17/04/2024
While the world, and those of us in Israel, the Holy Land focus on the recent Iranian missile attack and the tragic consequences of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, I want to share about a remarkable Israeli-Palestinian interfaith Ramadan dinner and gathering last week April 9th. We were 150 people - Palestinians from East Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah, Israeli Jews from Jerusalem, Ariel and central Israel, hosted by the Samaritans in their village of Grizim on the sacred mountain of Har Bracha- Mount of Blessings, overlooking Nablus/Shechem.
It was the first face gathering of Israelis and Palestinians since the Simchat Torah massacre and subsequent Gaza War (and humanitarian disaster). The local Samaritan community and restaurant hosted us for the meal (and we brought in mehadrin kosher meals for some of us). I was the Israeli coordinator, and the event was sponsored by Children of Abraham USA. I offered the Muslims a blessing on their Ramadan meal and spoke the upcoming Rosh Hodesh (New Month) Nissan and the Pesach holy day, as a chance to re-build connections severely strained currently war. I spoke as the Jewish leader, together with Sheikh Abdel Hakim Saleem, the mukhtar of the Domari (Gypsy) Muslim community from Jerusalem's Old City, and Yakov Jac Samri, a Samaritian peace activist. We didn't talk politics, but rather rejoiced just at the chance to eat, drink, and be human together.
It seemed almost impossible to pull off this event and at this location, given the current situation, but we did. The Samaritan village of Grizim is one of the few places in Samaria/the West Bank, in Area C, where Israelis and Palestinians can freely enter and leave - one side from the direction of the Har Bracha community/settlement, the other from Nablus. The Samaritans including our hosts all have two names, one in Hebrew, one in Arabic, and they shared the history and unique story of their unique village and offered to always help serve as a bridge between their cousins - their fellow Israelite family- Israeli Jews, and Abrahamic family, Palestinian Muslims.
Thanks to Muhammad J. for organizing, and for the brave souls, my Israeli and Palestinian friends willing to show up at this difficult time, and our incredibly gracious Samaritan hosts.
Jamous believes that the Iftar meal and the petition are not at all the culmination of his efforts, but rather merely a first step in creating a strong Palestinian-Israeli peace movement.
