As three Jewish girls fight for their lives after a Gazan bus driver deliberately sped into a crowd of pedestrians, killing eight and wounding thirty-one, another young woman, Chamutal is involved in another type of battle.
When Chamutal was 13, she was critically injured in a similar attack in Jerusalem's Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood. A group of girls from the Jewish Quarter were waiting by a bus stop whan a Gazan Arab plowed his car into them. She suffered multiple injuries necessitating numerous operations over the years.
Today Chamutal is a doctor on call at Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot. And today she is in the operating room saving the terrorist bus driver's life.
I am overcome with emotion as her parents, my neighbors, share this with me. Contrast this with Sunday night's murderous attack in Gush Etzion where paramedics fighting to save Tzachi Sassoon's life were doing so under sniper fire.
Of course the murderer's life is saved in order to extract information from him. Nevertheless, her ability to overcome her past experiences and participate in the surgery shows a tremendous amount of strength.
It is too easy to perpetuate past grievances to justify inhumane behaviour. Oslo showed the Israeli people's willingness to turn the other cheek and attempt to create a safer Middle East for both peoples. 550 deaths later we are finally realizing that we are speaking different languages. Peace vs. Guns & Missiles.
Our partners in peace are shooting at us daily (it doesn't even make the news anymore it's become so commonplace), placing roadside bombs and car bombs with growing frequency.
We're all angry! We all want our land back! But the Jews, as depicted by Chamutal, represent the human side of the conflict. We shoot when shot at, and then only when the source of fire can be ascertained. We allow the violence to continue so as not to destroy all chances for peace. Yet, we attend funerals on an almost daily basis.
I don't know why fate put Chamutal in that operating room today. But I can hypothesize. I can visualize her looking into this murderers eyes screaming, "Am Yisrael Chai". We are here. You and your cohorts will try through the generations to destroy us but we will remain and retain our humanity. Despite the pressure of world leaders and despite the lies being perpetuated by the world press and despite the self-haters amongst us, we will not only survive, but will be strenghtened. "AM YISRAEL CHAI!" [The Jewish People Lives!]
When Chamutal was 13, she was critically injured in a similar attack in Jerusalem's Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood. A group of girls from the Jewish Quarter were waiting by a bus stop whan a Gazan Arab plowed his car into them. She suffered multiple injuries necessitating numerous operations over the years.
Today Chamutal is a doctor on call at Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot. And today she is in the operating room saving the terrorist bus driver's life.
I am overcome with emotion as her parents, my neighbors, share this with me. Contrast this with Sunday night's murderous attack in Gush Etzion where paramedics fighting to save Tzachi Sassoon's life were doing so under sniper fire.
Of course the murderer's life is saved in order to extract information from him. Nevertheless, her ability to overcome her past experiences and participate in the surgery shows a tremendous amount of strength.
It is too easy to perpetuate past grievances to justify inhumane behaviour. Oslo showed the Israeli people's willingness to turn the other cheek and attempt to create a safer Middle East for both peoples. 550 deaths later we are finally realizing that we are speaking different languages. Peace vs. Guns & Missiles.
Our partners in peace are shooting at us daily (it doesn't even make the news anymore it's become so commonplace), placing roadside bombs and car bombs with growing frequency.
We're all angry! We all want our land back! But the Jews, as depicted by Chamutal, represent the human side of the conflict. We shoot when shot at, and then only when the source of fire can be ascertained. We allow the violence to continue so as not to destroy all chances for peace. Yet, we attend funerals on an almost daily basis.
I don't know why fate put Chamutal in that operating room today. But I can hypothesize. I can visualize her looking into this murderers eyes screaming, "Am Yisrael Chai". We are here. You and your cohorts will try through the generations to destroy us but we will remain and retain our humanity. Despite the pressure of world leaders and despite the lies being perpetuated by the world press and despite the self-haters amongst us, we will not only survive, but will be strenghtened. "AM YISRAEL CHAI!" [The Jewish People Lives!]