Haim Yavin cries out: The stormy journalists' meeting that went untold for decades

Meir Uziel recalls a conference in Greece years ago, attended by Palestinians, Jordanians, and Israelis, including Haim Yavin. During a light conversation, a discussion arose about identity, conversion, and conflict resolution, with Uziel suggesting a hypothetical idea of mass conversion as a solution, and Yavin crying out about revealing 'the nation's secrets'.

Meir Uziel recalls an intense conference in Greece years ago, attended by Palestinians, Jordanians, and Israelis, including Haim Yavin and Prof. Daniel Bar-Simon. During a break between sessions, a light conversation developed with two young women, a Palestinian and a Jordanian. The Palestinian tried to teach Uziel to give up the Hebrew names Acre and Jaffa and pronounce them in Arabic, and he agreed. When it came to Jerusalem, she laughed because she knew it wouldn't happen. Later, she raised a humorous idea of intermarriage as a solution. Uziel, for his part, proposed an opposite idea: that if a Palestinian village converted to Judaism, it would become an Israeli city, and thus the problem would be solved. The Palestinian was captivated by the idea and asked if she could vote. Haim Yavin cried out about revealing 'the nation's secrets' so easily, emphasizing that Judaism is not a missionary religion. The conversation touched on issues of identity, citizenship, conversion, and the absurdity of the conflict, while exposing cultural and ideological gaps.