Huwara, an Arab town located five miles south of Shechem, right on Rt. 60 connecting Shechem to Ramallah and Jerusalem, is the last place you’d find a poster boy for the settlement movement such as Ezri Tubi of Yitzhar striking a friendship with a local Arab businessman. And yet, there you have it.
Tubi, who passes through the Arab town a lot, had been struck by the permanent sight of Hassan, whose Hookah store is on Rt. 60, dancing merrily on the sidewalk outside his store. He checked him out and sat down to a conversation that revolved around both men’s love for Mizrachi Israeli music. They also talked politics, which came down to the effect of Arab stone throwing on Israeli shoppers’ traffic (bad); and Hassan’s inquiry as to why settlers throw stones at their Arab neighbors (because the Arab neighbors throw stones on them).
We’d like to see Tubi produce one of these a week – he has a great talent for reaching out and listening to the other side, a very rare commodity these days.