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Your land is my land: Why is Israel expelling a friend? By Esti Ahronovitz Tags: Israel news A long moment passes before you manage to take in the sight on the yellow hill. After all, this is the Arava, not Texas. But here he comes, John Larsen, 72, father of 16 and grandfather of 18, tall and imposing, wearing a button-down checked shirt and white pants held up by suspenders, with an old cowboy hat on his head. Friendly and hospitable, he invites us to the trailer camp, and we sit with him beneath a wooden pergola. Two huge dogs are sprawled nearby on a dusty sofa, using their tails to chase away stubborn flies. Anyone passing the Idan Junction in the Arava will come across a circle of trailers located on the incline of the junction, on the road leading to Moshav Idan and Ir Ovot. Seven years ago, one fine day in March, Larsen, a Christian from Denmark, arrived here with his wife Giselle and their 16 children (including four from his first marriage). The residents of the Arava rubbed their eyes at the sight of the tall Dane and his many offspring, some of them still very young, others already adults, all of them blond. The men began to settle on the rocky land, moving the convoy of red-and-white trailers with an old truck and a large tractor, while giving orders in Danish. Arriving in the Arava, John and Giselle were on a mission that had begun almost 24 years earlier, when they left Denmark with their five children and a single trailer on a nomadic journey through Europe. For years, as they moved from town to town all over the continent, Larsen preached love of the Jews and dreamed of reaching Jerusalem. He also sired more children, 11 to be exact, and then, in the spring of 1995, he arrived in the Promised Land by ship from Odessa. Advertisement The 13 years that have since passed have left their mark on the trailers, and anyone who enters feels as though he is on a journey through time and space. A large number of European antiques, collected during the years of wandering, fill the various spaces. One trailer was turned into a large kitchen with old wooden cupboards, an ancient coal stove and wooden shelves hanging on the wall, containing plates decorated by Giselle. In the center of the room sits a long wooden table, around which the entire family used to gather and eat its meals. On the other side is the living room, with an old armchair, a woven rug, landscapes from Moldova and a wooden bookshelf full of Larsen?s translations of the Bible, dictionaries he collected and biographies he received during his travels. In the small space, room was found for an antique desk and a lamp. At the foot of the trailers is a small Garden of Eden: palms and cacti alongside climbing periwinkles and bougainvillea that create a floral entrance gate, flowerpots with herbs alongside pottery sherds. There are enchanting nooks where old benches or dusty sofas invite you to sit and take in the quiet and the desert landscape. That is what Larsen?s sixth son, Benjamin, and his South African wife, Lee, used to do, until their desert idyll was shattered all at once two weeks ago - when the young couple were detained at Ben-Gurion International Airport on their return from a short trip to Turkey. After a traumatic night in the detention facility for those refused entry, Benjamin and Lee were expelled from Israel at the orders of the Interior Ministry and placed on a return flight to Turkey. Uproar in the Arava Frequent flights to and from Israel are routine for Benjamin and Lee. Although they have been living in Israel for 13 years, they are here with tourist visas and therefore have to renew them, after a brief visit abroad, every three months. They have been working in recent years for the non-profit association they established, Masaot Shalom Midbari (Desert Peace Hikes). With the support of the entire Larsen family, they host Israeli, Arab and European youth at risk and young people from institutions, and take them for survival and bonding hikes in the Arava.? The unique project has been widely praised by organizations engaged in rehabilitating youth at risk, such as Elem, Beit Hashanti and Kidum Noar. They are full of admiration for the Danish family that devotes its time and meager funds to neglected children and, thanks to the reputation it has established, also hosts groups of young people from Denmark, Germany and other European countries. The last hike went out on Sukkot, when 54 young people from Israel, East Jerusalem and Europe arrived at the Larsen's trailer camp, accompanied by counselors and social workers, and embarked on a six-day journey of survival and bonding on the Spice Road. Afterward, Lee and Benjamin left for Turkey in order to return quickly with renewed visas and continue with their enterprise. But on their return to Israel, they were detained at the airport and refused entry. The Immigration Police did not provide explanations to the couple, who claim they were jailed in harsh conditions and received humiliating treatment. After 24 hours they were placed on a flight to Turkey, and were told that next in line would be Benjamin?s parents, John and Giselle. Benjamin and Lee are now