Real Co-Existence Between Arabs and Jews
Dear Peacemakers,
Yesterday I had the hounor to meet Ruthy Miller and her husband in my home. They are two people who are making history in the relations between Arabs and Jews in this area.
They are the real co-existance between Arabs and Jews.
I attached a report from the Independent Newspaper which published in the United Kingdom:
Living Experience: The enemy within
While conflict rages around them, one Israeli woman has taken a bold step by welcoming into her household a Palestinian man and his sick son
By Diane Taylor
Sunday, 16 March 2008
There has never been any love lost between the Israeli government and the Hamas-led administration in neighbouring Gaza, but this month has seen the violence escalate again. Following rocket attacks by Hamas on Israeli towns, Israel retaliated in a five-day operation that left more than 100 Palestinians dead. Last week, Israel's Deputy Defence Minister, Matan Vilnai, issued a warning that Palestinians faced a "shoah" (the Hebrew word for a great disaster, often used to refer to the Holocaust) if they continued to fire rockets into Israel. Commentators now say the aspirations of the two sides are so far apart that any sort of peace deal seems impossible.
It is against this backdrop of hatred and carnage that a five-year-old boy and his father have found themselves living with the "enemy", an Israeli family in Ramat Gan, a town bordering Tel Aviv.
Sayed Murannakh and his five-year-old son, Muhammad (known as Hamady), had come to Israel from Gaza after Hamady was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Sayed had lobbied the Israeli government for permission to have his son treated in Israel, where the facilities are far superior to those in Gaza.
When Hamady's treatment finally began in the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center last May, an Israeli woman, Ruth Mueller, 55, was making daily visits there to her niece, who had been injured in a car crash. "I noticed that Sayed never left Hamady's side," she says. "He was absolutely devoted to him and I could see there was a very special bond between them." It wasn't long before they got chatting. Hamady spoke no Hebrew but Sayed, who had worked as an electrician on building sites throughout Israel before they stopped giving work permits to Palestinians, spoke the language fluently.
Due to the recent violent incursions, movement of Palestinians out of Gaza into Israel is virtually impossible. All Palestinians in Israel are considered a security risk, so Sayed and Hamady were closely monitored. During the surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment they were instructed to remain within the hospital at all times. So Ruth began to meet with them every day, bringing with her small gifts for Hamady from the outside world.
By the time Ruth's niece had been discharged from hospital, such a strong bond had developed between the threesome that Ruth continued to visit every day. "My family told me I was crazy to go all the time but I felt I'd started something and wanted to see it through," she says. "I would spend two or three hours playing with Hamady and talking to Sayed about our families, what had happened in the news, all kinds of things. As strangers in my country, I wanted to welcome them. Sayed had left his wife and six other children behind for an indefinite period in order to save Hamady's life."
However, at the end of November last year, following a visit back to Gaza to see their family between treatments, Sayed and Hamady lost their hospital room. For a while it looked as if the entire treatment process would be in jeopardy, until Ruth stepped forward and offered them a place to stay in her small three-bedroom flat. "I invited them to move in with us," she says. "I don't know what my neighbours thought about us moving two Palestinians into our home, but what I do in my flat is my own business." Over time, the rest of Ruth's family – her husband, Steven, and their children aged 16, 24 and 26 – have also became deeply involved.
"Of course it's been very upsetting to see Hamady so sick, but Sayed has got used to that and so have we," says Ruth. "It has become part of his life and part of our lives too. At the moment Hamady is well, but we don't know what the future holds."
Sayed has taken great care throughout the gruelling treatment to explain to Hamady what is going on. "He has been incredibly brave throughout," says Sayed. "He is a long way from home, but he is always very co-operative." Every night after the hospital visits Hamady falls asleep on Ruth's sofa, clutching Sayed's hand.
The harmonious union of the two sides, especially in the light of current bloodshed, is so unprecedented that Ruth got a visit from Fredi Gruber, of Israel's Channel 1 TV station, who featured them all on a news programme a fortnight ago. "There's a process of demonisation of Arabs," says Gruber. "We are talking about 1.5m people in Gaza who are all different from each other. You can't label them all as terrorists.
"What has happened here shows that a humanistic approach is also an option – there is a way for Israelis to live in peace with Palestinians. The Muellers are a typical Israeli family, they're not big political activists. Dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians is one thing but for an Israeli family to move a Palestinian father and son into their living-room for several months is quite another."
Ruth is more matter of fact about the situation. "We share the same ideology," she says simply. "Sayed is a true peace lover and so am I. We both seek to solve problems not in a violent way." Living under one roof has proved to be a harmonious experience that the leaders of the Israeli government and Hamas could perhaps pick up tips from.
"Sayed is a darling. If I say I'm going to do the washing-up or make a cup of tea he jumps up to do it before I can," says Ruth. "It is a heavy burden looking after a sick child by yourself and with this arrangement Sayed has been able to share that burden."
