Humanity in the wake of a terrorist attack in Israel
Haaretz writer Ilene Prusher brings out glimmers of humanity in an interview with American Jewish writer David Harris-Gershon, whose wife was almost killed in a 2002 attack.
Haaretz writer Ilene Prusher brings out glimmers of humanity in an interview with American Jewish writer David Harris-Gershon, whose wife was almost killed in a 2002 attack.
A headline caught my eye today that is worth sharing in this blog, given its mandate to find humanity amid the pressures of the Middle East. The Monitor's former Jerusalem bureau chief, Ilene Prusher, has published a very interesting and thought-provoking interview that shows that even amid terrorist attacks there can emerge some glimmers of humanity.
The headline atop Ms. Prusher's Jerusalem Vivendi blog in Haaretz today reads "Understanding Jerusalem by trying to understand the man who tried to kill your wife." What follows is her conversation with American Jewish writer David Harris-Gershon, whose wife was severly injured in a 2002 terrorist attack at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Mr. Harris-Gershon reveals in his recent memoir exploring the motivation for the attack that the perpetrator, middle-class Palestinian father Mohammed Odeh, had expressed remorse for his actions 鈥� which in turn pushed Harris-Gershon to examine his own views of Palestinians more deeply. This part of the Q&A is particularly revealing:
To be sure, the experience remains a challenging one for Harris-Gershon, who says he would not support Mr. Odeh's release from prison and 鈥� together with his wife 鈥� is still reluctant to visit Jerusalem. But in a conflict where perspectives of the other can be so deeply entrenched by fear and hatred, it is worthwhile to read the account of someone who reexamined his own views 鈥� even of the man who planted a bomb that nearly killed his wife.