On Friday, members of the so called "Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades" shot a young man jogging in East Jerusalem. They drove by in a car, opened their windows and gunned him down in what they called a "response to the arrests and murders carried out by the Israeli Army." They thought they had taken out an Israeli settler.
They were wrong. The victim of this terrible attack was George Khoury, a 21 year old Palestinian, an Arab-Christian, carrying an Israeli passport. He was the son of a well known Arab lawyer, Elias Khoury, in Jerusalem who has often argued on behalf of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in cases involving land disputes with Israel.
George Khoury graduated two years ago from the Anglican International School in Jerusalem, where - according to the NY Times - his class had fewer than 20 students but was remarkably diverse. It included Christians and Jews from the United States and other countries, Palestinian Muslims, and Israeli Arab Christians, like Mr. Khoury. He was also a second year student in economics and International Relations. He had participated in several workshops on religious tolerance in Great Britain and Germany.
People like him, from my point of you represent the best chance for peace the Middle East has got.
When Al Aksa learned about their "mistake", they published a rare apology, defending the right to kill Jews but calling George Khoury a "martyr" in their terrorist war against Israeli occupation. Al Aksa leaders as well as Jassir Arafat called his family to apologize. The father reacted by calling the shooting "barbaric" and - according to the Guardian - by stating "Terrorism is blind, it does not discriminate between Jews and Arabs, or between the good and bad."
Even though it seems today more unlikely than ever, I hope freedom an justice will prevail and at that one point young people can go jogging in Israel and Palestine regardless their religion or citizenship. Israel and the Palestinians need more not less people who are able to build bridges between the enemies.
I never knew George Khoury personally, but my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
May he rest in peace.
George Khoury was buried on Sunday on the Mount Zion cemetery. The ceremony was attended by thousands of Arabs and Jews.
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