Arabs are humans, too: A Jerusalem doctor's reaction goes viral

“Fortunately, I work in a hospital where I am able to make new friends, dear to my heart, from the Arab public.”

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Nadav Granat calls on Facebook users to post photos of co-existence in Israel. (photo credit: screenshot)
Nadav Granat calls on Facebook users to post photos of co-existence in Israel.
(photo credit: screenshot)
When Dr. Nadav Granat read the Instagram post of Israeli model Rotem Sela in which she reminded the country that “Arabs are also human beings,” he decided he wanted to take action, too. As a religious Jewish doctor who works alongside Arabs every day, he launched his own online campaign to show the inclusive face of Israel.
The campaign has gone viral. This week, the Hebrew news site Mako published a story about Granat, 37, an emergency medical doctor at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. Granat called on the public to implement exactly what Sela called for when she asked, “When will anyone in this government tell the public that this is a country of all its citizens, and all people are born equal?”
“For a long time I have been frustrated by the racism, the hatred, the delegitimization that is spreading to entire publics and audiences in the country in general, and to the Arab public in particular,” Granat wrote in his own post. “It was not these values on which I was raised in my parents’ home or in the institutions where I studied. Fortunately, I work in a hospital where I am able to make new friends, dear to my heart, from the Arab public.”
Granat said that over the years, he and his Arab colleagues have had multiple conversations about the racist discourse toward Arabs in Israel.
“I especially remember our conversation on the day of the last elections, when I felt ashamed about [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call that] ‘the Arabs are flocking to the polls,’” Granat continued.
He mentioned several of the Arabs with which he works by name and how much he appreciates and enjoys them, and considers them friends. He re-posted Sela’s words and shared pictures of himself with his Arab colleagues.
 
“I am proud and happy in these pictures and in the beautiful and sane reality of the hospital they reflect,” Granat wrote, inviting his post’s readers to join him by posting their own photos of Jews and Arabs co-existing in Israel. “Together we will raise the voice of brotherhood, partnership and friendship in the hope of creating a change of reality.”
Since it was published, Granat’s post has gone viral, with close to 10,000 views and almost as many shares. Thousands of Jews and Arabs have started posting their own photos, too, each with the hashtag #equals.


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