Two Arab-Israeli teenage girls stabbed a security guard near the Ramla central bus station on Thursday, Feb. 4. Many Kansas Citians are familiar with Ramla as the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City provides funding for several programs in the area.
The girls, 13, reportedly pulled kitchen knives out of a school backpack and began stabbing the guard, 27, when he asked them for identification. He was taken to a nearby hospital with stab wounds in his hand and leg.
A soldier and a civilian reportedly subdued the teens and held them until police arrived to arrest them and take them for questioning.
Alan Edelman, director of engagement and leadership development of the Jewish Federation, explained that Ramla is unique as a microcosm of Israeli society. It contains one of the most diverse gatherings of immigrant Jewish populations — Bucharian, Indian, Ethiopian, Russian and South American immigrants, both veteran and new — as well veteran Jewish-Israelis. It also has a highly diverse Arab population that includes Christians, Muslims and Bedouins.
The teens involved in the stabbing reportedly are from Jawarish, an Arab-Israeli village located about 3 miles southwest of Ramla.
Mayor Yoel Lavy made the following statement following this incident, noting that this event “does not reflect the Arab sector in Ramla.”
“Ramla is a multi-cultural city in which Arabs and Jews live together in coexistence. We are all and will remain Ramla residents living together Jews and Arabs alike. I call upon all to behave calmly and responsibly.”
According to Ofer Lichtig, the director of the Israel Office for both the local Jewish Federation as well as the Federation of Northern New Jersey, Arab leaders including the chairperson of the Jawarish neighborhood made similar statements.
Initial news reports called the attack nationally motivated.
The two girls are cousins and attend the same school. The school’s principal has been promoting shared living in the last few years and the night of the attack, other principals in the community gathered to support the school principal’s programs.
“This is very moving,” said Lichtig. “It is a harsh incident and we know that the girls were inspired by incitement on social media, but it is great to see that the vast majority of Ramla residents, Jews and Arabs, are eager to keep the city of Ramla as an island of sanity.”
Jewish Federation President and CEO Todd Stettner expressed the hope for the security guard’s speedy recovery and is impressed by the way the city of Ramla is handling the incident. He praised Mayor Lavy for the way he calmly handled the incident.
“It is also a credit to the infrastructure we, Kansas City and our Israel and Overseas committee, helped to put in place these many years with our partnership programs that have supported Jewish and Arab Israeli coexistence in this mixed city,” he said, noting he has sent a letter of support to the mayor, the principal of the school and the Gishurim program Jewish Federation helps fund, which supports coexistence. Gishurim gives residents the opportunity to resolve conflicts peacefully, including one of Gishurim’s critical projects, the Community Dialogue Initiative. This initiative encourages intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution through the Leadership Forum and the Young Adult Forum.
Edelman is concerned that the Arab-Jewish tensions that have continued to flare up nationally since the July 2014 Protective Edge War “have the dangerous potential to find themselves expressed in the everyday life of Ramla.”
“In the vast majority of communities in Israel, Arabs and Jews lived segregated from each other, both preventing communication and limiting the frequency of conflict. The mixed cities — Ramla, Haifa, Lod, Akko and Yaffo — are different. Resentments about national affairs are prone to be expressed, particularly in a town like Ramla that is challenged by social and financial hardship, limited economic opportunity, and underserved city services,” Edelman said.
“Fortunately, the positive side is also true. Ramla has the unique opportunity to offer the rest of Israeli society a national model that it is deeply lacking — positive, respectful dialogue and cooperation between differing groups around shared practical needs. The Community Dialogue Initiative supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City offers the chance to problem solve before conflicts arise, mediate through conflicts, and contribute to a healthier and more peaceful co-existence that is based around practical needs, not political ideologies.”
Stettner further commented that Kansas City is lucky to have Lichtig available to “give us the background on these kind of things and provide us with the additional information on how our resources in Israel are making a difference everywhere everyday!”
JTA contributed to this report.