(OZY) Steven Davidson - "Shalom! Shalom!" shouts Dr. Yitzchak Glick, waving to several Palestinian children beside the village mosque. To my surprise, they wave back without hesitation. After we drive to the home of a patient, on the way back to his car, waves of people from the village beckon Glick to inspect their children. Glick seems to know every one of them. Glick, 59, moved with his family as a teenager from New York City to Israel in 1974. He settled in Efrat in Gush Etzion, part of the West Bank just south of Bethlehem that is often discussed as becoming part of Israel in a possible political agreement with Palestinians. In Glick's eyes, Israeli administration of the West Bank does not amount to oppression or even occupation. Palestinians may live under military law, but it's "totally for security," he says. Until the terrorism ends and Palestinians agree to "compromise," Glick views the status quo as enabling Palestinians and Jews to live together in security "instead of [in] a terrorist state like you have in Gaza. In the '60s [in America], we always said integration is a great thing." Glick began an emergency health clinic in Efrat, where some 10% of the patients are Palestinian. He and others in Efrat have also helped fund Palestinian medical clinics nearby, though Glick and the villagers remain low-key about the aid and his village visits so the clinics don't run afoul of the PA.
2019-06-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive