Native Galilean Now Sees Arabs Differently
- Guy Cohen
- Dec 1, 2022
- 3 min read
Harvest of Asher
Akko, Israel
Orthodox Judaism influences a large portion of the population, well beyond its observant adherents. As a case in point, many Israelis who do not wear a kippah or consider themselves to be religious, still voted for the rightwing Religious Zionist political party in the recent Israeli elections.
On the other side of the political spectrum, we have the liberal political parties emphasizing personal freedom, tending towards a “do whatever feels right to you” attitude in all areas of society, but especially in the realm of sexuality and homosexuality.
Personally, I grew up in a traditional Orthodox Jewish environment in the Galilee. My view of non-Jews, including Arabs, was to lump them all into the same negative and inferior category. It was not necessarily hatred, more as if I belonged to an elite portion of society. I considered myself much better than those “pagans” outside my group and did not want to associate with them.
After I came to faith in Yeshua, I became more open to Arabs, as fellow Israeli citizens and to their culture and language. In addition, when I was a young man I got a job working at the Palm Beach Hotel in southern Akko. There were many Arabs employed there and as we worked together, I began to see that the differences between us were not so great. They too have been living here for many generations and we will not do to them what was done to us in Europe, and in the Holocaust. After all, caring for the “foreigner in your midst,” is one of the commandments of the Torah (Leviticus 19:34).
However, sometimes it gets complicated, when that “foreigner,” includes portions of the Bedouin population in the Negev Desert in the south who have become a lawless society, trafficking drugs, stolen IDF weapons, etc. There are also extensive mafia-type Arab Israeli gangs in central and northern Israel. They hold great numbers of illegal weapons and extort money from Arab businesses. Innocent Israeli Arab bystanders are killed almost weekly due to internal violence. The peace-abiding majority of Israeli Arab citizens is desperate for these waves of crime and violence to be controlled. They are entreating the (Jewish) Israeli police force and the army to do whatever it takes to solve the problem.
Many believe that a liberal government with more moderate policies such as we recently had, is not as likely to solve these problems. Therefore, in the November 1st elections many young Israelis around the age of military service perceived the liberal approach as tying their hands and exposing them to unnecessary danger while letting crime escalate. So they elected a clear right-wing majority they felt could solve these problems. There is hope that the new government will have a chance for some stability and longevity following four years during which razor-thin government coalitions fell apart, again and again.
In truth, the ultimate solution will not be found in a stronger police force nor improvements to our democratic form of government. What we really need is a heart change – a new heart and a new spirit placed in us by Yeshua Himself! Then true change will come.
As a teenager, I used to write off Arabs just as right wing politicians do today, thinking it would be better if they were not here. Today, when I see an Arab, I see someone created in the image of God for His glory. My perspective changed because my heart was transformed by Yeshua, the King of Israel, which I hope and pray will happen to all.
