Non belligerent
Winter 2002, Israel.
Outside it's wartime; the news is of the blood spilled. Mostly civilians from both sides suffer from the conflict, though it's my one year old son who has brought me to Jerusalem. His asthma is worsening, and the doctor tells us he must be kept in the hospital to monitor his breathing. We bring him to Hadassah Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus), where he'll spend two days. The hospital is near the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a confluence of the Arab and Jewish quarters of the city.
The contrast with the exterior is staggering. Outside, Jews and Arabs are killing one another, and religious and secular Israelis are clashing. At Hadassah, there is but one enemy: human affliction.
Jews and Arabs, the religious and the secular, men and women, are all here, be it to comfort, or to be comforted. The hospital is leading another war, the only one truly worth fighting, against sickness and pain. Amongst the usual crowd of patients, Jews, victims of bombings are cared for by Arab doctors, and wounded Arabs are tended to by Jewish doctors from neighboring colonies. There is tension, of course, although it is put it aside for now.
We spend some time with my son in the playroom of the pediatric center. There, there is a woman dressed in black, head covered by a veil, with her daughter by her side. Our children begin to play together, and we smile at one another. This is the extent of our exchange. I don't speak Arabic; she doesn't speak Hebrew. Our children's illnesses are what allow us to forget that we are enemies.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is apparently too complex that good will, alone, might resolve it. The differences are too great; the resentment is far too deep rooted.
And yet…
Yet, Hadassah has succeeded in the tour de force.
Temporarily, of course...
Once brought back to his feet, each will take back his place in the conflict. With this important difference: His vision of his counterpart will necessarily have been altered.
His adversary will have been granted a face.
Hadassah,
non-belligerent...
Outside it's wartime; the news is of the blood spilled. Mostly civilians from both sides suffer from the conflict, though it's my one year old son who has brought me to Jerusalem. His asthma is worsening, and the doctor tells us he must be kept in the hospital to monitor his breathing. We bring him to Hadassah Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus), where he'll spend two days. The hospital is near the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a confluence of the Arab and Jewish quarters of the city.
The contrast with the exterior is staggering. Outside, Jews and Arabs are killing one another, and religious and secular Israelis are clashing. At Hadassah, there is but one enemy: human affliction.
Jews and Arabs, the religious and the secular, men and women, are all here, be it to comfort, or to be comforted. The hospital is leading another war, the only one truly worth fighting, against sickness and pain. Amongst the usual crowd of patients, Jews, victims of bombings are cared for by Arab doctors, and wounded Arabs are tended to by Jewish doctors from neighboring colonies. There is tension, of course, although it is put it aside for now.
We spend some time with my son in the playroom of the pediatric center. There, there is a woman dressed in black, head covered by a veil, with her daughter by her side. Our children begin to play together, and we smile at one another. This is the extent of our exchange. I don't speak Arabic; she doesn't speak Hebrew. Our children's illnesses are what allow us to forget that we are enemies.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is apparently too complex that good will, alone, might resolve it. The differences are too great; the resentment is far too deep rooted.
And yet…
Yet, Hadassah has succeeded in the tour de force.
Temporarily, of course...
Once brought back to his feet, each will take back his place in the conflict. With this important difference: His vision of his counterpart will necessarily have been altered.
His adversary will have been granted a face.
Hadassah,
non-belligerent...
