A suspicious looking small boat making its way to Israeli waters from the direction of Lebanon was found by the Israeli navy patrol boat that intercepted it to be carrying not terrorists but a young Lebanese couple seeking sanctuary in Israel in order to marry. The eloping couple was taken to Haifa part where they told their story to reporters.
The young man and woman said they met a year ago and fell in love. But her father, a fisherman, refused to sanction their marriage after months of pleading, nor would her stepmother relent. The man, who worked as a tourist guide in Beirut, decided that flight was the only solution. On Sunday morning he and his fiance put to sea in his boat and were picked up 10 hours later by the Israeli sailors.
Their names were not published. They told reporters they decided to flee Lebanon because “it is not quiet there. We seek love, not war,” they said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
