Arabs Proudly Serve in the Israel Defense Force

As it turns out, Israeli Arabs & other Arabic speaking minorities in Israel, proudly & unabashedly speak of their service in the Israeli army.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israel is often portrayed, even from within, as racist and hateful toward Arabs. Naturally, there couldn’t be any Arabs serving in the Israeli army, and certainly none proudly doing so.

Arabs Proudly Serve in Israeli Army

Mona Lisa Abdo, proud to have served (in a combat unit) in the IDF – Photo courtesy: Screenshot

Not so! The reality is that many thousands of Arabs and Arabic-speakers are not only Israeli soldiers, but outspoken advocates of both the IDF and the Jewish state they serve.

One of the Facebook pages for Arabs in the Israeli army posted a video interview this week with a young Mona Lisa Abdo, a young Israeli Arab Christian who recently completed her IDF service.

The video (above) is in Arabic, so most of our readers won’t understand the narration or dialogue, but it remains a powerful rebuttal of all who claim that Israel is a racist, apartheid or otherwise discriminatory nation.

The Arabic intro text posted to Facebook along with the video read:

“Flashes of our Military: Mona Lisa Abdo – Mona Lisa tells us her unique story that deserves our respect and appreciation. Young Mona Lisa…volunteered to serve in the IDF, even though by law Israeli Christians are not conscripted. Mona Lisa not only volunteered for service, but struggled to join an infantry combat unit. Last week, she successfully completed her military service. We appreciate you Mona Lisa! You are a role model for us all.”

The video received numerous comments and remarks, most of them hostile. But the comment section was also notable for the not-insignificant number of replies by Israeli Arabs, writing in Hebrew, encouraging Mona Lisa to pay the haters no heed.

 

View original Israel Today publication at: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24374/Default.aspx?hp=readmore