I am not Jewish, nor of the Israelite faith, nor an Israeli citizen.
I am BĂ©arnais, of the Protestant Christian faith, and a French citizen. I made 4 trips to Israel between 2015 and 2019.
I visited Jewish cities, Druze villages, Arab Muslim villages, Aramaic Christian villages, and Circassian Muslim villages. I observed no public signage that separates communities.
All public signs are in Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin letters.
I was invited to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem and attended a Shabbat celebration with Orthodox Jews.
No hostility or sideways glances. I was also invited by Orthodox Jews to pray at the Western Wall. When I indicated that I was not Jewish, I was handed a prayer text for non-Jews and still encouraged to go pray at the Wall.
No separation or discrimination between Jews and non-Jews. When I wanted to go to the Temple Mount, I was told that free access is reserved for Muslims and that, as a non-Muslim, my access is restricted to specific days and times that can change without notice.
When I asked how they could tell I wasnât Muslim, I was told that I âdidnât look itâ and that I would be heavily questioned on Islamic precepts by Muslim authorities if I claimed to be one.
In 2015, I was also advised to ânot look like an Orthodox Jewâ if I wanted to walk at night in Jerusalemâs Old City. That night, I encountered Jewish and Druze police officers working together. None of them ever asked me my religion.
Conclusion drawn from my experience: I was welcomed by Jews, Druze, Christians, and Circassian Muslims without animosity or discrimination.
Jews and Christians invited me to pray and reflect in their places of worship. The only discrimination I experienced in Israel came from Arab Muslims who restrict access to the Temple Mount and can resort to violence against those who look Jewish. In fact, in Israel, you have to keep in mind that if you donât look like an Arab Muslim, you are assumed to be Jewish and risk an attack. That was the case for two American tourists stabbed a week before my first stay, in 2015.
You can throw all the NGO reports on Israeli apartheid at me; it doesnât match what I saw and experienced in Israel, where Jews, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Catholics, Catholics and Orthodox from Eastern churches, Protestants, Muslims, Bahaâi, atheists, etc., live together.
Those who cause problems are the ones who believe that Arab nationalism, backed by Islamic supremacy, must absolutely dominate all others. A vision not shared, by the way, by the Circassians, who are Muslims but of European origin.
gamechangershow
kianamaiart
amandla
prguitarman
tangentwithtanner
pixelskylines
snowghoul
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
