D. was raised as a Muslim in Gaza, but had now celebrated his bar mitzvah in Israel and says he always felt Jewish inside. "For years I lived as a Muslim. Now, I am a proud Jewish young man," said D., 13, who had tears in his eyes as he celebrated his unusual bar mitzvah on Tuesday. "I will not forget all the days and nights that I knew I was Jewish, but I lived as a Muslim in Gaza. My dream is coming true thanks to Yad L'Achim [an organization that focuses on preventing the assimilation of Jews] which brought me to the most exciting day of my life." Until four years ago, D. lived in Gaza with his Jewish mother and Arab father, with no connection to or knowledge of Judaism. L., his mother, moved to Israel from Uzbekistan when she was 14 and rented an apartment in Ofakim with her mother and sister. At 16, she went to work at a packing house in the area to support her family. There, she met A., a 17-year-old from Gaza working illegally in Israel. She innocently believed his promises that his family had land and factories. She was warned about him, but was still dazzled by the presents he bought her. "He promised that he loved me and I was happy," L. said. "What else does a girl at that age need? He told me a lot of lies, and I believed every word." A. convinced L. to marry him when she was 17, despite her mother's protests. She wanted a Jewish wedding and a white dress, but he convinced her to get married by a "lawyer," who later was revealed to be a qadi, or Muslim judge, and the marriage was performed in a Shariah court. During the process, L. was converted to Islam without her knowledge. "I waited for the real wedding, the big fancy party that he promised me his 'rich' family would throw for us," she said. Things became more complicated when a month later she became pregnant with her first son. In the third month of her pregnancy, A. told L. that he was actually an Arab from Gaza, that his parents were poor, and that his large family of more than 20 people slept on the floor of a two-room apartment. Toward the end of the pregnancy, the threats, violence and emotional abuse began. Before L. gave birth, A. was caught as an illegal alien and deported to Gaza. From there, he repeatedly called her, telling her to come to him. Forty days after giving birth, she went to Gaza with her newborn son, as the wife of a Gazan resident -- something that was still legal at the time, before the Israeli disengagement from the area. "He promised me I would be a queen in his parents' home," she said. "I entered a refugee camp and I was in shock from the desolation and neglect all around. Seven brothers and sisters living in a two-room apartment. After a week, his mother began to abuse me, while he walked around the town. He took the allowance I received for my child and as a single mother and spent them on his own fun." Over the years, they had two more children, and when the situation became very dangerous, she managed to escape from Gaza and get to Israel. Since then, her family is being cared for by Yad L'Achim, which returned them to Judaism and offered emotional and financial support. Now, L. is dealing with life as a single mother. When the organization heard that she was unable to afford a bar mitzvah for her son, they sought donations and arranged for D.'s bar mitzvah in Beersheba. "Now we are Jewish," L. said excitedly. "We began a new life, and I hope other women will not follow the false promises of 'rich' men like I did."
