On the occasion of the month of Ramadan, we are witnessing a series of inspiring educational and cultural initiatives, such as in schools that incorporate in the educational content concepts such as the "Zakat al-Fitr" mitzvah, Iftar meals and Eid al-Fitr celebrations as customs that express community values, solidarity, compassion and peace. Ramadan.
Cultural initiatives also join the educational concept.
For example, the National Library in Jerusalem promotes a series of lectures on the customs and traditions of the holiday.
The Ramadan exhibition is on display at the Museum of Islamic Art, study tours take place in Rahat, Umm al-Fahm and the alleys of the Muslim Quarter, culinary guides and traditional food festivals in Haifa and Jaffa, recitation of Koranic verses in the community center in Acre and more.
The purpose of cultural events is to mediate to the public the principles of Ramadan and its characteristics as a month of holiness, brotherhood and joy in Muslim culture, and to make accessible to Israeli society the values of tolerance and forgiveness under the auspices of its customs.
Indeed, these initiatives are gaining a sympathetic ear and an open heart.
After all, the vast majority of the public in Israel wishes to trust the messages of reconciliation.
And evidently, the longing for peace is not reduced to state-bound boundaries, but is expressed even in bruised and scarred strongholds.
For example, the mayor of Lod, Yair Revivo, whose city is still licking its wounds from disturbances in the wall guard, congratulated the Muslim residents of the city, and called for every effort to "base the common life in Lod on values of tolerance and mutual respect."
But in parallel with the educational and cultural gestures, we are also witnessing a reality in which the blood of innocent people washes the country and confronts Israeli society with the faces, names and life stories of the 14 victims murdered over the past two weeks.
This is a reality in which messages linking Ramadan to the demand to intensify the struggle against the "Zionist entity" resonate even more with the praise that Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem has showered on the Hadera attack, and his hopes of "seeing more heroic actions."
A reality in which the Lebanese channel al-Miyadin and the journalist Ziad Atia from Ramallah publish videos documenting the inferno of terrorism, and receive sympathetic reactions and countless network shares.
A reality in which Islamic Jihad welcomes the terrorist attack in Dizengoff, and the terrorist's father is proud of his son's criminal actions, "who sacrificed his life for the liberation of al-Aqsa from the impurity of the occupiers."
All of these, by the way, also correspond with the voices of joy and the distribution of sweets on the streets of Gaza and Jenin.
The dissonance between the already weak condemnations of Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen against "killing Palestinian and Israeli civilians" and his call to continue to surrender to the values of reconciliation and tolerance "in the spirit of Ramadan" and the reality that requires the chief of staff to strengthen forces 2 ", and forces the Prime Minister to call on the public to" be vigilant and focus on preventing the next attack "- it is he who distills the essence of being.
This is a being that unfortunately confronts the social consciousness with the gap that has been opened between "the cultural events proposed for the benefit of the public in Israel" and the "terrorist attacks found against the public in Israel".
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us