rylah
Gold Member
- Jun 10, 2015
- 21,139
- 4,482
- 290
After real-life superhero Michael Ben Zikri perished saving the lives of a Bedouin mother and her three children, an Arab politician vowed to name the main street in their town in his memory.
At the beginning of July, a 45-year-old Israeli man named Michael Ben Zikri died after rescuing a Bedouin mother and her three children from drowning in a lake where people were enjoying their weekend.
Hundreds of Jews and Arabs alike attended the Ashdod resident’s funeral, with one of the Bedouin family’s relatives telling a local TV channel, “Today it’s hard to find a hero like this.”
Scores of Bedouins from the town of Hura held posters at the funeral with slogans praising Ben Zikri’s heroism and thanking him for saving the family.
A former Arab Knesset member told Ben Zikri’s family that the entire community shared in their grief and vowed to “rename the main street in our town in his honor.”
Following the funeral, the Israeli Foreign Ministry shared the story on its social media accounts in Arabic and Persian, garnering praise from people across the Muslim world.
“The fact we have political differences with you guys doesn’t mean there is a disagreement between us about humanitarianism,” said a commentator from Egypt, the Lay of the Land website reported.
Another commented from Iraq wrote, “This is the people of Israel who love all and help all,” while the UK-based Saudi news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat published an account of the Bedouins who paid condolence visits to Ben Zikri’s family.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s Arabic social media manager, Yonatan Gonen, “Users from Morocco to Iraq, from Oman to Syria, could identify with the story and unanimously pointed at Michael’s heroism on a very large scale, some even pointed to Israel’s coexistence as a role model.”
Ben Zikri took action when the Bedouin family got sucked under the water due to a sinkhole opening up in the man-made lake near Zikim beach outside of Ashkelon, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tel Aviv.
Ben Zikri rescued the mother, two girls, aged 14 and 7, and their 10-year-old brother.
The exhausted Ben Zikri apparently slipped under the water himself and his body was found later by Magen David Adom rescue workers, but it was too late and he could not be revived.
unitedwithisrael.org
(Comment)
I was just thinking about it,
last week the Haifa municipality, one of Israel's most culturally diverse cities,
was set to rename one of the streets to "Um Kultum", a very famous Egyptian female singer.
More than half Israeli Jews come from families with grandparents who speak Arabic,
for decades when there were only two channels on Israeli TV, the second was the Egyptian,
concerts by Um Kultum and Farid al-Atrash were popular and played in many homes in the evenings.
So both Arabs and Jews welcomed the idea,
but the municipality decided to put it off until economic clarity.
I can understand it, by Israel standards Haifa is a relatively big city,
so such a change would require not a small amount of time and resources.
Much easier to do in a rural town like Hura, the one mentioned in the article.
Anyway, I was thinking, all politics and cynicism aside,
what Arab names would You suggest to be honored
for acts similar to the one mentioned in the article?
At the beginning of July, a 45-year-old Israeli man named Michael Ben Zikri died after rescuing a Bedouin mother and her three children from drowning in a lake where people were enjoying their weekend.
Hundreds of Jews and Arabs alike attended the Ashdod resident’s funeral, with one of the Bedouin family’s relatives telling a local TV channel, “Today it’s hard to find a hero like this.”
Scores of Bedouins from the town of Hura held posters at the funeral with slogans praising Ben Zikri’s heroism and thanking him for saving the family.
A former Arab Knesset member told Ben Zikri’s family that the entire community shared in their grief and vowed to “rename the main street in our town in his honor.”
Following the funeral, the Israeli Foreign Ministry shared the story on its social media accounts in Arabic and Persian, garnering praise from people across the Muslim world.
“The fact we have political differences with you guys doesn’t mean there is a disagreement between us about humanitarianism,” said a commentator from Egypt, the Lay of the Land website reported.
Another commented from Iraq wrote, “This is the people of Israel who love all and help all,” while the UK-based Saudi news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat published an account of the Bedouins who paid condolence visits to Ben Zikri’s family.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s Arabic social media manager, Yonatan Gonen, “Users from Morocco to Iraq, from Oman to Syria, could identify with the story and unanimously pointed at Michael’s heroism on a very large scale, some even pointed to Israel’s coexistence as a role model.”
Ben Zikri took action when the Bedouin family got sucked under the water due to a sinkhole opening up in the man-made lake near Zikim beach outside of Ashkelon, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tel Aviv.
Ben Zikri rescued the mother, two girls, aged 14 and 7, and their 10-year-old brother.
The exhausted Ben Zikri apparently slipped under the water himself and his body was found later by Magen David Adom rescue workers, but it was too late and he could not be revived.
Arab Town to Rename Main Street After Israeli Hero Who Died Saving Mother and 3 Kids | United with Israel
After real-life superhero Michael Ben Zikri perished saving the lives of a Bedouin mother and her three children, an Arab politician vowed to name the main street in their town in his memory.
unitedwithisrael.org
(Comment)
I was just thinking about it,
last week the Haifa municipality, one of Israel's most culturally diverse cities,
was set to rename one of the streets to "Um Kultum", a very famous Egyptian female singer.
More than half Israeli Jews come from families with grandparents who speak Arabic,
for decades when there were only two channels on Israeli TV, the second was the Egyptian,
concerts by Um Kultum and Farid al-Atrash were popular and played in many homes in the evenings.
So both Arabs and Jews welcomed the idea,
but the municipality decided to put it off until economic clarity.
I can understand it, by Israel standards Haifa is a relatively big city,
so such a change would require not a small amount of time and resources.
Much easier to do in a rural town like Hura, the one mentioned in the article.
Anyway, I was thinking, all politics and cynicism aside,
what Arab names would You suggest to be honored
for acts similar to the one mentioned in the article?
