AP News, November 1st, 2007
Sixty years after a dilapidated ship embarked on a landmark voyage that symbolized Jews' yearning for a homeland in Israel, some 300 Jewish passengers retraced its route from Europe to the Holy Land.
The passengers left the Cypriot port of Larnaca late Wednesday and arrived Thursday in Haifa, Israel — an emotional journey that follows part of the route taken by the Exodus 1947. That ship carried some 4,500 Jewish illegal migrants trying to make it from southern France to Palestine in 1947 after the Holocaust.
The trip aboard the luxury Israeli cruise liner The Royal Iris pays homage to the Exodus passengers, French trip organizer Pierre Besnainou said.
"The main message is that we're coming back to our land and no one will ever prevent or expel us from it. ... We Jews are proud of who we are," Besnainou told The Associated Press.
In 1947, in a high-profile standoff, British authorities then governing Palestine forced the ship to stop.
Exodus passengers were sent back to France, where they refused to disembark and went on hunger strike before being sent to detention in Germany. Many of the passengers were eventually detained in military camps in Cyprus along with other Jews deported from Palestine.
The ship's ordeal focused world attention on the British blockade of Palestine and the plight of Jews fleeing Europe after World War II. When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, the Exodus' passengers were able to move there.
Passengers from France, Britain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, the United States and other countries each paid $2,600 for this week's journey. They were joined by a handful of original Exodus passengers, including the captain.
"I will shake their hand and try not to cry," said passenger Jose Carp, president of Portugal's Jewish community. "It's very moving and an honor to be participating in such an important event. ... The Exodus was first to break the barrier for other immigrants."
Carp was joined by his 24-year-old daughter, Caroline, a musician who is making her first trip to Israel.
"I'm bringing my guitar along because that's part of who I am. ... I'll meet a friend in Tel Aviv that I met in London; we'll make music together," she said.
The 300 passengers flew to Larnaca on two flights from Paris, and will spend five days in Israel, touring sites and retracing the steps of original Exodus passengers before a planned meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, organizers said.
Organizers envisaged the trip as a buildup to 60th anniversary celebrations of the founding of Israel.
"It really is a pilgrimage of spiritual significance, a moving way to start the 60th anniversary commemorations," said Israel Singer, chairman of the Council for World Jewry, who is American.
About 40 passengers are using the voyage to settle permanently in Israel — including the Assimantou family of France.
"It's the only place I choose to put down my luggage," said Samuel Assimantou. "My grandfather lived in Ethiopia; he always wanted to go to Israel. ... I'm making his wish come true."
Assimantou, 37, said a move to Israel had been on his mind for years. His partner, Isabelle, 42, agreed last September and they are traveling there with their two daughters, 4-year-old Hannah and 1-year old Ellie.
