Dear Jeff, Thank you so much for funding my time outside of the Center spent with Rivky. I truly appreciate your kindness, generosity, and eagerness to teach those around you. I have caught the ÛÏI ª´ JeffÛ bug! I am so incredibly thankful for all of the opportunities I have found through you and your Student Center, from studying with Rivky, to doing my laundry, to helping me connect with my family heritage in Vienna. You have already contributed so much to my study abroad experience. Thank you again and I canÛªt wait to continue experiencing new things through you and your Student Center. P.S. Again, Thank you so much for sponsoring my time with Rivky, it means so much!
Dale Golden – Heb U Spring 2013/Indiana University
17
Jun
Jun
George Deek is an Arab-Israeli diplomat. In 2018, Deek was appointed Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan. He is the first Israeli Arab Christian to become an ambassador. Deek grew up in an Eastern Orthodox Christian family in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, in a building where the other tenants included Muslims, Catholics, Jews and a Catholic priest of Jewish ancestry.[2][3] His father, who worked as a tax advisor,[3] was one of the leaders of the Christian community in Jaffa who served as chairman of the Orthodox Association, and was considered a well-known and popular figure in the city until in 2015 a square was inaugurated in his memory in Jaffa in the presence of Mayor Ron Huldai.[4] According to Deek, his grandparents fled to Lebanon for safety when the 1947–1949 Palestine war, having been told that the Jews would slaughter them if they remained in their homes, but expecting to return home once Arab armies defeated the Jews.[3] According to Deek, when the war ended, his grandparents felt that they had been “deceived”, and decided to return illegally to their home in Jaffa rather than remaining in Lebanon as refugees. Since reentering the country was illegal, Deek’s grandfather, an electrician, was arrested and jailed.
