What I saw in Hadassah Hospital today brought me back quite a few years to my military reserve duty in the hills of Hebron. At the time I was part of a team that patrolled the roads and towns of the southern Mount Hebron area. It was during that tour of duty that I witnessed something that surprised and horrified me and has since been embedded in my memory.
Frequently we would find the bodies of Arabs left in front of the main gate of our base. Some were dead and others were badly maimed pleading for help. Our commander explained that these were the victims of family feuds and honor killings and that the Arabs saw the Jews as the address to "clean up the mess" I tried to make sense of these scenes.
Did this provide a peek into Arab society and at the same time how they see the "other", the (hated?) Jew? On the one hand, we were their address for help and sanity, and on the other, we were attacked by the same people. It was confusing.
This memory came back to me today in Hadassah Hospital where I accompanied my mother to the hospital for a check-up. Lying next to her was a young Arab man in pretty bad shape. Some of his family were sitting next to him with worried expressions. I looked on sympathetically and finally asked (in Arabic - which always opens doors) what happened? It was what I had suspected. The older man with him told me he was involved in a brawl. I asked, over what?
With a look of sad resignation, he said that it is the month of Ramadan fasting makes people irritated and lose control. I looked at him wanting to discuss the role of a holy month that is supposed to enhance and encourage the best in us but it was not the right time or place. I think he read my thoughts. I did ask him why he thought there is a well-known problem of Arab violence in Israel. Is it similar in neighboring Arab countries, I asked?
He said it is not as bad in those countries because there, the police and courts are very tough. And here, I asked? Look around this room I pointed out. Jews are helping Arabs even though Arabs hate Jews.
Jews employ and enrich and educate Arabs and the Arabs demonize the Jews. What would happen, I asked if there was no Jewish state, Jewish hospitals, and government. He murmured," We would kill each other out".Arab society lives by its own rules, he explained.
They don't respect the police or symbols of Israeli authority. (I know many Jews like myself who also don't have much respect for the police but still are not violent)But still, I pressed, why is there not similar violence among Jews? With an embarrassed look, he said, "It comes from the home”.
I was not going to discuss with him the inner workings of the Arab home. I think I know.
Not far from there, I passed by another Arab; this one was an employee. Again, I used the opportunity to gain some insights. She told me something I have heard from many other Arabs who try to explain the violence. She said that Islam and the Koran encourage peace and nonviolence and that too many Arabs simply are not good Muslims. (I did not want to quote from the Koran; the source of much of the hate)Similarly, I am often told by Christians that two thousand years of persecution and hate did not represent "real" Christians. (Again, like the Koran the "New Testament" is where it all began).
In the cab, on our way home I continued my private seminar on Arab culture. The driver was a nice Arab man. I found it interesting that during the ride he received a call from a Jewish colleague who pleaded with him to keep an eye on his children and grandchildren and that they do not do anything stupid in these "difficult days". He assured them that they are well behaved and staying out of trouble.
One is "even a manager at a Mcdonald's in Tel Aviv", he proudly said. So I posed the same question to him and received similar answers. After discussing Arab-on-Arab violence I asked him about violence against their Jewish neighbors and benefactors. He didn't answer immediately.
Having no other answer (that he wanted to share with me I imagine) he mumbled it was about "Al Aqsa mosque (on Temple Mount)"He didn't sound very confident. What I understood from his answer was, "That's the way it is and always will be. There is nothing to be done.
In the famous Greek fable, the scorpion's life is saved when he rides on the back of the frog across the water. When the scorpion stings the frog in mid-stream and both are about to die, the frog gives a last incredulous look and asks the logical question; why? The answer: Sorry, I am a scorpion. That is what I do.
What I relearned today in Hadassah connected the dots directly to my first bewildered experience years ago on patrol in the Hebron Hills. I thought then, are we really oil and water that will never mix?
How well do frogs and scorpions live together? How long should one try to recreate a scorpion into something else?
Defying the wisdom and experience of the Greeks, we the scorpion to ride our backs as we trusted common sense; like the frog. How many thousands of times has the scorpion stung since(Oslo)?Oh, but it's only a Greek myth.
If one does not want to learn from the wisdom of Greek mythology, visit the Hadassah Hospital, look around, and strike up a conversation.
tour guide and author, "Jews, Israelis and Arabs"
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