Stories of Kindness from Around the World

[This is a true story, written by Murray Polner and Stefan Merken in Peace, Justice, and Jews (1968).]

During the spring of 1921, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Muhammed Amin el-Husseini, instigated an organized pogrom  against the Jewish population in Palestine. When a group of Arabs threatened to attack Jewish homes between Jaffa and Tel Aviv, Jewish defenders went forth to meet them. An exchange of fire ensued, which threatened to escalate into full-scale warfare.

In the middle of escalating violence, a remarkable man Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel intervened.  He donned his Rabbinic robes and turban and went straight onto the battlefield.

He asked the Jewish fighters to hold their fire and proceeded alone toward the Arab positions, calling out to them to also hold their fire.

Surprise, the sheikh in command of the Arabs instructed his men to stop firing in order to hear what the rabbi had to say.

Rabbi Uziel delivered an impassioned appeal to the Arab fighters, which included these words:  "We candidly stretch out our hand to you with true peace in our hearts and say: We have the entire land in front of us, let us work shoulder to shoulder to cultivate her, uncover her treasures, and live together in brotherhood. . . . Make your peace with us and we shall make peace with you and together we shall enjoy God's blessings on this holy land. 

"Our dear cousins! Our common father Abraham, the father of Isaac and of Ishmael, when he saw that his nephew Lot was causing him trouble claiming there was not enough room for both his flocks and Abraham's flocks to live together, said to him: 'Let there be no quarrel between me and you, and between your shepherds and my shepherds, for we are people like brothers.' We also say to you, this land can sustain all of us and provide for us in plenty. Let us, then, stop fighting each other, for we too are people like brothers."

The Arabs who had listened to Rabbi Uziel's words in silence then dispersed quietly, and the world witnessed a courageous testimony to the power of love.