in Denmark, living in the city of Kolding with Benjamin's brother. Benjamin has begun to work temporarily in a construction firm, until he finds out if and when he will be permitted to return to Israel. In his free time he goes with his wife to meet with the Israeli ambassador to Denmark, Arthur Avnon, in attempts to solve the problem. In a telephone conversation, Benjamin said he understands that the Israeli authorities behaved as required by law. "I understand the laws," he says, "but since I was a boy we have been exceptional. We were a wandering family, we never adapted ourselves to the norms and laws according to which people live. We grew up on the roads, in many countries. That's our lifestyle, and my wife and I decided to continue this way." What galls him particularly is the manner in which he and his wife were treated. "That was one of the most traumatic days in my life. Apparently human rights are trampled in that place every day. The interrogator was very aggressive and said that she didn't care what we did, we simply had to leave the country. They sat us down in the waiting room and told us that there was nothing to argue about." The detention, he says, was an ongoing torture, without food or drink, without explanations. "We were taken to a small and dirty cell," says Lee. "I collapsed from pressure and fear and began to cry. One of the officers said to us: "Here you'll do what I tell you or I'll make you suffer - a lot." We were transferred to another filthy cell; on the table there were leftover sandwiches. The garbage can was full, the shower was filthy. The mattresses were cracked plastic, without sheets and pillows. When we got a sandwich to eat it had a black spread that was supposed to be avocado. We felt helpless, locked inside a horrible place." Only the next morning were they permitted to contact the embassy. When they understood that in the coming hours they would be transferred to one of the flights to Turkey, Benjamin asked if they could buy food on the way. Lee: "The officer there said to us cynically: "We heard that you also complained that the room is dirty. No problem. You can clean it. Give him a broom," he shouted to someone. My husband told the officer that the place really is dirty and full of leftover food, and the officer got angry and said to the other wardens: "Separate them and don't give them anything, not even food." We were taken again to the cell, accompanied by the wardens. I was very afraid and I held on to my husband; when they tried to separate us I became panicky and cried. I really couldn't breathe. My husband pleaded with them: "Don't do this."" The news of the couple's expulsion caused an uproar in the Arava. The family has many friends and admirers in Israel, first and foremost the local residents, neighbors in Moshav Idan who have become soul mates - like Kushi Rimon, owner of the legendary 101 Inn that gives them supplies and sleeping bags for the teenagers. The head of the Central Arava Regional Council, Ezra Ravins, in spite of instructions he received from the Administration to evacuate the illegal commune, continues to host them without permits. He promises to fight the evil decree: "Not only do I refuse to expel them, I'll try to help them as much as possible and make sure that they return here," he says. "These are good people who do only good." But John Larsen is worried. "My son contacted me in tears; he said to me: "Dad, those were the worst 16 hours in my life." I know that there are worse things, but the atmosphere there, the humiliation, that's not the right way to behave. Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East, but what happens in the immigrant detention cells at Ben-Gurion has no relation to democracy or human rights." This coming Tuesday, when his visa expires, he will fly to Denmark. This time, he was told, he will not be permitted to reenter Israel. The trailers the family has used for so many years will remain deserted and left to the mercy of the Bedouin, and there will be no one to carry on the wonderful project he began here with his sons. "Israelis sometimes find it difficult to distinguish their enemies from their friends," he sums up sadly. A convoy of pilgrims On Sukkot the trailer camp was still bustling with dozens of teenagers and Larsen's sons and daughters, who had come especially from Denmark to lead the trip. Now the place is deserted. Along with John and Giselle, the 18-year-old twins, Stephanie and Susan remain; they are planning to fly with John to Denmark. Two other siblings, Ephraim and Naphtali, live alternately in Denmark and Israel and are now waiting in Denmark for developments. The other 11 children live with their children in Denmark. Benjamin is actually the only son who settled here. John Larsen was born and raised in Copenhagen and was educated as an Evangelist, the Christian denomination that adheres strictly to piety, morality and family values, and sees the return of the Jewish people to Israel as an important stage on the way to redemption. Larsen worked in Denmark as a journalist. After his first wife died of cancer, he was left alone with their four children. Eventually he hired a young Frenchwoman, Giselle, to help