Coexistence in a hospital room - by Mike Levine

[Nannette]

One morning, during a brief stay at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, the nurses and a doctor rolled a new patient into our four-bed room. He was an Arab.

The patient, it turned out, was a medical Doctor from Gaza, the director of a clinic which treats about 1,500 people a month, you name it, everything from a runny nosed baby to gunshot wounds.

Fifty three years of age, he was facing quadruple bypass surgery to replace arteries totally blocked and worn out. He was admitted two days early to fortify him with fluids, anti-biotics, and medications before the operation.

His brother, who planned to stay with him, sleeping in a chair during the entire hospital stay, is a school principal, well educated, erudite, caring, and communicative.

He and I had several interesting, in-depth discussions about relations between Jews and Arabs.

We basically agreed that:

1. Biblically and genetically we are cousins.
2. There is no reason most of us cant get along.
3. There is enough of everything -- land, food, water -- for both peoples.
4. The Arab attitudes toward Jews must change.
5. The leadership of both sides have made many mistakes.
6. We were glad Arafat was gone.
7. We can all live in peace if the haters and killers are eliminated.
8. Cooperation will bring great benefits to both sides.
9. We are both tired of this war that has dragged on for 100 years.

I was curious how someone from Gaza, a hotbed of anti-Israeli terrorism, could manage to get himself admitted into a hospital in Jerusaslem.

He told me that there never was hostility between most of the doctors in Gaza and their colleagues in Israel, that in fact, there was constant communication, and that Israeli medical people had often shipped medical supplies and medicines when Gaza had shortages, which was often. He told of numerous children sent to Israel for treatment and surgery impossible to do in Gaza, and that there never was a charge for anything!

Now when was the last time you saw that reported on CNN, or BBC, or in your daily newspaper? When did you hear Kofi Annan stand up in the UN and talk about this?

He told me that most of the educated people in Gaza were more than ready to live in peace with us, but that they were afraid to speak out, fearing the fate of "collaborators" execution.

What he feared most, he told me, was what would happen the moment the Israeli army left Gaza following the expulsion of the Jews of Gaza! That terrorist groups, Hamas, Jihad, Fatah, Hezbollah, and others were already amassing huge stocks of arms and explosives, most brought in from Egypt, taking advantage of the temporary lull in fighting to build hundreds of Kassem rockets, bigger and more accurate ones, that were now being infiltrated into Samaria and Judea (west bank), close to most Israeli population centers.

In his eyes, a much larger, more deadly Intifadah was on its way following Sharon's abandonment of Gaza.

I asked why his family don't all stay in Israel, something they might be able to arrange because of his brothers connections. He said they had discussed it, but his brother would not leave his patients without medical care, and the rest of the family would not abandon the brother.

The next morning, when it was time for me to leave the hospital, we hugged tightly, silently, one Arab, one Jew, each lost in thoughts of what could have been, what might yet be, but tragically is not now.

http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/5135.htm
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He who is merciful with the cruel, will end-up being cruel to the merciful
- Kohelet Rabba 7:16

[Levi]

If Abbafat doesn't stop his murderous goons in Gaza, there certainly will be more dead on both sides, many innocent people. Those who do not wish to die in Gaza should move out and go back to their countries of origin or simply flee.

[Nannette]

All Israeli Arabs who hate Israel should move to Gaza and all Gazans who like Israel should move there... it's a fair population swap!
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He who is merciful with the cruel, will end-up being cruel to the merciful
- Kohelet Rabba 7:16