I know how it feels to be a Jew!

Hello friends,

On the way to Berlin, I had a incident that I thought I should share with you. I flew Turkish Airlines, so I had a 3-hour layover in Istanbul. As we boarded the plane from Istanbul to Berlin, I found my seat and put my things away. It was an aisle seat. Right before I sat down I noticed that right behind me sat a middle aged man with a beard, and on each side sat 2 women. I couldn’t tell who they were because they both had burkas on. I’m not talking about a Hijab, I’m not referring to head cover, I’m talking about full black burka – a ninja burka- were all that showed were their eyes.

I minded my own business and took my seat. As people were still boarding 2 gentlemen had the 2 seats across the aisle from me, they were talking to each other in Hebrew, and kinda picking on each other jokingly. Since I understood I laughed at things they were saying to each other. They noticed that I understood and started talking to me in Hebrew. All 3 of us carried a conversation in Hebrew until the plane started its take off.

Again, I went back to minding my own business, although I could hear the conversation in Arabic among the gentleman and the women who were with him. I gathered that one was his wife and the other was his daughter. As I wanted to lean my seat back a little, I always ask the person behind me for permission. So I looked back and talked to the man in Arabic for permission to lean back.

He was shocked and didn’t say anything, just signaled with his head that it’s ok. As the plane landed and we all stood up to get our things together, I noticed the man behind me was looking at me, and the 2 Israeli guys were talking to me. So I looked back to the guy behind me and said “alsalamo alikum , where are you from?” In Arabic. He was shocked again and said in Arabic “walikum elsalam, we are from Saudi Arabia. How do you know Arabic ?” Of course in Arabic as well. I answered and said I’m an Arab, Arab Israeli.

He still looked confused and looked at me and at the 2 Jews standing there. So I explained, I’m an Arab who was born in Israel and I live in Israel as an Israeli. He was quiet, so I followed up with a “nice to meet you” to compliment the conversation and to ease his concerns. He looked me straight in the eyes, and turned around not wanting to talk to me.

Well, now I know how it feels to be a Jew.

Shavua tov