Co-existence

Even though Jews and Arabs coexist in Israel, I'm always wary of the Arabs and for a pretty good reason too. They want me dead. As much as I'm wary of the Arabs and get a bit nervous when we get on a bus together, I have mixed feelings about them. Many of the Arab women dress nicely, look like nice people and look as if they are leading decent lives, so I never really know what to think or feel. The other day I had a bit of trouble getting onto the step of the bus since it was pretty high. I felt someone at my elbow giving me a push. I turned my head to see that the Arab woman who was sitting at the bus stop with me was the one helping me. I smiled at her and thanked her. She smiled back. I wasn't sure how I felt. On the one hand I felt guilty that when the Arab woman sat down at the bus stop with me I felt nervous. I watched her behavior for awhile to see if there was anything suspicious about her. She looked clean, nice and had a nice purse. That made me feel a bit better, but I was still nervous. Don't fool yourself I thought. A bomber can be anyone and look very normal. Often I can't tell the difference between an Arab man and an Israeli man since they don't have any distinctive dress as the women do.

There are people who will not drive with an Arab taxi driver. Jewish cab drivers advise against driving with an Arab because then the Jews are supporting the Arabs. I got a whole lecture once from a Jewish cab driver when I was unknowingly going to take a cab driven by an Arab. The Jewish cab driver waved me over to him. I went to him instead of waiting for the other driver to make a U-turn so he could go in my direction. I don't consciously avoid driving with an Arab. If I get an Arab cab driver I don't really mind much. Cab drivers here, especially the older, Jewish cab drivers love talking to their passengers. Only in Israel will the cabbie ask a young, married woman "So, where are the children? What are you waiting for?" If I am with an Arab driver I am careful with what I say especially when it comes to politics, because even though they live and work in Israel and live in accordance with the law, who knows what really runs through their minds? On one occasion even though I didn't see an ID with the driver's name as I usually do, I was sure I was driving with an Israeli until he got on the phone and started talking in Arabic. I cringed inwardly. Before he got on the phone we had been conversing in Hebrew. When he got off the phone he explained to me that his Arabic wasn't as good as it used to be. When he was in the IDF he needed to know Arabic fluently because of the unit he was in.

I actually like Arabic music and will sometimes play it on the radio. Last night we were driving with friends to a get together. Surfing through radio channels, our friend who was driving settled on an Arabic station and turned it up. It was pretty funny. We all said a few Arabic phrases and as we pulled up to the check point we figured it was a good idea to turn the music down to avoid any issues this may cause with the soldier on duty. "Ahalan" said our friend to the soldier."Ahalan"is an Arabic phrase which means hello. Jews and Arabs use this phrase a lot, it isn't exclusively Arabic. The soldier was a bit confused. There we were a few religious Jews who had just had Arabic music playing on the radio...yeah. We were let through no problems.

There are some really nice Arabs. My husband works in a kitchen that is run by Arabs. He says they have a great time together laughing and joking around. It would be wonderful if Jews and Arabs could get along the way my husband and his co-workers do, but unfortunately that's not the case and even more unfortunate, I don't think I will ever be fully at ease living together with Arabs.