Acts of vandalism and graffiti have been on the rise against both Jews and Arabs throughout Israel, as of late.
In response to anti-Arab graffiti and vandalism that has repeatedly hit the Northern Israeli-Arab town of Shfaram, 100 Israeli-Arab students decided the proper response would be to fix up the ancient synagogue in the town, according to a report on Israel’s Channel 2.
The directors of the project said, “This is our answer to the extremists who are trying to destroy the [Jewish-Arab] coexistence in our country.”
The Shul dates back to at least the early 1800’s, and possibly even earlier than that. The town was populated with Jews until the 1970’s, when the last Jewish family left the town.
The town of Shfaram became famous in 2005, when AWOL IDF soldier Eden Natan-Zada shot up a bus of Israeli-Arabs from Shfaram, killing 4 people and wounding 12. After being captured by police, he was lynched by Shfaram’s residents.
Some youths at the time wanted to also destroy the shul, but the mayor of the town forbade it.
One can certainly hope that this latest act and mindset of coexistence spreads wider.