You could not make this stuff up. And who would want to?
On Thursday, May 28, a Coexistence Hug day was held in Jerusalem. It is an annual event in which those who support co-existence between Arabs and Jews walk around Jerusalem holding hands and celebrating togetherhood.
Seth Frantzman, the oped editor and features writer for the Jerusalem Post, attended the event. He was grooving on the good vibes and taking lovely pictures of the young Arabs practicing their Parkour moves (Parkour, for the uninformed, is a creative movement art form, focusing on efficiently getting from one point to another.)
Frantzman explained that the event attracted at least 250 Arabs from outside of Jerusalem who obtained permission from the Israeli authorities to attend. Several of these non-Israeli Arabs wore “Jerusalem Hug” t-shirts.
Sadly, as Frantzman related, while this effort at co-existence was taking place, several “anti-normalization” Arabs from East Jerusalem sought to break up the event. The anti-normalization thugs oppose any efforts by Arabs to engage with Israelis in any way. The thugs were pushing and harassing the participants, and arguing with them for attending the event.
Frantzman was socked in the face, and some people fled, but police showed up and two of the instigators were arrested.