Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Israel's boat people

DID YOU EVER have a long discussion with some people and on the way home recall all of the things you could have said but didn't? The same happens to people like me who write columns and then when reading them in the paper recall pertinent information that was left out. Even worse is when a reader calls to tell me that "it was a good column but it's too bad you forgot about ..."

Recently I wrote about how Israel has taken in non-Jewish refugees, including Muslims and Christians, during times of conflict. Immediately on my mind were the Bosnian and later the Albanian Muslims who have found care and comfort in Israel. I completely forgot about some of the Vietnamese boat people still living in that country. My memory was jolted by the following article in the Jerusalem Post newspaper:

"Some 340 fleeing Vietnamese, arriving in three groups from 1977 to 1979, were allowed into the country by prime minister Menachem Begin.

"According to Phong Le Quong, a restaurateur who owns the Da Le Thien restaurant in Jerusalem, some 250 of the original 340 are still here.

"Phong, 51, was a pilot in the South Vietnamese Army. When Saigon fell in 1975, he was sent to a notorious "re-education" camp.

"He escaped in 1979 and made his way to Thailand where, after waiting in a refugee camp, he took Israel's offer of asylum. He arrived with the final group of Vietnamese refugees.

"The bulk of the community lives in the Bat Yam area, Phong says, with a number of other families in Haifa and Nahariya. Most work in the restaurant business.

"Phong notes a couple of cases of Vietnamese who married Israelis and a number of Vietnamese refugees who have served in the army. The Vietnamese who opted to stay here, he says, received citizenship.

"Phong has a ready explanation for why most of the Vietnamese have stayed in Israel, even 20 years on, while only six years after the Bosnians' arrival some 59 of the original 84 have already left for other shores.

"The main difference, he maintains, is that the Vietnamese fled their country and their people, while the Bosnians fled a war. When the war ended, many of the Bosnians returned home. The same, he says, may happen with the Kosovars.

"The Vietnamese, however, fled their land because of Communist rule.

" 'No one forced us to leave,' he says. 'We left because we did not want to live under the Communists. We left because of the people.

" 'While they are in power -- and it doesn't look like they will be removed soon -- we can never return.' "

This recollection of the Vietnamese boat people was accompanied with a story of the Mutapcic family, who landed in Israel from Bosnia six years ago. Until their arrival in Israel they knew nothing about the country and had never seen a Jew. Now they live in Kibbutz Beit Oren and their two daughters attend grades four and seven in the regional Kibbutz schools.

Allow writer Herb Keinon to relate the feelings of the parents.

" 'What is the problem with them learning about Jewish holidays and Jewish history?' Vahid replies when asked if he has a problem sending his kids to Jewish schools.

" 'What is important for the girls is the quality of life. It is good that they are learning about other cultures. It is good to be open.'

"After giving the Kosovar refugees time to catch their breath, the Mutapcics plan to visit them.

" 'I want to go and see them,' Fahira says. 'I remember what it was like for us when people who spoke our language came to visit.

" 'When you don't know a soul and someone comes, and you at least understand what he is saying, you feel less alone.' "

The recently arrived Kosovars will soon be settled in with the comfort provided by Israelis and a common language shared with Bosnian Muslims like Vahid and Fahira Mutapcic.

I was in Israel when the Mutapcic family landed there and, if not too busy, maybe next week I can look in on the latest Muslim arrivals at Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael.

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