Ex-Hasid Leads Joint West Bank Tours With Ex-Hamas Militant
"I grew up as an anti-peace activist. I had never met an Israeli or a Jew other than soldiers or settlers. I was as extreme as you can get."
Kobi Skolnick (L), brought up as an ultra-orthodox Jew, and Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah now run tours together. Ten years ago Skolnik, then an Israeli soldier, fired shots at Abu Sarah's aunt's house in Hebron.
As a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces, Kobi Skolnick once fired shots at Aziz Abu Sarah's aunt's house in the West Bank town of Hebron.
Ten years later, Skolnick, a former Israeli settler, who grew up in an ultra-orthodox household, and Abu Sarah, once a Palestinian militant, work together explaining both sides of the Middle East conflict to tourists.
They discovered the uncomfortable coincidence during a tour in Hebron for Mejdi, a "dual-narrative" tour company co-owned by Abu Sarah, where every tour is jointly led by Jewish and Palestinian guides.
Abu Sarah, 30, said: "He (Skolnick) was talking about which houses he shot at, and one of the houses was my aunt's."…Skolnick, 30, grew up in an ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jewish community and moved to a settlement near Nablus when he was 14.…
Couldn't have been all "that" ultra-orthodox if he served in the IDF.
Posted by: Dr. Dave | August 26, 2011 at 10:34 AM
Sounds like a good money maker
Posted by: The Real Joe | August 26, 2011 at 11:25 AM
Kol hakavod!
Posted by: Betzalel | August 26, 2011 at 12:36 PM
Sounds like a good money maker
Posted by: The Real Joe | August 26, 2011 at 11:25 AM
So does your mom.
Posted by: The fake joe | August 26, 2011 at 01:25 PM
Dr. Dave:
Hardalim can be even crazier than Haredim
Posted by: Seraphya | August 27, 2011 at 09:59 AM