This week, there was a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in Israel – sadly, not unheard of. However, this time it was different.
The stabber thought she was attacking a Jew – but she wasn’t.
Here is the amazing story as told by a fellow soldier:
Well, today it happened. Someone in my close professional/social proximity was stabbed. My friend, colleague, girl who sleeps across from me in our room on base. She was doing one of her routine morning missions at one of the busiest checkpoints in the country where thousands of Palestinians cross into Israel proper on the daily and there it happened. In fact, she finished the mission but went back specifically to assist a woman who approached another guard with a question. She went back in order to respect that the woman appeared very religious and would not have felt comfortable talking with a man. And what did the woman do? She stabbed her in the back, quite literally. She literally pulled out a knife and plunged it into the back of my friend’s shoulder.
Now, my friend is strong, she got control of that woman quickly before she could do any more damage, and then the police on site took over.
It’s not all what it seems at first glance. Sure, you could say “those Palestinians and their bloodthirsty hate for Jews” – well that’s only one side of a story that has continued for more than 70 years now. But the other side is that in fact, the attacker was a 41 year old mother of 9 children, from a Bedouin community near Ramallah. The woman’s entire close and extended family is in Jordan but somehow she ended up married to a man here. Her father and husband don’t get along and have had horrible fights, her husband abused her and threatened to boot her to Jordan, and she just got to the point where she wanted to die anyway. And these days, for whatever reason, many people have started using attacks on soldiers as a way to “kill themselves” because it’s almost a sure-fire way to get shot. She didn’t get shot though, because the IDF doesn’t just shoot without a decent amount of forethought.
The other-other side, and what this woman didn’t know, is that my friend is also from a Bedouin family. She’s from a village in the North of Israel, and her family saw it as valuable to serve in the IDF, in the country in which they reside. Actually, her dad served 27 years in the IDF.
I also want to mention that my friend’s name is Salaam. Salaam means “peace” in Arabic. And peace is something she creates every day, by her diligence and hard work, and dedication to what it is that we’re doing here. In my unit of the army we are in constant coordination and communication with Palestinian security forces and other officials. They didn’t stop calling today to check on her, to express their anger at the terrorist for hurting her, and a couple of them even visited today with a massive bouquet of flowers in hand to brighten up the hospital room in which we were sitting, and to show their regards.
Just saying folks, things are not always what they appear to be on the outside. It’s important to know the real details. It is difficult to be in a position where every day, I must look evil in the eye and call it what it is, yet at the same time remember that not every single person in a people group is a terrorist or is walking around with terroristic intentions, and keep working toward the goal. Sometimes the goal gets cloudy, but we press on.
You can see and share her original Facebook post here.
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