Israeli Jews living in the so-called “West Bank” are painted as intractably hostile toward the local Palestinian Arab population, and vice versa. But the reality is very often far different.
Take for instance the terrorist shooting attack on the roads of Judea earlier this month, when Rabbi Michael Mark was killed and his family wounded by Palestinian gunmen.
The first person on the scene was a Palestinian passerby who quickly extracted the Mark children from their crashed vehicle.
The next to stop was Dr. Ali Abu Sharach, a Palestinian doctor, who, along with his nurse wife, did not hesitate to administer life-saving first aid to the wounded Israeli Jewish children.
Last week, two Israeli medical organizations publicly honored Dr. Abu Sharach for his selfless actions.
Hatzalah Yehuda Shomron, a volunteer paramedic organization, and the Saving Without Borders, both of which are “settler” organizations, noted that they both often treat Palestinian Arabs, and to find Palestinians like Dr. Abu Sharach who do the same speaks volumes regarding hopes for coexistence.
Saving Without Borders rewarded Dr. Abu Sharach by providing him thousands of dollars worth of portable emergency medical equipment, after learning that he had had no choice but to treat the Mark children with nothing but his bare hands.
Originally posted at Israel Today Magazine.