in the house, and two years later he and Giselle were married; a daughter was born shortly afterward. One day, Larsen informed his wife that they had to pack their bags and embark on a missionary journey. "I think it's related to the way I was brought up," he explains in fluent Hebrew. "I was brought up to believe that the Christians and the Jews belong to one another. During the Second World War, in the middle of the night, the Danes helped Jews escape to Sweden in small boats. That was the atmosphere. I felt I had a calling. If you have a calling you can't escape it. I embarked on a long journey through Europe, with the goal of arriving here. I have a strong feeling in my heart for the Jews." "We set out with a trailer and five children," says Giselle, "we left everything behind. Without a house, without a thing. People sometimes reacted with anger. Mainly they asked me: How will you educate the children?" Her husband was not worried: "Life on the road had its ups and downs. There were good things and things that were not so good. Just a few days ago Giselle and I were discussing it. I asked her if she would have lived that life again, and she answered that she would have been willing to go through everything again, from the beginning." They wandered from town to town, crossing continents and seas: Bulgaria, Holland, Ukraine, Moldova, Italy. At each stop they set up the trailer and lived for several weeks, sometimes for a few months. Larsen always found an audience and preached about Christianity, about Judaism, about what the two religions have in common. Giselle took care of the children. It was not easy. There was cold weather and illness and in many countries they were considered unwanted Gypsies and were expelled. From year to year the family expanded. Almost every year Giselle gave birth to another child, and in advance of the birth they would always camp near a hospital. Today Larsen does not remember the ages of all the children and asks for Giselle's help. John, his eldest son, died of cancer; Thomas, Philip and Florence, his other children from his first marriage, are in their thirties, live in Denmark, and are married with children. When he married Giselle, Charlotte was born, followed by Benjamin, Michael, Daniel, Ephraim, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Natasha, Naphtali, Jemima and the twins Stephanie and Susan. Over the years they purchased more and more trailers, turning one of them into a mobile school. They built wooden tables that open up and every child had a small cupboard with his personal belongings, books and notebooks. "I taught Danish, reading, mathematics and geography," says Giselle, "whatever I could." They tried to keep to a schedule. First they ate breakfast together and then the children went to study. The boys helped renovate and repair the trailers and trucks, and now they are all mechanics at heart and can fix anything. "During all the years in Europe the direction was always Jerusalem," says John. "When we didn't know which way to turn, where to continue, left, right, the direction was always Jerusalem." Over the years they became known far and wide as 'the convoy of pilgrims to Jerusalem,' and occasionally other families joined their journey, with the Evangelist community providing them with food and money. John Larsen has the soul of a preacher and loves telling stories. He particularly likes the story of how the family arrived in Israel, on a ship that set out from Odessa and arrived at the Haifa port with all their equipment: 10 trailers, two trucks and a large tractor. One of the most exciting moments in his life was when the belly of the container was opened and his son Benjamin drove the tractor, leading the convoy of trailers. How did you get in with all that equipment? "At the Haifa port they told us: "You have to pay tax on all these vehicles." I thought it was going to be an astronomical sum and I was actually afraid that this was the end of the journey, because we had no money. It was on Rosh Hashanah; we were in the port for three days, and I remember that when the sun set they brought me a note about the total payment: one dollar. It was a miracle." They settled in Bat Galim, and afterward moved to a private area near Givat Olga. Over the years, as the children grew up, they made sure to renew their visas as required. The older boys would travel to Denmark, work for a few months at incidental jobs and return here for another three months, with cash in hand. In Givat Olga, Benjamin met Lee, who had come for a visit from South Africa, and love between them blossomed. Larsen was busy at the time with a musical he was writing about the building of the Temple. He says that many Danish artists took an interest in him and in the work. His second ambition was to complete the journey and to travel in the convoy to Jerusalem. For months on end the boys renovated the trailers that were towed by trucks and a large tractor, and prepared them for the final kilometers of the journey. Full of admiration When you hear the Larsen family story, you can't help but suspect they are eccentric types, but you soon learn not to be judgmental. The children enjoyed every moment. "Israel was