Anne comes every Wednesday from 9 to 2 to the community center in Shu’fat refugee camp to help the Palestinian women and men undergo physical therapy treatment. She has been a professional physical therapist for twenty three years, specializing in a technique called integrative manual therapy. She is also an Israeli.
Anne came to Israel via New York in 1974. She was a Zionist, served in the military, and later moved to the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev. Things changed for her, however, after her first trip to the States in over thirty years. On the suggestion of a friend, she decided to attend a peace camp in Yosemite. Of the 250 people who took part in the peace camp, 50 were Israeli, 50 where Palestinian, and the rest were Arab and Jewish Americans. This was her first face to face contact with the “other,” and she came to realize, despite the depictions in the Israeli media, they were people, they were human.
In 2007, she moved from Pisgat Ze’ev to the Palestinian-Israeli village of Abu Gosh where she met a German nun who told her about the community center in Shu’fat refugee camp. Up to that point, her only experience of Shu’fat was the smoke she could see from her neighboring home in Pisgat Ze’ev billowing from the camp after incursions, and the stories of terrorists she heard on the news. Despite warnings from friends of the dangers of the camp, she decided to go and see for her self and learn more about the community center. Dr. Salim, the director of the camp, and his staff were very welcoming, and, in February of 2007, she began volunteering once a week.
Over the past year and a half that she has been going to the center, word of mouth has gotten out about an Israeli physical therapist in the camp, and the response has been great. The Palestinians really appreciate her work and they get to experience a different side of the Jewish people, a contrast to soldiers and settlers. Many of her patients have said that just her coming there means a lot, and while most of the Palestinians from the camp can go to Israeli clinics, this is the first time an Israeli has come to the camp to treat people.
Although she is just one person, her story is not unique, or rather her motivations are not unique. Many Israelis that I have met like Anne say they decided to get involved after they have met Palestinians and come to realize that they are human beings just like anyone else. Unfortunately, the mutual hatred, fear, and ignorance that people on both sides of this conflict have, compounded by the construction of the separation barrier, makes the leap between cultures and people very difficult. But it can be done, and Anne is a shinning example of it.
Anne came to Israel via New York in 1974. She was a Zionist, served in the military, and later moved to the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev. Things changed for her, however, after her first trip to the States in over thirty years. On the suggestion of a friend, she decided to attend a peace camp in Yosemite. Of the 250 people who took part in the peace camp, 50 were Israeli, 50 where Palestinian, and the rest were Arab and Jewish Americans. This was her first face to face contact with the “other,” and she came to realize, despite the depictions in the Israeli media, they were people, they were human.
In 2007, she moved from Pisgat Ze’ev to the Palestinian-Israeli village of Abu Gosh where she met a German nun who told her about the community center in Shu’fat refugee camp. Up to that point, her only experience of Shu’fat was the smoke she could see from her neighboring home in Pisgat Ze’ev billowing from the camp after incursions, and the stories of terrorists she heard on the news. Despite warnings from friends of the dangers of the camp, she decided to go and see for her self and learn more about the community center. Dr. Salim, the director of the camp, and his staff were very welcoming, and, in February of 2007, she began volunteering once a week.
Over the past year and a half that she has been going to the center, word of mouth has gotten out about an Israeli physical therapist in the camp, and the response has been great. The Palestinians really appreciate her work and they get to experience a different side of the Jewish people, a contrast to soldiers and settlers. Many of her patients have said that just her coming there means a lot, and while most of the Palestinians from the camp can go to Israeli clinics, this is the first time an Israeli has come to the camp to treat people.
Although she is just one person, her story is not unique, or rather her motivations are not unique. Many Israelis that I have met like Anne say they decided to get involved after they have met Palestinians and come to realize that they are human beings just like anyone else. Unfortunately, the mutual hatred, fear, and ignorance that people on both sides of this conflict have, compounded by the construction of the separation barrier, makes the leap between cultures and people very difficult. But it can be done, and Anne is a shinning example of it.
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