This week, Hamady's treatment comes to an end and father and son are soon due to head home. Although it is too early to say what the long-term outlook is, in the short term Sayed is unequivocal: "Without doubt this treatment has saved his life. It has been such an enormous help living here."
And has the escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza caused problems in their relationship? "Not at all," they both reply. "We are both anti-war and peace-loving. When we see on the news that people are dying in the conflict, it hurts us both, no matter which side they're on."
"Living with the 'enemy' is an experience I never thought I'd have, but it shows that like-minded people can live together in peace. even if they come from opposing cultures," says Ruth. "You can gain so much from other people if your mind is open."
Yesterday I had the hounor to meet Ruthy Miller and her husband in my home. They are two people who are making history in the relations between Arabs and Jews in this area.
They are the real co-existance between Arabs and Jews.
I attached a report from the Independent Newspaper which published in the United Kingdom:
Living Experience: The enemy within
While conflict rages around them, one Israeli woman has taken a bold step by welcoming into her household a Palestinian man and his sick son
By Diane Taylor
Sunday, 16 March 2008
There has never been any love lost between the Israeli government and the Hamas-led administration in neighbouring Gaza, but this month has seen the violence escalate again. Following rocket attacks by Hamas on Israeli towns, Israel retaliated in a five-day operation that left more than 100 Palestinians dead. Last week, Israel's Deputy Defence Minister, Matan Vilnai, issued a warning that Palestinians faced a "shoah" (the Hebrew word for a great disaster, often used to refer to the Holocaust) if they continued to fire rockets into Israel. Commentators now say the aspirations of the two sides are so far apart that any sort of peace deal seems impossible.
It is against this backdrop of hatred and carnage that a five-year-old boy and his father have found themselves living with the "enemy", an Israeli family in Ramat Gan, a town bordering Tel Aviv.
Sayed Murannakh and his five-year-old son, Muhammad (known as Hamady), had come to Israel from Gaza after Hamady was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Sayed had lobbied the Israeli government for permission to have his son treated in Israel, where the facilities are far superior to those in Gaza.
When Hamady's treatment finally began in the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center last May, an Israeli woman, Ruth Mueller, 55, was making daily visits there to her niece, who had been injured in a car crash. "I noticed that Sayed never left Hamady's side," she says. "He was absolutely devoted to him and I could see there was a very special bond between them." It wasn't long before they got chatting. Hamady spoke no Hebrew but Sayed, who had worked as an electrician on building sites throughout Israel before they stopped giving work permits to Palestinians, spoke the language fluently.
Due to the recent violent incursions, movement of Palestinians out of Gaza into Israel is virtually impossible. All Palestinians in Israel are considered a security risk, so Sayed and Hamady were closely monitored. During the surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment they were instructed to remain within the hospital at all times. So Ruth began to meet with them every day, bringing with her small gifts for Hamady from the outside world.
By the time Ruth's niece had been discharged from hospital, such a strong bond had developed between the threesome that Ruth continued to visit every day. "My family told me I was crazy to go all the time but I felt I'd started something and wanted to see it through," she says. "I would spend two or three hours playing with Hamady and talking to Sayed about our families, what had happened in the news, all kinds of things. As strangers in my country, I wanted to welcome them. Sayed had left his wife and six other children behind for an indefinite period in order to save Hamady's life."
However, at the end of November last year, following a visit back to Gaza to see their family between treatments, Sayed and Hamady lost their hospital room. For a while it looked as if the entire treatment process would be in jeopardy, until Ruth stepped forward and offered them a place to stay in her small three-bedroom flat. "I invited them to move in with us," she says. "I don't know what my neighbours thought about us moving two Palestinians into our home, but what I do in my flat is my own business." Over time, the rest of Ruth's family – her husband, Steven, and their children aged 16, 24 and 26 – have also became deeply involved.
"Of course it's been very upsetting to see Hamady so sick, but Sayed has got used to that and so have we," says Ruth. "It has become part of his life and part of our lives too. At the moment Hamady is well, but we don't know what the future holds."
Sayed has taken great care throughout the gruelling treatment to explain to Hamady what is going on. "He has been incredibly brave throughout," says Sayed. "He is a long way from home, but he is always very co-operative." Every night after the hospital visits Hamady falls asleep on Ruth's sofa, clutching Sayed's hand.
The harmonious union of the two sides, especially in the light of current bloodshed, is so unprecedented that Ruth got a visit from Fredi Gruber, of Israel's Channel 1 TV station, who featured them all on a news programme a fortnight ago. "There's a process of demonisation of Arabs," says Gruber. "We are talking about 1.5m people in Gaza who are all different from each other. You can't label them all as terrorists.
"What has happened here shows that a humanistic approach is also an option – there is a way for Israelis to live in peace with Palestinians. The Muellers are a typical Israeli family, they're not big political activists. Dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians is one thing but for an Israeli family to move a Palestinian father and son into their living-room for several months is quite another."
