A very much-needed positive story about Jews and Arabs is circulating social media today.
Liz Dwyer with TakePart.com writes about an Israeli restaurant in the small village of Kfar Vitkin, which is offering a 50% discount to Arabs and Jews
who dine together. The restaurant is called
The Hummus Bar and here is an amazing quote by the cafe's management:
“Scared of Arabs? Scared of Jews? With us there are no Arabs, but also no Jews. With us there are people!” posted the restaurant in Hebrew on Facebook, according to a translation from The Independent. Along with an atmosphere that welcomes people from both backgrounds, the café has “genuine excellent Arabic hummus! And Jewish, excellent praiseworthy falafel with free refill on every hummus, whether you're Arabs, Jews, Christians or Indians.”
The story is winning over social media. This act of kindness was prompted by the recent extreme violence, which has once again erupted between Israelis and Palestinians. During October, there have been over 40 Palestinians and at least eight Israelis reported killed in the violence. And this past week an innocent
African migrant, Haptom Zerhom, 29, was mistaken for an Arab attacker and brutally murdered by an angry Israeli mob. The situation is extremely intolerable out of control.
On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed to the region in the hopes of diffusing the latest round of tensions. "Violence only begets violence," he said, reported NBC News. "We must not allow extremists on either side, or those who think violence is the answer, to further fuel the conflict…. This conflict has gone on for far too long. We must, for the future of our children, turn back from this dangerous abyss."
Here's to those who rally for peace around the world. On Saturday night, a massive protest of at least 2,000 Arabs and Jews came together to demand an end to the Israel Occupation in Palestine. Most believe until that happens, both countries will not know peace with each other. Most also believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal and responsible for inciting much of the hatred and violence between the nations since coming into office, though he did condemn the attack of Haptom Zerhom.
Here is the story about Saturday's rally.
On a happier note:
The manager of the Hummus Bar seems hopeful about the region's future. “If there’s anything that can bring together these peoples, it’s hummus,” Tzafrir said.
Hummus - and a willingness to speak out for peace. Thank you to The Hummus Bar. Here is the link to
find them on Facebook.