a big change," says Benjamin. "I arrived here at the age of 15, and I immediately fell in love with the warm weather and with the people, who were also warm. There is a huge difference between Israelis and Danes. For Israelis, five minutes are enough for them to become your best friends, and you'll know everything about them. With the Danes it's different. Today I work in Denmark with the same people every day and I don't know them at all. Although they're very polite, they aren't open like the Israelis. I miss that." John Larsen recalls the days in Givat Olga with longing. All his children surrounded him. The little ones were constantly running around in the green spaces and riding horses, the older ones were busy renovating the trailers and the other vehicles, and they all prepared for the wedding of Benjamin and Lee, which was scheduled to take place in one of the churches in Jerusalem. In advance of this last leg of the journey, the older sons, who had already started their own families, joined with their wives and children. One celebration became intermingled with another and the large family that filled the trailers were joined by groups of volunteers, musicians and artists. The trailer camp bustled with life, like a large village of Gypsies. On Sukkot in 2000, the pilgrims completed their journey and Benjamin and Lee were married in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After about three years in Givat Olga they were asked to leave, and they moved to Dimona, where they settled on the Cactus Farm. "We were asked to leave there, too," says Larsen. "It was a problem with the authorities. Although the Cactus Farm was privately owned, the authorities told the owner: "They gave you the place in order to raise Israeli cacti, not Danish trailers." They began to travel again, but didn't go far. They camped again 40 minutes from there in the direction of Eilat, on the slope of Ir Ovot. Benjamin: "We arrived in the Arava because we didn't find any other place. It was hard to find space for all the trailers, and that's why we wandered from place to place. In the Arava it was quieter, they were less interested in us. And then we got caught up in the idea of the desert. We found lots of friends." They initiated the desert hikes project together with Yinon Efayim, a farmer from Moshav Idan who fell in love with the Danes and their project. "We thought a circus had arrived here," he recalls. "We took a crate of vegetables and went with the children to see the circus, and then for the first time we met the Larsens and got to know them. At first there were fears. It took us time to understand what they were doing here. But very quickly we discovered that Johnny is a warm person and his sons are talented and friendly people." "When we registered the NPO," says John, "we had to list its goals. We wrote only one word: 'Friendship.' We are a non-political, non-religious organization, and certainly not for profit; we have only one goal, friendship. The kids arrive in the desert and leave behind the tensions, the problems. They hike for a week from place to place, via the ancient Spice Road. During the first hours they don't approach one another; there is sometimes hostility, suspicion, but then each one gets a white shirt. Every child has to write his name on the shirt in English, Arabic and Hebrew. And thus, for lack of choice, they hesitantly approach one another and start to talk. Those who know Hebrew help those who know Arabic, those who know English help those who know Hebrew. Sometimes they manage even without words. After a week, when they part, they don't even say shalom, they just cry." The first groups of teens were sent by Hezi Shela, director of a project in the Youth Development Department in Jerusalem. Kushi Rimon was the one who recommended the project to him and introduced him to the young Larsens. Shela met with Lee and heard her credo. "When they told us that it wouldn't cost money, that they would pay for everything, I was skeptical," recalls Shela. "I sent a worker there with a group. They returned full of admiration for how much the family gives. At first I was afraid of the missionary aspect and I investigated the matter. There is no issue of religion or missionary work at all there. I was really embarrassed when I heard that they expelled Lee and Benjamin. We don?t have many people like them. Last Sukkot they hosted kids who didn't have anywhere else to stay during the school vacation." The director of Elem, Zion Gabbai, agrees with every word. Gabbai took a group of kids from Even Derekh - a day center for former inmates of the Ofek Juvenile Prison, who were accompanied by two counselors - out to the desert on Sukkot. "For our young people, normal experiences are important," he says. "Suddenly they are with young people from all over the world, with girls from Denmark who have to be treated with respect. Suddenly they're like any boy of their age, they go out into nature, connect with themselves, they have to obtain things by behaving pleasantly, rather than by violence and force." Hundreds of boys and girls have already been hosted in the desert by Lee and Benjamin. They are housed in the empty trailers, and during