North American Muslim Learns About Tolerance In Israel

By Leora Eren Frucht

Javeed Sukhera, a North American Muslim of Pakistani background, tells about his experience of coming to Israel to study international health and medicine at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

When Javeed Sukhera told friends in Toronto that he'd be spending the next three years of his life in Israel, some of them were aghast. "Israel? Of all the countries in the world, you had to choose Israel!" cried several members of the moderate Muslim organization he helped found.

Sukhera admits that he, too, had a few apprehensions. "I wasn't sure I'd be all that welcome: here I was, a North American Muslim of Pakistani background coming to live in Israel," recalls Sukhera, a self-described maverick with jet black hair and dark piercing eyes. But Sukhera was in for a surprise.

"Israel accepted and welcomed me with open arms. Israelis really appreciated the fact that I came here, and the overwhelming response has been one of tremendous curiosity," says the 24-year-old, sitting in a café in the Negev desert, casually ordering a drink in Hebrew - a language he has picked up with ease.

Sukhera, a recent university graduate, decided to come to Israel because it was the only place in the world that offered the kind of medical training he was looking for: a hands-on, multicultural, community-oriented program.

He found it in the desert city of Beersheba at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which offers an English-language M.D. program in international health and medicine in collaboration with Columbia University. The four-year program draws students from all over the world and sends them out to do internships in Africa, India, South America and other developing countries.

Sukhera, who just completed his second year of studies, raves about the program. But for him, the mere experience of being a practicing Muslim living in the Jewish state has been equally eye-opening.

With his dark skin, the son of Pakistani immigrants expected to literally stand out in Israel. "My first surprise was discovering that unlike the Jews I know from Toronto, not everyone in Israel is Askenazi. I had no idea that the majority of students, especially here in Beersheba, are Sephardi Jews from Morocco, Iraq, Yemen and even India. In fact, I blend in more easily than many of my fair-skinned, blond classmates from the American Midwest."

Another irony for Sukhera was experiencing one of his most memorable Ramadan holidays in the Jewish state. "In Canada, I used to feel very isolated during Ramadan. All my fellow students would be eating in the cafeteria, while I lingered outside, alone, fasting. Here there is a large Beduin population, so everyone is familiar with the customs of the holiday. At lunchtime you have tons of people sitting on the lawn, with their prayer beads, fasting. I'd never been in an atmosphere with such a large Muslim population during Ramadan, and I felt very much at home."

When Sukhera arrived in Israel two years ago, the intifada was raging. But living in the periphery of the country - the Negev desert - the bombings in the central cities of Israel seemed far away. Until one hot August day when Sukhera was hanging up his laundry, and heard a startling boom - followed by a second one. From the window of his apartment, he looked down to see a scene of carnage at the busy intersection below. Two suicide bombers had blown themselves up, killing 16 people, including a three-year-old boy, and wounding over 100.

"It was one of the most unforgettable days of my life. Until then, I had always argued that in resolving conflicts you have to be unemotional. But after witnessing a terror attack, I understood how difficult it is not to react emotionally. When you see people murdered in front of your eyes, you can't not be emotional about it. It is part of being human."

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/North+American+Muslim+learns+
about+tolerance+in+Israel+10-Jul-2005.htm