Ignorance is NOT bliss!

I was just at the supermarket doing my pre-Shabbat shop — and as everyone knows that queuing for the cashier at Supersol requires a heavy handful of painkillers on a Thursday night here, I chose to go to the self-service checkout.

Me being me, and hopeless at most technical things, I obviously got stuck quite a few times — and asked the Arab supervisor there to help me out.

She kindly assisted me in putting the rest of my shopping through: we chatted about the picture of my kids on my phone; shared a joke about the cost of mushrooms; shook our heads in despair at the length of the queues — all in all, she made my shopping experience far better than I would have expected on a crowded Thursday night.

And I was angry.

Why? Because literally most of the world couldn’t care less that there ARE Muslims and Jews in Israel who want peace — that people DO live ordinary lives here, and get on with each other, and share civil conversation with each other.

Eight months ago I gave birth in Meir, a hospital in Kfar Saba with an equal number of Jewish and Israeli Arab patients. It was wonderful to see Arab and Israeli women being treated EXACTLY THE SAME; Jewish and Muslim babies being treated EXACTLY THE SAME; nurses and doctors of all cultures being treated EXACTLY THE SAME.
Why on earth can’t the international news community make a documentary in an Israeli hospital, showing the positive aspects of living side-by-side?

Because unless there is a chance to show Israel in a bad light, basically no one gives a crap. So many people in this world are so intent on criticizing Israel, they couldn’t care less about the fact that the lovely Israeli Arab lady who helped me tonight, is treated so much better by Jewish people in Israel than she would be anywhere else in the Middle East.

I’m asking all my friends on Facebook, Jewish and non-Jewish, to actually take the time to LEARN THE FACTS before you start spouting ignorant rubbish that you have picked up from anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist news channels, websites and papers.

Yes, feel free to have your free speech and offer your opinions — but for pity’s sake, at least bother to learn about the socio-dynamic situation here, before you start criticisng Israel, boycotting their products, and bandying about ridiculous statements such as ‘apartheid state.’

Please please PLEASE educate yourselves on what actually goes on here – because if you don’t, the hatred just spreads. There are too many people in this world that have allowed their anti-Israel views to grow due to sheer ignorance — please don’t let yourself be one of them.