A veteran of the Israeli army, he recovered from a grave injury. Now he defends Israel while urging Israeli Arabs to integrate into Israeli society. Yoseph Haddad describes himself as a Christian Arab Israeli. A native of Haifa, he served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israeli Arabs are not required to serve, but Haddad volunteered at the age of 18. A fierce defender of Israel, he spoke recently at Young Israel of Brookline. Haddad speaks in many venues, including U.S. colleges and universities. “Sometimes I start my talk about Israel without explaining who I am,” he said. “Someone always gets up and says, ‘But you’re Jewish, so of course you defend Israel.’ Then I tell my name, in the most Arabic way, and that I was in the IDF. That gets their attention.” During the Second Lebanon War, Haddad lost his foot, which was later reattached. His experiences led him and some like-minded colleagues to found the organization Vouching for Each Other. The group includes Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and Bedouins. The goal of the organization, said Haddad, “is to bridge gaps of mistrust, to help Arab Israelis become more a part of Israeli society.” A Haifa native, as a child Haddad moved with his family to Nazareth, the city with the highest Arab population in Israel. “My friends were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Druze,” said Haddad, now 33. “There was no politics. We all just wanted to play soccer. When you play you count on your friends to help you score; there’s nothing about who is what religion. We relied on each other.” “When I saw my Jewish friends getting drafted while I wasn’t, I thought, what’s going on here?” said Haddad. “I decided to volunteer for the army and serve my country.” He determined that he would serve only if “I could serve in the best brigade, and that’s the Golani.” The officer to whom he made this demand responded, “This isn’t a grocery store, you don’t get to choose.” Haddad passed the necessary exams and tests and did indeed serve in the Golani. In October 2003, a female suicide bomber killed 21 people and injured 51, including four Arabs, in a crowded restaurant in Northern Israel. “I realized that when a suicide bomber kills, he doesn’t think about who he’s killing. When I joined the IDF I wasn’t defending Jewish people, Christians or Muslims. I was defending Israel.” https://www.jewishboston.com/read/yoseph-haddad-arab-christian-defender-of-israel/ Came across this information ... what can i say besides Bravo
