I have wanted to setup a website to acknowledge all the assistance Israeli & Jewish NGOs have been giving to Syrians for a while now, but frankly I was a bit wary of the political climate in Turkey. The recent moves by the two countries to reconcile provided an opportunity. For years when I was in Syria I’d hear of the medical assistance Israeli medical teams in the Golan were providing to wounded Syrians, and it seems like every week I come across stories of Jewish and Israeli organizations and individuals helping Syrian refugees. We Syrians have few friends left in the world. We are in no position to reciprocate the help given to us by Israeli aid volunteers, but at the very least we can say “thank you”. The website is a way of saying thank you to all the Israeli and Jewish aid volunteers who take great risks to help my people, despite having many reasons not to get involved.
2. What kind of reactions did you receive?
I was surprised that many Arabs messaged me privately and actually lent their support and encouragement to the initiative. I kept getting messages along the lines of “you are right, thanks for saying it so openly, but I hope nothing bad happens to you because of it!” In recent months I have noticed a significant shift in the tone of Syrians online. It is no longer taboo to acknowledge the humanity and compassion that Israel has shown to Syrians. Back in 2014, the Syrian political opposition frantically denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was photographed with wounded Syrians in an Israeli field hospital. Now, no one would bat an eyelid.
3. What was the most remarkable experience you personally had with Israelis?
I have actually only ever met one Israeli in person, Dr Nir Boms. A wonderful friend. I think the most amazing moment for me was when I talked by telephone to Syrians being treated in an Israeli hospital in the north of Israel. The Syrians were receiving cancer treatment and limb replacements. I was astonished to hear of the very high level world class care they were getting at the hospital. Some of the world’s best doctors in limb replacement were caring for them.
4. Did it change your personal perception of Israel and Israelis ?
Absolutely. I grew up in Saudi Arabia and did my university studies in Jordan. All my life I was told that Israelis and Arabs were in perpetual, never ending conflict until the Day of Judgment. I was actually taught in Saudi schools that trees and rocks would exhort Muslims to kill Jews!
Well, fast forward to 2012, right after I had to abandon my home in Homs because of a savage Syrian Army assault on my neighborhood. I was now a displaced person because of what Hizbollah and the Iranians and the Syrian Army had done to my people. The so called “axis of resistance” had turned me into a refugee. The people who I had been told were my friends turned out to be my enemies.
After that, one starts to reexamine every political assumption one has held throughout their life. Israelis have shown a tremendous amount of goodwill towards Syrians, despite having every valid reason and excuse under the sun to keep the humanitarian crisis at arm’s length, as so many other countries have done. Israel is doing exactly the right thing, staying out of the conflict in Syria while helping wounded Syrians.
Any conflict can be resolved if there is enough goodwill, and heaven knows there is no rational reason for Syrians and Israelis to be adversaries. What source of contention is there between our people? The Golan? Compared to other issues in the Middle East, the Golan is one of the easiest issues to resolve one way or another if there is enough goodwill, and Israelis have demonstrated a huge amount of goodwill towards my people.
Someday the war in Syria will end, as all wars do, and on that day I don’t want Syrians to be involved in unnecessary conflicts. It makes as little sense for us to be enemies with Israel as it would to be enemies with Germany or Italy or France.
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