As part of our congregation ’ s attempt to explore all sides of the tragic conflict in Israel / Palestine since October 7 th , we hosted a visit from an Israeli NGO called Combatants for Peace . The panel included two Israeli Jews and two Palestinians . Each told their story . One of the Palestinians , Sulaiman Khatib , was arrested at age 14 for stabbing two IDF soldiers and trying to steal their weapons . During his 10 years in an Israeli prison , Sulaiman studied the writings of Gandi , Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King , Jr . and learned that revolutionary change can happen through non-violence . He also learned enough about Jewish history and the tragedy of the Shoah that he realized that the Jews , who , he was taught , were his enemies , had also suffered greatly and that Israel was the Jewish people ’ s refuge .
Chen Alon ’ s grandfather escaped the death camps of Poland during the Shoah and made his way to Israel . Chen was proud to put on an IDF uniform and protect the State of Israel from her enemies , as did his father during the 1967 Six- Day War . And yet , Chen started to see things as a reservist during the First Intifada that troubled his conscience — arresting a 10-year old Palestinian boy for being a “ suspected terrorist ”; destroying the home of a Palestinian family because they did not have the right permit to add a balcony to their second floor living area ; preventing a car driven by a Palestinian from bringing sick children to the hospital in Bethlehem because they did not have proper papers . Chen came to believe that Israel ’ s
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