Details
Hebrew Name:
Birthday: 1945-03-18
Born in:
Families: Bonan
Family
Father: Zaki Bonan | Mother: Marie Israel Bonan
Spouse: Sorana Blanar Bonan
Siblings: Leon Oni Bonan, Celine Bonan Eliahou
Children: Jacques Bonan, Marc Bonan
Biography
I was born in Cairo, Egypt (March 18.1945). I immigrated to the United States with my parents, in December 1967. Married to Sorana Blanar (March 15.1975), and actually living in Boston MA. During the Six Days war in 1967 I was expelled from the country, a little ahead of my intended departure. I encapsulated my personal Exodus story in a narrative that could be read in its entirety in the links provided below. http://www.universaloddities.com/exodus/intro.shtml I am glad I have decided to commit the story to writing, and also glad I did it 35 years later; this allowed me to reflect on who I was and currently am. I have not learned to hate, even though the Exodus experience had its dark moments; and I yearn for peace in the Middle East more so now than ever. Here is an abstract of my Personal Exodus Story This story was written as the positive act of a ‘witness’, witnessing what transpired to my family and me, during the early days of June 1967; having been deported from Egypt and having immigrated subsequently to America. The story starts on the first day of the ‘six days’ war and takes us step by step from jail to jail and finally onto a freighter to reach the first safe haven of many, Crete, Koln, Paris and finally America. During these events, I report on what happened, what I saw and experienced as well as how I felt; as they say “the good, the bad and yes the ugly” is portrayed uncensored. You’ll meet my companions on our trek, you’ll get to know me and other fellow Jews with all our strength and weaknesses, i.e. warts and all; while trying to cope with the hardships imposed upon us for the one basic reason, we were Jews living in an Arab country. During our exodus we met people that helped us and extended a helping hand on the spot; lifting our spirit in the process so we don’t succumb to desolation and despair, especially when we most needed it. Can one imagine exiting from a train station in Paris with nowhere to go! Yet we found ourselves in the open arms of one Jewish community after another. We will re-experience together, my emotional reunion with my family living in France and with my parents after we were rejoined in Paris. It is not simply a flat narration of events, though harrowing or even ‘humorous’ at times it might have been, it was important as well to record how I felt and how such events affected me in the near and long term. Regardless of the hardships of my Exodus experience I still see myself as a peace loving Jew. I have not learned to hate, and I strongly believe that “hate only begets hate”! I cannot see myself hating, and if understandably then, then definitely not now, and that if all I have learned from my Exodus experience was to hate, I would consider my life a totally wasted one. To see my Personal Abstract and full Exodus story, on the Internet, press on the link below: http://www.universaloddities.com/exodus/intro.shtml For contact: israelbonan@msn.com
Photos
