‘Coronavirus has united us’
IDF soldiers, Palestinian volunteers stand shoulder-to-shoulder to help east Jerusalem residents
Until a few weeks ago, scenes of IDF soldiers working shoulder-to-shoulder with Palestinian volunteers in several east Jerusalem neighborhoods would have been dismissed as unbelievable.
In the era of the coronavirus pandemic, however, nothing seems to be impossible, including cooperation between the IDF and Palestinian activists in distributing thousands of food parcels to families in east Jerusalem villages and neighborhoods.
The only law-enforcement officials these families are used to seeing in their communities are Israeli policemen or Jerusalem Municipality inspectors who arrive to arrest residents involved in anti-Israel activities or demolish houses built without permits.
In the past few weeks IDF soldiers have been arriving at these villages and neighborhoods, such as Kafr Aqab, Shu’afat, Kalandiya, Jabel Mukaber, Bei Hanina, Issawiya and Sur Baher, on a different type of mission – one that is totally unrelated to security matters.
To the surprise of the Palestinians, most of whom hold Israeli-issued ID cards due to their status as permanent residents of Israel, the military vehicles entering their villages and neighborhoods came to distribute food parcels, in coordination with the Jerusalem Municipality.
Even more surprising was the fact that the IDF troops were being assisted by dozens of Palestinian volunteers.
This unprecedented cooperation came while Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been engaged in a confrontation over providing services and relief aid to Palestinians living in areas within the boundaries of the Jerusalem Municipality.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Israeli authorities have arrested several Palestinian officials and activists for operating in Jerusalem in violation of the Law for the Implementation of the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area – Restriction on Activity – 1994, which bans the PA from carrying out political, governmental or similar activity within the State of Israel (including east Jerusalem).
The Palestinians say they were arrested because of their activities to help east Jerusalem during the coronavirus crisis.
The assistance provided by the IDF and the Jerusalem Municipality is seen by Palestinians in the context of Israel’s effort to halt PA activities in the city and reassert its sovereignty over the Palestinian villages and neighborhoods.
“In the past few weeks, especially since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, we have provided significant aid to the residents of all the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem,” said Col. Sharon Gat, Commander of Moriah Division, which is responsible for the Jerusalem area. “We are working in cooperation with the Jerusalem Municipality and its community centers.”
Col. Gat told The Jerusalem Post that the residents of east Jerusalem had appealed to the Jerusalem Municipality for help after the outbreak of the coronavirus. “This is a humanitarian issue,” he said. “The residents said they wanted food and expressed willingness to cooperate with the municipality and the IDF.”
Col. Gat pointed out that he later saw many residents express gratitude to Israel on social media platforms for its assistance. “Some of their leaders also came to the municipality to thank us for the beautiful cooperation,” he said.
According to Col. Gat, this was the first operation of its kind by the IDF in east Jerusalem.
“It’s an historic event,” he remarked. “As a senior IDF commander, my duty is to carry out missions. We don’t differentiate between Jews and Arabs. They are all residents of Israel and they are entitled to equal assistance. I may be a senior IDF commander, but I’m also a soldier who carries out missions. In a situation like this, when people need help, I see no difference between an Arab, a Jew, a religious or secular person. That’s why I and my soldiers put our heart and soul into this mission.”
The aid to the Palestinians, Col. Gat said, was funded by the IDF, whose soldiers worked together with Palestinian volunteers to distribute basic food items to the families.
“The people there told us: ‘Let’s put politics aside and work together,’” he added. “There was full cooperation between us and the residents there. We also distributed medical equipment, not only food. Many leaders of the Arab community praised the mayor and the IDF. They were very excited and I see no reason why they shouldn’t be satisfied. I hope we will see more cooperation like this in the future. Besides the bad things the coronavirus has done, it has nevertheless brought about good things; it united us and made us forget about politics.”