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In Israeli War on Coronavirus, Arab Doctors Rush to the Front
(Christian Science Monitor) Joshua Mitnick - Dr. Yasmin Diab shuttles daily between her home in the Israeli Arab village of Tamra and 24-hour shifts at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, one of thousands of Arab health care professionals putting themselves on the line in Israel's battle against Covid-19. "This is the first time that Israel is conducting a war and [that] the Arab citizens have been recruited," says Eran Singer, Arab affairs reporter for Israel's public broadcasting company, alluding to the fact that most Arab citizens aren't obliged to serve in the army. Over the past two decades, as rising numbers of Arab youth have pursued higher education, many have chosen to become health professionals. Arabs, who comprise 20% of Israel's population, make up 17% of its doctors, 24% of nurses, and 48% of pharmacists. Dr. Diab estimates that 2/3 of the doctors on the Rambam coronavirus ward are Arab. As for her Jewish patients, she says, "I always get smiles from them. They aren't insulted or surprised to have an Arab opposite them. I've never felt anyone treat me differently because I'm an Arab."