'He was killed on the way home. Everyone was shocked by what happened, Palestinians and Israelis cried together to lose our new friend'
August 14, 2019 16:43
A group of Palestinians have written a letter to the family of a murdered yeshiva student who was part of their West Bank interfaith group.
Yeshiva student and IDF soldier Dvir Sorek was a member of interfaith dialogue group Roots which brought together Israeli Jews and Palestinian between the ages of 18 to 25 for meetings every two weeks.
Following news of the 19-year-old's murder, the Arab members of the group wrote a letter expressing their shock and horror about the attack and said they still hoped that they could build “a bridge” to peace between Jews and Arabs:
Arutz Sheva translated the letter which said the group had been meeting for two years and in “each meeting we talked about ourselves, our daily lives and the future we want to build together.
“We used to meet every two weeks, bringing together young men between the ages of 18 and 25. Each time was a great opportunity to talk, and we invited a few of our friends to join us.”
The letter detailed a incident in which one of the Palestinian members, a man named Ahmad Manasra, was killed “on the way home.
The letter stated: “His first meeting with the group made a good impression on him.
"He was killed on the way home. Everyone was shocked by what happened, Palestinians and Israelis cried together to lose our new friend.”
They said: "It's unimaginable that someone we met yesterday will be tomorrow's victim of tomorrow.”
The group said they wanted to send “condolences to his family and to our friends in the yeshiva.
“For us as a group, we condemn this kind of vicious violence that targets us all for our place of residence, religion, identity, or citizenship. We hope that this incident will be the last tragedy on either side.”
They signed the letter “Palestinian friends from the interfaith dialogue group.”
Mr Sorek was from the Ofra settlement, and was studying at a religious seminary in Migdal Oz.
He went missing on a Wednesday morning and was found stabbed to death in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank. Officials believe he may have been kidnaped before his body was dumped near his yeshiva.
He had joined the military while continuing his studies and was unarmed and not in uniform at the time of the attack.
Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko, director of the Council of Christians and Jews, which takes groups of Christians and Jews to visit the interfaith group said it always has a strong impact on participants.
She said it provided people with the chance "to hear from Palestinians and Israelis who are in dialogue to envision and support a better future. The visit always has a strong impact on participants as too often the narrative back in UK is that one has to support either Palestinians or Israelis.
"The dialogue at Roots is a lesson to us all: you need to support both Palestinians and Israelis and listen and learn from different narratives.
"The human encounter is the only way forward. We mourn the deaths of Dvir Sorek and Ahmad Manasra, two young Roots participants who were committed to a better future for Palestinians and Israelis."
