Mr. Nawi is a man I read about in the New York Times. He is a regular guy who owns a pluming business but who is also an Israeli activist who connects very deeply with the Palestinians. Below are some of the highlights from the Article that are so very true and honest. I think the powerful words DECENCY and UNDERSTAND are key to Mr. Nawi and I pray can be the future of the Middle East conflict.
(photo taken at the Mt. of Beatitudes, Galilee)
His family has trouble understanding his priorities. His mother says she thinks he is wasting his time. And many Israelis, when told of his work, wonder why he is not helping his own.
Mr. Nawi has an answer.
“I don’t consider my work political,”
he said between phone calls as he drove.
“I don’t have a solution to this dispute. I just know that what is going on here is wrong. This is not about ideology. It is about decency.”
Mr. Nawi attributes his activism to two things: as a teenager, his family lived next door to the leader of Israel's Communist Party, Reuven Kaminer, who influenced him. And he is gay.
“Being gay has made me understand what it is like to be a despised minority,” Mr. Nawi said.
Several years ago, he had a relationship with a Palestinian from the West Bank and ended up being convicted on charges of allowing his companion to live illegally in Israel. His companion was jailed for months.
Mr. Nawi said harassment against him had come in many forms. Settlers shout vicious antigay epithets. His plumbing business has been audited, and he was handed a huge tax bill that he said he did not deserve. He is certain that his phone calls are monitored. And those army jeeps are never far behind.“I’m here to change reality,”
he said.
“The only Israelis these people know are settlers and soldiers. Through me they know a different Israeli. And I’ll keep coming until I know that the farmers here can work their fields.”
