The Story of Rabbi Yosef Yair in the City of Khan Yunis
The article tells the story of Rabbi Yosef Yair, who lived in Khan Yunis before the events of 1929, and sent a letter to the British High Commissioner praising the city's residents who sheltered and protected him during the disturbances.
The article recounts the story of Rabbi Yosef Yair, a Jewish rabbi who lived in the city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip about fifteen years before the events of 1929. It describes Yair as a unique paternal figure, intelligent, upright, and fair, who came to Gaza from Egypt in the 1880s, with origins tracing back to the Balkans and then to Morocco. During the 1929 Western Wall riots, which lasted three days and included clashes between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Hebron, and Safed, Yair sent a letter to British High Commissioner Chancellor praising the residents of Khan Yunis. The newspaper "Palestine" published the news, stating that Arabs are not savages as the High Commissioner claimed. In the letter, Yair wrote that he and his family of three lived in Khan Yunis during the disturbances and remained safe thanks to the good care of the locals, suffering no harm to person or property. He affirmed that he still lives among them and does not wish to leave this good town.