An Evening of Recognition and Healing

On November 18 the Peace Museum held a special evening in the hall of the Pluralistic Spiritual Center remembering the righteous and sharing stories of heroism. The program was the third in a series held in conjunction with the Peace Museum’s project: "Remembering the Righteous" honoring those who acted in different places, all over the world, to save the lives of others.

The evening focused on the topic of Palestinians who saved Jews during the events of 1929, especially in Hebron. Special guest speakers were Avraham (Avrum) Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Parliament and former head of the Jewish Agency, whose mother and her family were saved by a Palestinian family during the Hebron massacre, and Prof. Hillel Cohen who presented the background of the events of 1929 and their significances in the history of the relations between Palestinians and Jews. Dr. Ron Dudai, human rights activist, academic and expert in transitional justice, discussed moral and ethical issues around acts of saving the lives of others. The question of if rescuers are righteous was discussed.

Spontaneously, two WASNS residents took the floor and talked about how their parents were also saved during the Hebron massacre. Yuval Admoni shared his mother’s story and Boaz Kita’in talked about how his father and grandfather survived this event. Prof. Yair Auron, member of WASNS, initiated and moderated the evening, and spoke of the relevance and importance of sharing these stories in the shadow of the hatred and fear of today. He insisted that at times one must go against the mainsteam. The guiding principal of this project is to emphasize the sanctity and value of all human life.

The evening opened and ended with music. Classical musician and village resident Yuval Admoni, opened the evening, and also closed the evening, playing together with his wife and fellow musician Tammy Kanazawa, in a piano duet.