Hebrew Humanity… Healing the Haters

The world may not know or have not heard of the wonder of wonders of Israel.  An Arab man from Palestine, seriously ill, sought medical treatment in Israel at the Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah.

But this man is no ordinary man. He is Saeb Erekat, second in command to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, and chief negotiator between Palestine and Israel as the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

He is a major Palestinian diplomat who hates Israel, who condemns our settlers and settlements and who decries and denounces President Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Erekat has been suffering for some time with a very serious lung disease…pulmonary fibrosis… and went to the United States for treatment. The medication did not help and the American doctors informed him that he required a lung transplant and without it he would die.

So  to where did the diplomatic hater of Israel turn?  Ironically, to his sworn enemy, the State of Israel, renowned for its humanity and its offer to help heal even those who hate us.

O people of Israel… arise. Wake up. Open your eyes. Behold another miracle on this festival of miracles on the soil where miracles first began. Sing praises to our government, to our medical experts, to our hospital personnel, who attend to the care of Saeb Erekat while he awaits a lung transplant.

It would even be more ironical if the lung he may receive comes from an Israeli Jew !

Erekat’s health situation is extremely serious, without any doubt. Lacking a new lung he will certainly die. But Hebrew humanity will do everything possible to add years to his life in order that he may continue to condemn us and wage verbal war against us.

I wonder if, in 1938, Adolf Hitler could have received medical treatment from Jewish doctors at the Jewish Hospital of Berlin.

Citizens of Israel… be proud of our country and of our humaneness and good will.

Our religion teaches us to extend help and care to the ill and needy, regardless of whom they may be. Man is created in the Image of God and Jews are required to treat His creations in time of need.

Saeb Erekat is a distinguished Palestinian politician, fluent in English and Hebrew, who has represented the yet- unborn State of Palestine in conferences and meetings at the United Nations, the European Commission, at unsuccessful peace negotiations with Israeli officials, and has travelled world-wide to advance the plans for the establishment of a state for the Palestinian people. He is a very intelligent man and a proud spokesman for them.

Erekat was born in 1955 in the Abu Dis neighborhood of East Jerusalem which was occupied by Jordan. He received both a B.A. and an M.A. degrees in political science from San Francisco State University in California and went on to complete a Ph.D. in peace and conflict issues from Bradford University in England.  Those peace and conflict issues are still waiting to be resolved.

Following completion of his doctoral studies, he returned to the West Bank and became a professor of political science at An-Najah University in Nablus.

And yet, with all his skilled training in political and peace issues, he has failed in his efforts to negotiate an acceptable peace agreement with Israel.

Perhaps, as he lies on his bed in Beilinson Hospital, hopefully in a VIP room, he may reflect on the Hebrew humanity and healing care which he is receiving from his enemies.

Perhaps, if he survives his illness, it will enable him to continue searching for the hidden road to peace.