Ruth is more matter of fact about the situation. "We share the same ideology," she says simply. "Sayed is a true peace lover and so am I. We both seek to solve problems not in a violent way." Living under one roof has proved to be a harmonious experience that the leaders of the Israeli government and Hamas could perhaps pick up tips from.
"Sayed is a darling. If I say I'm going to do the washing-up or make a cup of tea he jumps up to do it before I can," says Ruth. "It is a heavy burden looking after a sick child by yourself and with this arrangement Sayed has been able to share that burden."
This week, Hamady's treatment comes to an end and father and son are soon due to head home. Although it is too early to say what the long-term outlook is, in the short term Sayed is unequivocal: "Without doubt this treatment has saved his life. It has been such an enormous help living here."
And has the escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza caused problems in their relationship? "Not at all," they both reply. "We are both anti-war and peace-loving. When we see on the news that people are dying in the conflict, it hurts us both, no matter which side they're on."
"Living with the 'enemy' is an experience I never thought I'd have, but it shows that like-minded people can live together in peace. even if they come from opposing cultures," says Ruth. "You can gain so much from other people if your mind is open."
Tags: arabs, co-existance, jews
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on -
The story and millions of others like it (and I have a few here in Bethlehem area that I could share) should end the nonsense we keep hearing about "we can't live together" "they are savages", "good fences make good neighbors", and "us here, them there". It is time to shed the ideologies of separation, political Zionism, political Islamism, racism, and all the other isms that keep us apart. Let us also finally shed the concept of nationalism and bring in citizenship instead.
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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Dear Adam: Indeed it is sad that there are some even on this forum who continue to think we must wait for other parts of the world to shed their hate and tribalism and get along before we do. This despite all the evidence that thsi might be the last place on earth where people cling to those stupidities so adamantly. While I am optimistic, we should all work to speed up the process since every day in the life of this apartheid that is shortened or if we get there a bit earlier, we would have saved countless lives (daily people are dying here or at least not fully living).
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on -
Mazin, I will not argue with the wording, because I think the urgency to make things right is here.
we should all work to speed up the process since every day in the life of this violence-dance that is shortened or if we get there a bit earlier, we would have saved countless lives (daily people are dying here or at least not fully living).
this is what important.
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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I agree Neri. So let us work to get there based on minimal thinsg we agree on. Can we agree to adopt the Universal Dedclaration of Human Righst as a real road map to (at least) our peace work? If we agree to that, can we unequivocally then condemn actions that violate it and work together to pressure those who do (at least in our back yards). For example for me, I work to pressure the Palestinian "authority" and the Israeli government (the opccupiers) to adopt more just policies and abandon policies of oppression.
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on
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I do not think that Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a road map, it is a goal of the properties we wish our human society will have.
I think that path we need to go is complex and many communities within us are not ready for full Declaration of Human Rights because they do not have the capacity (just think of woman liberation in Hamas community)
because we have clear Gap between the two societies the stages to develop and society with full adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights needs a separation phase and different investments in Palestine and in Israel. this is not a work to abandon policies of oppression as we wish it to be.
(any case, you do not try hard enough with Israel, when you continue using word-war as (the occupiers) to convince them to adopt more just policies. you need to review your way of pressure if you wish results )
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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Neri: Human rights like virginity is not a gray zone. If women are oppressed by some fundamentalists somewhere (whether in Orthodox Jewish, Christian, or Muslim communities) then you and I need to stop it. Ditto for right s of residency, refugees, marriage laws, return etc. We cannot remain in the zone of moral relativism. And ofcurse we have to have benchmarks and yardsticks,. THe Univesral Declaration of Human Rights is as good as any since all governments signed it and claim to support it (even Israel).
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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"Smadar": First, I am not a muslim. Second, South African apartheid apologists used to say the same thing (how many Black african countries are respecting human rights or are democratic). The answer to this racist attitude is obvious to anyone who uses neurons for thinking. And it is really pittiful that you are trying to change the subject. Third, If you are really interested in helping Palestinian women, please come to Palestine and I can introduce you to feminists here that you can work with to advance women's rights. But if you are merely interested in scoring points, I am afraid your arrows missed by a mile.
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Permalink Reply by MaidservantX on -
There are very few people in this world who work as hard as Mazin does on a daily basis in the real world for the things he believes in. Mazin is a person who acts.
We don't have to agree on every point in order to be people that understand one another and get along. Perfect agreement isn't peace. We can all refine our ideas by communicating. I hope to continue to hear what you believe in, Smadar, I have been impressed by some of your comments.
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Permalink Reply by HYaari on -
Neri, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is far from being universal. It is, in fact, rejected by most Arab and Muslim states since it contains elements that are considered hostile to Islam.
http://europenews.dk/en/node/3847
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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HYaari: You distort again
according to the UN http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/fs2.htm
As at 30 September 1995, the Covenant had been ratified or acceded to by 132 States:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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