Palestinian couple lose jobs after aiding Jewish victims of terrorist attack
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian husband and wife who helped a Jewish family following a deadly terrorist attack in July are looking for work in Israel after being fired for assisting Jews.
Yochai Damari, the head of the Har Hebron Regional Council, in a Facebook post Sunday called on the Defense Ministry to procure work permits in Israel for the couple, who are medical professionals. Damari said he sent a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman requesting the permits. The post did not say where they were working or who was behind the firing.
Rabbi Michael Mark, the father of 10, was killed in the July 1 terrorist attack near Hebron. A car with Palestinian license plates overtook the family vehicle and opened fire with automatic weapons, causing the car to flip over.
His wife, Chava, was seriously wounded and had brain surgery on Sunday.
Immediately following the shooting, the Palestinian couple pulled the teenage children and their mother from the car and gave them emergency treatment until ambulances arrived and took them to the hospital. They continued to help the family and protect them from Palestinian passersby, who threatened them and called on the couple to stop assisting them, Damari said.
Damari said he met with the couple, who asked him for help in obtaining work in Israel.
“I am aware of the difficulties, but I think that in cases like this it is our obligation as the Jewish nation to show our thanks to people who behave as upstanding people and act in a way expected of them in situations like this,” Damari said.