Herzog visit ‘warms our hearts,’ say Tamra residents mourning 4 killed in Iran strike
President condemns reactions by some Jews who celebrated attack on predominantly Muslim city of 37,000. ‘The majority of Israelis want peace and coexistence,’ locals say
Reporter at The Times of Israel
TAMRA – Mohammed Shoko Abu Elhaga, the head of informal education in Tamra, stood in the shade of a pine tree in front of the community center of this Arab city not far from Haifa on Wednesday, where men were gathering to pay their condolences to the Khatib family after the death of four female relatives in an Iranian ballistic missile strike on Sunday.
The quiet, predominantly Muslim city of 37,000 residents was still reeling from the attack, which wreaked havoc and destruction. Compounding the grief was a sense of betrayal stemming from a video that circulated on social media soon after the blast, in which a man celebrated the strike and said in Hebrew, “Tamra should burn.”
“The people who made that video are a minority of a minority,” said Elhaga, speaking to The Times of Israel. He emphasized that the “majority of Israelis want peace and coexistence. We live together. We have no other country.”
Since the attack, Elhaga has been a frequent visitor to the community center. Today, he came to see President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal Herzog, who had arrived to pay their condolences.
“It warms our hearts that he came here,” Elhaga said. “It calms us down and shows us that we are one people.”
When Herzog and his wife arrived, they spoke first to Raja Khatib, deputy chairman of the Haifa District Bar Association, who lost his wife, two of his daughters and a sister-in-law in the attack.
In his speech, first briefly in Arabic and then at length in Hebrew, Herzog told the some 300 people gathered in the community center that “we are brothers and sisters.”
“We believe in our common life together,” Herzog said. “We have a shared society of Jews and Arabs.”
Herzog emphasized that “Iran and its terror proxies do not distinguish between Jews and Arabs of different faiths. Here, they murdered beloved Muslim women. To them, we are all enemies.”
“This is a war of the free world against terror,” he continued. “A struggle of light against darkness. For a safer, better future in the State of Israel and across our region.”
Speaking about the hateful video that circulated on social media, he said that “there is no place for such expressions in the State of Israel.”
“We must all understand that we are meant to live together in this land and to dream together of a shared life built on peace and human dignity – within our society and across the region,” Herzog said.
After Herzog spoke, Tamra Mayor Moussa Abu Roumi thanked him for coming.
“We’re happy you’re here even though the circumstances are tragic,” Abu Roumi said.
Speaking of the video and the way people on social media said that “a lot of people in Tamra hate Israel,” Abu Roumi said emphatically, “We are part of this country. Our fate is a shared fate. We want to return to our regular routine and build our community and the nation.”
After the Herzogs left and the crowds dispersed, Elhaga said that the president’s words were “moving and to the point.”
“Arabs and Jews will continue to honor each other,” Elhaga said, “And we’ll build together everything that was destroyed, because only together will we win.”
When asked what activities he could offer to help the children and youth in the city, he said, “They’re still in trauma.” He apologized that he didn’t have time to talk further: He was on his way to distribute donated toys and games to bomb shelters throughout the city.
Strength through numbers
On Wednesday, several dozen Israeli Jews also made the trip to show their support to Tamra.
“It was very important for us to come to Tamra,” said Ruti Michaelis Grunwald, who came with a friend, Anat Gur-Arie, from the nearby town of Atzmon in a visit that was uncoordinated with the president.
Grunwald said that it is “so hard to hear racism,” and decided to show support.
“The people of Tamra are our neighbors,” she said emphatically. “I work with Jews and Arabs. We live together. We feel the need to be here now.”
She and Gur-Arie were met by Manar Hmam, a Tamra resident who participates with them in a local group, “New Stories,” whose participants “share stories and build bridges.”
Up on the hilltop of Tamra, in a neighborhood filled with narrow alleyways and stone buildings, the female mourners sat in an alcove together, sometimes talking quietly, sometimes crying together.
It is traditional for men and women to mourn separately.
One woman offered small water bottles to guests while another carried a tray with a box of tissues.
“We are all in the same place. We all feel the same pain,” said Malki Cohen, who lives in Alon HaGalil, 19 kilometers (12 miles) away. “We came to show solidarity. It was very meaningful for us to show them that we are here, so they know they are part of us.”
It was good that the president came, said one Tamra resident, who asked that her name not be used.
“But we want security and peace,” she said. “We don’t want to sleep in fear in a shelter.”
The Times of Israel Community.