Ro’i Tov is a former Christian officer of Israel Occupation Force (IOF). He grew-up an outsider in the tight-knit kibbutzim along the Jordan Valley. It is here that his sharp intelligence, instead of buying him the freedom he so desperately desired, traps him in a company without a moral compass and a military that challenges his spiritual and moral beliefs. He got so disgusted with Israeli army’s treatment of the native Muslim and Christian Palestinians that he resigned from the IOF and threatened to expose Israel’s Zionist barbaric nature.
Ro’i Tov left Israel to escape state persecution. His journey took him from Thailand to China, from the US to Bolivia. In exile he wrote his autobiography, ‘The Cross of Bethlehem: The Memoirs of a Refugee’. He has written numerous articles on Israel and Palestine and writes his own blog.
Ro’i Tov survived a sniper attack in 2003. On July 23, 2009 – he was cowardly attacked by a group of Israelis in La Paz, Bolivia where he lives since 2005.
Ro’i Tov compares his ordeal with Yigal Amir, the radical Jew who assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995: “So, we have a convicted criminal – he was videotaped murdering – that eventually managed to marry the woman he loved and to have a child. Yet, here I am. It is not only that I have not committed any crime, but the State of Israel has been found guilty of persecuting me and I have been recognized as a refugee under the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees”.
Recently, Ro’i Tov, has appealed to the Islamic Republic, Syria and Hamas (Gaza) – either to award him asylum on political and religious grounds and provide him protection from the Zionazi evil – to “show the world they are better than Israel also on moral grounds and that they are men of God and honour”.
He recently wrote an Open Letter to the Iranian Ambassador in la Paz:
Today, September 14, 2010, I visited again the Iranian Embassy to Bolivia. Around 10 AM local time, the policeman at the entrance told me that you and V.V. where at an official meeting elsewhere. It has been a while since I did manage to speak with your predecessor and my situation here is difficult, thus please forgive this desperate public approach. Please let me a short introduction.
In 2008 I decided approaching Iran. The task wasn’t easy since at the time they didn’t have an embassy in Bolivia. Shortly after, one of my generous readers provided the funds needed for my traveling to a major Asian city, where Iran has a large delegation. That wasn’t enough, I feared being denied access by a worried doorman; after all not every day an Israeli citizen asks to be admitted to an Iranian embassy. At my request, an Australian friend approached the embassy in Canberra and asked if I could approach the Iranian embassy in the Asian city. The embassy in Australia gave a positive answer. I printed the email and with the encouraging paper I approached the embassy in August 2008. Most of the event was described at Meeting Iran, an article available within this website.
Contacts continued until I run out of visa and money. It was agreed I’ll contact Iran again at the very problematic embassy in Buenos Aires, near my refuge place. That embassy is small; meaning much of the staff is local. An insolent Argentinean doorman blocked my way. Back in Bolivia, I thought the issue was over. Then, things began changing. An Iranian embassy was opened in La Paz. Bolivia broke its diplomatic relations with Israel due to the terrorist attack of the last on Gaza. I was welcomed, but there was no answer. Back then, The Cross of Bethlehem
There were delays also here. I would like to meet with you in order to continue the process of getting political and religious asylum in Iran.
The last reason for this letter is an attempt to coordinate my next visit. I left a message with the policeman downstairs. It’s one of the regular ones, they know me well. The coordinated time of my next visit is one that maximizes the probability of finding you and V.V. there.
Please let me expose my case in person at the proposed time, or leave an alternative one at the gate.
Respectfully, Roy Tov
Rehmat calling 