# 451 – Do You Understand?

Do you understand?

I am on a bus. It is the easiest way for me to get to my medical appointment.

There is a back-pack in the luggage rack with no apparent owner.  A little old lady shouts out, “Do you know who this belongs to?” “ A good Israeli”, the driver answers, in not the most tolerant tone. She is still worried. I look at the bag, and I start to worry. Is this how it happens? I ask myself. Should I take a picture of it before ​being blown up?

I approach the driver as nicely as possible. Are you sure about the bag? ​’I already said it’s okay​’, he answers. I turned back to the old lady, and as nice as possible ​asure her it’s okay.

Chatted with the nurse. Yes, she happens to be an Arab, but within this open​, decent and democratic society called Israel, that is normally not a factor to be concerned about. ​(Please, PLEASE..anyone who disagrees with these words about Israel – let me know. I have been pushed into the corner by this conflict, and I can no longer be as politically correct as I used to be!).

This is not the time to get into a political discussion with an Israeli Arab, but I’m 99% sure that she feels the same way as I. Scared about ​her country and even scared about antisemitism.  She and I are in the same boat.

A​lmost argued with someone very close and dear, when I told them about the suggestion that the Israeli Arabs are the perfect people to be tasked with the education of the Gazans. (I nearly wrote ‘re-education’ but that word has connotations – not politically correct). It cannot happen, they said. They are also Arabs.

I told them they are missing the point. I have already seen several suggestions about ‘the day after’, and they all involve action and behaviours on the part of the Arab countries, the international community, the UN etc., which just won’t happen. Arab neighbours? They traditionally hate each other – and certainly hate the Palestinians.

I’m a salesman, I told my friend. It needs some great ‘marketing’ to solve this problem. You may not believe it, but should at least want to…that the Israeli Arabs have had 3-4 generations to get used to the fact that living in Israel ain’t so bad, that Jews are actually OK, that this is what democracy is like. They are not only the best people for the job, they are the only ones for the job.

And there seems to be some questions about who should be in charge of Gaza’s security during the ‘reconstruction period’. Well, tough! It’s the victor’s decision, and that’s Israel. We know how effective the UN ‘peace corps’ is, so let’s forget about that. And, another sentence the World hates: Israel’s military is not only one of the strongest in the World, but is perhaps the most moral.

​2 days to go. What will happen in UK on November 11th? Does the Muslim world really want to wake up the fast-asleep British nation by desecrating Armistice Day / Remembrance Day? Or have they already given up?

Stephen