the day they work in a car workshop established by Benjamin, a kind of huge improvised garage where they assemble vehicles from old parts and preserve collectors' cars and old command cars that Benjamin brought from Belgium. Later they work in the trailer camp, cleaning and nurturing the plants there. "In the desert there's no pressure on the children," says Lee. "Nobody forces them to be friends. It happens by itself." It's quite a difficult population. Have there been incidents of violence? "There was one extreme case, about two years ago. During that period the Arab world was in turmoil because of the caricature of Mohammed published in the Danish press. Just then we were hosting a large group here. The two little twins, Stephanie and Susan, went out on a hike with a group of Palestinian children; it was their first day here and they didn't even know that we were Danish. When they asked the girls where they were from and they said Denmark, the boys became hostile. They began with verbal violence, and it became almost physical. What was nice was that those who came to the aid of Susan and Stephanie were a group of kids from East Jerusalem, who had been here several times already. They actually protected the girls with their own bodies and calmed things down." Funding for the activity comes from the family's money and from donations. For the last trip, for example, the residents of Hatzeva and Idan contributed food products, while Larsen's children who came from Denmark brought money with them. "We live from day to day," says Lee. "During the first years in Israel we used to go back for half a year to do incidental jobs, and return to Israel with money. We live a very basic and modest lifestyle. We have no electricity, and we don't always want to operate the generator. The truth is that we often don't know what will happen tomorrow and what we will live from tomorrow. We have never worked in Israel, in order to keep our visas and not do anything stupid." What will be? It's afternoon and the sky is turning red. In the trailers there is no air conditioning. "In July and August the heat makes things hard for us," says Giselle. "But the main difficulty is the uncertainty. Will we be able to continue to be here? For me it's home. I don't want to think what will happen a week from now, when we board the plane without being able to return." Larsen looks around the deserted camp and sighs. "Yes, I'm sad. I will have to revive the place. But when my sons and daughters return from Denmark the place will be full again. My sons always return here. They have Gypsy blood in their veins, they grew up that way. Jemima, my daughter, decided to get married here, she wants a desert wedding. We're all waiting to see how the mess we're in will end. If they allow us to continue to live here, we'll be able to send the invitations and invite the guests from Denmark to Israel." At the age of 72 wouldn't you like to live at home in Denmark a little? "We are located opposite Mt. Moab. From there a young girl named Ruth arrived here. Her mother-in-law Naomi said to her: "Go back to your place, you have no future here, you shouldn't live here." Ruth replied: "Wherever your people live my people will live. Your land is my land. Your God is my God. And where you are buried I will be buried." That's my answer." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Who's missing? Haredi parties absent from Jerusalem coalition for first time in decades. 'Kavosh 2' Amid nuclear tensions, Iran says it successfully launched rocket.   1.   shame 21:34  |  concerned jew 21/11/08   2.   Great Danes 23:57  |  k 21/11/08   3.   Deport Herbert,Ron and Suzy Pundik instead,traitors 01:43  |  Absolute Sweden 22/11/08   4.   Let them stay here 07:55  |  Daphna 22/11/08   5.   A shame 09:58  |  MarkC 22/11/08   6.   Xenophobia 14:14  |  A.M. 22/11/08   7.   I am surprised at what mr. Larsen said,he repeated Ruth`s words,a 14:20  |  Susann/Shoshanna 22/11/08   8.   Clearly loyal to the State of Israel 16:26  |  Joe Camel 22/11/08   9.   Apologies to the Larsen family for the despicable treatment 16:55  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 22/11/08   10.   True character of Israel and Judiasm 17:58  |  truth 22/11/08   11.   Wake up to reality 18:15  |  N.A 22/11/08   12.   Danish 18:16  |  David Salinger 22/11/08   13.   I`ve been saying it for years: Israel has almost no civil rights 18:24  |  Joe Sittizen 22/11/08   14.   bureaucracy in Israel ...kills too many dreams 18:31  |  Daniel 22/11/08   15.   let them stay! 18:36  |  maxine 22/11/08   16.   apalling 21:14  |  sam i am 22/11/08   17.   Primitive israel 22:01  |  danite 22/11/08   18.   great danes and poor journalism 22:19  |  ron 22/11/08   19.   shame on you 23:16  |  patrick hammel 22/11/08   20.   to Truth - who obviously cares nothing for it 23:30  |  Ralph 22/11/08   21.   Not Surprised 00:36  |  Nippy alma 23/11/08   22.   Law Of Return 01:17  |  Nippy alma 23/11/08   23.   Land is my land 02:39  |  Jasper 23/11/08   24.   hey 03:12  |  hey 23/11/08   25.   Gentilophobia 00:02  |  Evan Williams 24/11/08   26.   Unbelievable! 02:00  |  IS 24/11/08

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