Don’t bury our heads in the sand

I can more than sympathize with the family of Ronnie Peterson in their quest to find a cemetery for his burial “Blues musician Ronnie Peterson finally buried in Catholic cemetery in Jaffa” (October 4). In my capacity as absorption director for Hatzor Haglilit, I faced the same terrible experience as Peterson’s family in trying to find places to bury non-Jewish immigrants from the former USSR who settled in Hatzor, and this despite the fact that they were citizens of Israel and by law, are entitled to a burial plot free of charge in their official place of residence.

The catch is, that in practical terms, in all Jewish cities, towns and settlements, cemeteries are for Jews only, since obviously no one could anticipate the massive influx of non-Jewish immigrants entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return that has occurred over the past 30 years. Fortunately, after 20 years of my and our municipal and religious councils’ efforts, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Insurance approved and funded a cemetery section for non-Jewish Hatzor residents. But until then, in more than one case, families were forced to pay thousands of shekels for a burial plot in a different city, and not always in close proximity to Hatzor.

Others, out of desperation when all my efforts were unsuccessful in finding anything closer, chose one of the three official civil cemeteries, despite the tremendous distance from Hatzor. Nili Peterson’s frustration and anger are absolutely justified, and regardless of religion or nationality, all Israeli citizens deserve the same basic human right of a timely and dignified burial in, or in close proximity to, their hometowns. This is a relevant and painful issue, and the least local authorities and religious councils can do is to show more sensitivity and respect to their non-Jewish residents by urgently dealing with this problem.

GERSHON HARRIS Absorption Director, Hatzor Haglilit