asked "not to be buried as a Muslim in an Arab cemetery, but only in a Jewish cemetery - in Kibbutz Afikim, if possible." Exactly 64 years after he applied to the kibbutz secretariat to be accepted as a kibbutz member and was rejected because he was a Muslim, Dov Golan was laid to rest in the Afikim cemetery. Mizrahi Yossi Ginat paid tribute to him: "For so many years, my dear friend Razek 'Abd al-Qader, Dov Golan, you wanted to be accepted here as a member of a kibbutz.

Razek 'Abd al-Qader, who belonged to Dov Golan, died childless at the age of 83. The story of his life was quickly washed away. ...

"Razek was one of the greatest friends of the State of Israel," says Dr. Yosef Sharvit of the Department of Israeli History and Contemporary Jewry at Bar-Ilan University. "Research should be devoted to his special work in the Zionist enterprise." He never asked for anything in return for his services. Fear that they will say he is helping Israel for greed money. For him, it was an integral part of fulfilling his Zionist mission."

https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/808027 - From Hebrew.

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