Simple – we are at war with the Arabs…even, to our sorrow, with many of the Arabs that live within our borders, and even some that carry Israeli ID cards. Outside my office window at this moment, is Halal…he greets me every morning, we speak of his work and his family. He listens while I complain about the horrible way this building is maintained and I thank you daily for doing what he can to make it nicer. This is the way it should be…but it isn’t the way it is.
In the midst of war, a Jew cannot safely walk into most Arab neighborhoods. It’s hit or miss whether the Jew will walk out unharmed. Two days ago, firefighters rushed to put out a fire in a building…and were bombarded with rocks. The trains travel through Arab neighborhoods and are stoned on almost a daily basis. In a normal world, people don’t throw stones at firetrucks, ambulances and passenger trains – most especially, firetrucks that come to their neighborhood to help, ambulances that are helping their neighbors, and trains that they use daily to get to work, medical treatment, etc.
Without hesitation, once again, my son walked into a situation where he was surrounded by Arabs (yes, Arab girls, but also their parents and school workers and others). It isn’t fair to brush this off as normal in a place where normal is so different than other places. How many Arab countries flew rescue workers to help in Nepal?
One hundred percent of the first responders that ran into that school to help those Arab girls were Jewish and they didn’t hesitate.