In a land beset with religious and political conflicts since time immemorial, a hospital is showing that inter-religious harmony and peaceful co-existence is still possible.
The Hadassah Medical Center-Ein Kerem in Jerusalem has both staff and patients coming from various religions—Judaism, Christianity, Islam and others.
But the hospital has found a way to serve the people regardless of religious differences, according to the Religion News Service.
"We have 18 hospital beds, and on any given day we may have an Orthodox Jew next to a devout Muslim next to a Catholic next to a Druze next to a Russian Orthodox patient," said Stuart Levy, the head nurse at the hospital's oncology/hematology ward. "And many of our staff are religiously observant," he added.
Levy said during this year's observance of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on June 7 and culminated on July 6, Jewish nurses worked the evening shifts whenever possible to allow Muslim nurses to break their fasts at home. Non-Jewish nurses reciprocated by working on Jewish holidays.
Levy acknowledged that juggling so many holidays as well as the Muslim, Jewish and Christian Sabbaths (Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively) was a "logistical nightmare" but also "an exercise in empathy."
"We've been working together for years, so cooperating like this is natural," said Ramzi Battash, a Muslim hospital employee. "We go to each other's weddings. When we save a life we don't ask who is Jewish or who is Arab. We are all people."
Nurse Yevgeni Frank Kamenetsky said staffers and patients are well aware of terror attacks and military countermeasures as reported in the media. But he said they make a conscious effort to keep "whatever happens outside to stay outside."
"People have opinions. We're leftists, rightists, Muslims, Christians, Jews. But we make it work, even after work. We socialise. We go to the movies together, picnic together," he said.
Nurse Ahmad Shiber echoed the same sentiment: "We understand how fragile life is. Beyond all this political stuff our patients want to live to see their children get married or have a grandchild. We bleed the same blood. We cry the same tears," he said.
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, based on the latest census taken in May 2016, the country's population of 8.5 million was 75.4 percent Jewish, 16.9 percent Muslim, 2.1 percent Christian, and 1.7 percent Druze, with the remaining 4.0 percent not classified by religion, and a small Baha'i community.
Religious harmony in Israel can be seen in Christian Arab schools which serve large numbers of Muslim students. Muslims are exempted from outdoor activities during Ramadan, while the overwhelmingly Jewish municipality of Jerusalem distributes free Christmas trees to Christian residents.
