Concerning an email I received from one of my left-wing friends, and the posting on Orthomom's site today about the Palestinian Arab family that donated their child's organs for transplant "as a sign of peace" after being shot by the IDF, in a case of being mistakenly identified as a terrorist in Jenin, due to the fake plastic rifle he was brandishing.
Orthomom correctly identifies this story as a beautiful one, though I didn't get choked up when reading it. Honestly, I was very surprised by it, and I wonder what their Arab neighbor's have to say about their decision.
However, its an individual story, by a unique family. I'm not writing this to say there's no chance for any peaceful coexistence with Arabs in Eretz Yisrael, but the past 5 years have been a real eye-opener about what depths the Arabs will go through to hurt us. Going back more than 10 years before Oslo, everything was different, and there was actual Arab/Jewish co-existence. Jews could safely enter Arab neighborhoods and cities without fear of a lynch or massacre. Arab businesses freely sold and exchanged good with Jews...including settlers. There was the Arab video-lending store in Beit Lechem which served Gush Etzion. There was the Mitsubishi garage in Kalkilya which serviced cars from the Kfar Saba area. I remember driving through Ramalla, Jenin, Tulkarem, Shechem, Kalkilya, Chevron...in relative safety...even walking along the beach from Neve Dekalim to Rafiach.
The original sin which ruined everything was the importation, training and arming of 40,000 Palestinian terrorists and their leader Yasir Arafat. Under Rabin and Peres, the Oslo accords brought more tragedy from terrorism to the State of Israel than any other 10 year period in the history of the State. Oslo ruined it for the Palestinians as well, who had it much better before the corrupt and murderous Palestinian Authority ever appeared.
Scrambling to find a band-aid solution, the "Disengagement" appeared. Its clear by now that this has only weakened Israel, as the rockets keep coming over, and the terrorists appetite has only grown, and Israel has no real response available.
As an MDA medic, I have been to all sorts of medical emergencies on the roads. What kills me is that Palestinians can throw rocks at ambulances, even as they go to help Palestinian traffic accident victims. Those are not isolated incidents, but the norm. Palestinians have even used their ambulances for transporting terrorists, guns, bombs, and homicide bombers.
So what do I think of the Organ Donor from Jenin? Good for them. Unfortunately, I won't think about it too much till I hear of these incidents occurring more than once in 5 years. In the meantime, I need to watch out for rocks.
Orthomom correctly identifies this story as a beautiful one, though I didn't get choked up when reading it. Honestly, I was very surprised by it, and I wonder what their Arab neighbor's have to say about their decision.
However, its an individual story, by a unique family. I'm not writing this to say there's no chance for any peaceful coexistence with Arabs in Eretz Yisrael, but the past 5 years have been a real eye-opener about what depths the Arabs will go through to hurt us. Going back more than 10 years before Oslo, everything was different, and there was actual Arab/Jewish co-existence. Jews could safely enter Arab neighborhoods and cities without fear of a lynch or massacre. Arab businesses freely sold and exchanged good with Jews...including settlers. There was the Arab video-lending store in Beit Lechem which served Gush Etzion. There was the Mitsubishi garage in Kalkilya which serviced cars from the Kfar Saba area. I remember driving through Ramalla, Jenin, Tulkarem, Shechem, Kalkilya, Chevron...in relative safety...even walking along the beach from Neve Dekalim to Rafiach.
The original sin which ruined everything was the importation, training and arming of 40,000 Palestinian terrorists and their leader Yasir Arafat. Under Rabin and Peres, the Oslo accords brought more tragedy from terrorism to the State of Israel than any other 10 year period in the history of the State. Oslo ruined it for the Palestinians as well, who had it much better before the corrupt and murderous Palestinian Authority ever appeared.
Scrambling to find a band-aid solution, the "Disengagement" appeared. Its clear by now that this has only weakened Israel, as the rockets keep coming over, and the terrorists appetite has only grown, and Israel has no real response available.
As an MDA medic, I have been to all sorts of medical emergencies on the roads. What kills me is that Palestinians can throw rocks at ambulances, even as they go to help Palestinian traffic accident victims. Those are not isolated incidents, but the norm. Palestinians have even used their ambulances for transporting terrorists, guns, bombs, and homicide bombers.
So what do I think of the Organ Donor from Jenin? Good for them. Unfortunately, I won't think about it too much till I hear of these incidents occurring more than once in 5 years. In the meantime, I need to watch out for rocks.
10 comments:
I agree with you. The difference between you and OrthoMom is the difference between the intellect and emotions.
Sad that this story is so unusual by the ARAB side, see my:
Israel the GEM
"the past 5 years have been a real eye-opener about what depths the Arabs will go through to hurt us"
Can't this remarkable act on the part of the family serve as an eye-opener (for their neighbors as well- their press have picked it up too) as to how not all "Arabs" can be lumped together and dismissed as our evil enemy? If we cannot follow the example of outstanding individuals, what exactly is there to hope for?
We are not the problem of following the example of outstanding individuals. They are.
They are the ones that try to blow us to bits, that lynch us, that intentionally shoot at infants, to cripple men, women and children, to blow off their limbs by targeting school buses.
When THEY start to follow the example of outstanding individuals, there will be hope. One family is a glimmer, 10 families are a ray, one villiage is a beam.
Till then, If the Palestinians would put down their weapons there would be peace. If we put down our weapons they would massacre us in a heartbeat.
Why can't this extraordinary story about extraordinary people just stand on its own? I don't want to be tarred by the same feather that Natan Zadeh or Yigal Amir is tarred with. So why do anyone else that disservice?
Agreed, Momof4.
If anything, Jameel, this story should show you that there is no "They". Period. Doesn't matter how isolated you perceive the incident to be.
PP4: Majority rules?
Momof4: Two isolated incidents involving Jews don't tar the rest of us for the exact same reason.
The "Chasidei Umot HaOlam" during the Holocaust receive their rightfully-due homage at Yad VaShem. Yet its only a few drops of isolated incidents in the bucket of hatred. In perspective, its hard to say that those actions were more than outstanding acts by individuals. Although they saved lives of Jews (and I won't minimize that in the slightest), their actions accomplished nothing in terms of influencing Nazi attitudes and position.
The stories stand on their own. To say those actions are rays of hope which could restore our faith in the Palestinians that there is a chance for peace - is to fool ourselves, and give the Palestinians way too much credit that they do not deserve. Once incidents like this are no longer isolated, can we think about changing the generalizations.
To say those actions are rays of hope which could restore our faith in the Palestinians that there is a chance for peace -
I said no such thing. That's because I'm not prone to sweeing generalizations. It restored my faith that there are still acts of selfless generosity being performed every day, everywhere.
Momof4: You are correct - that line wasn't from your blog, but directed towards Purple Parrot ...as to how not all "Arabs" can be lumped together and dismissed as our evil enemy
I'm not sure what faith it restores though. Faith in that there will always be a tiny minority doing the right thing? What does that teach us?
Fine, Jameel. You keep the faith in whatever direction justifies your actions and thoughts and everyday lives, and I'll keep mine. Thats probably about as much coexistence as you can stomach right now, but I have hopes for your future!
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