Dear Jeff, Rivky, and Shmuel,
There are no words to thank you enough for all you did for me in these past few months while in Israel. Whether it was organizing Shabbatons, field trips, weekly dinners with speakers, etc, my experience in Israel would not have been the same without you guys. There was nothing I looked forward to more than those enticing Tuesday night speakers or the organized trips to places like Jerusalem and Tsfat. It’s amazing how I learned more during your programs than I did in the classrooms of Tel Aviv University. I will take the life lessons taught by you and the speakers with me everywhere I go.
As a Jew, I feel even more connected with my religion after taking part in your enriching program. Thanks again, I wish you all the best in the future. Keep in touch!
Olivia
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.
