The 48 Israeli Arabs from the village of Abu Ghosh comprise a unique unit among the Home Front Command's search-and-rescue battalions. The battalions work at disaster sites here and abroad to extricate survivors and bodies from the rubble of buildings.
In an area of the world where Israeli-Arab relations often are strained at best and violent at worst, the example of co-existence between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs from Abu Ghosh is unique -- and the residents there are proud of it.
The Arabs in the search and rescue unit see their service as a way to make a contribution to their country -- which is Israel, they said.
"We didn't [serve in] the army," said Hani Jaber, 38, the commander of the unit from Abu Ghosh. "We thought about something good [we could] do [to] say thanks for the country. We think it's a good idea. [It gives us] a good feeling."
"Abu Ghosh always supported the peace process," said Azmi Jaber, 22, Hani's assistant. "If [we want to] feel as equal citizens, we have to do our share. We're not in the army so we do our share helping people."
Israeli Arabs are not drafted into military service as Israeli Jewish men and women are when they finish high school. Many Bedouins choose to join the army but very few other Israeli Arabs volunteer to serve.
Col. Yossi Sagiv, head of the Jerusalem District's Home Front Command, said the unit from Abu Ghosh exhibits a high level of professionalism -- "better than other soldiers [in the battalions]."
The rescuers, who are considered civilian volunteers in the army but not soldiers, begin their service with a two-week training course. Then they return about twice a year for several days of training, said Sagiv.
The Abu Ghosh unit was established about three years ago after a four-story Jerusalem banquet hall collapsed due to faulty construction as wedding guests were dancing and dining at a reception. The Home Front Command's rescue battalions worked to extricate survivors and bodies from the rubble.
"We [understood] that we need people that can come very fast to the area," said Sagiv. Abu Ghosh is only about seven miles from Jerusalem and is situated very close to the main highway to Tel Aviv.
The semi-annual training for the Abu Ghosh unit took place this week at the central base for the Home Front Command in Nes Ziyyona, south of Tel Aviv. There, huge piles of concrete slabs simulate collapsed buildings. Rescuers dig and tunnel and lift, searching for life-size dolls in the rubble.
A team of Abu Ghosh rescuers dressed in Israeli army uniforms and yellow helmets, speaking in Arabic and Hebrew, used a power drill to chip away at a tunnel under one of these rubble heaps.
Nearby another group was digging a tunnel by hand through a dirt mound, pulling out bucket after bucket of red earth and propping the sides with wooden boards. A third group was learning about different rescue tools.
"They are really nice," said Lt. Keren Khryzman, an instructor on the base. "They really love to work... It is a pleasure to work with them...You don't have to tell them what to do; they just do it."
According to Hani, the group hasn't been called into action yet and they hope there is never a need for them to do so but they are ready when the time comes.
Abu Ghosh
The rescuers in the Abu Ghosh unit range in age from about 20 to 42. According to Hani, about 60 percent of them work in the construction industry, while others are in the restaurant business or employed in hospitals.
The head of the Abu Ghosh local council, Salim Jaber, supported the idea of the rescue unit from the beginning, and residents of the village are proud of the team, Hani said. There are about 150 people from Abu Ghosh just waiting to join the unit, he added.
Abu Ghosh, a picturesque Muslim village, has some 6,000 residents, almost all of whom are related. It is known among Israeli Jews -- who visit freely and regularly without fear -- for its friendly residents, excellent restaurants and music festivals that the village holds four times a year.
It is situated at the site of Biblical town of Kirjath-Jearim, where the Ark of the Covenant rested before being brought to Jerusalem.
Before and during Israel's War of Independence in 1948, the village's mukhtar decided that his people would remain neutral and not join the fight against the Jews.
Hani, an assistant food and beverage manager and father of two sons, says he sees residents of Abu Ghosh in a special position among Israeli Arabs to help Israel make peace.
"They call us the peace place," said Hani. "First we have special people. We came from all the same family - one father with four sons."
Three hundred years ago the family patriarch journeyed here from the Kafkaz Mountains when the area was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. He had four sons, which gave the village its only four family names - Jaber, Abed Rahman, Ibrahim and Otman, Hani said.
Another unique element, he said, is that Abu Ghosh is surrounded by Jewish places and Jewish people while Israeli Arab villages in the northern part of the country are clustered together.
Azmi, a pastry chef who is planning to open a new bakery in a nearby Jewish town, said he believes that other Israeli Arabs should use Abu Ghosh as an example.
"I hope that the other Arabs in Israel will take us as a model," said Azmi. "It's a very beautiful country but the people should understand each other."
"There is a possibility [for peace]," said Hani. He said he would like to see a school opened in Abu Ghosh where the village would host other Arabs and teach them how to live in peace with the Jewish people.
As for the Israelis, they can't negotiate with everyone around them all at the same time. They should start by improving the infrastructure and conditions in Israeli Arab villages, which are decidedly below the standards of Israeli towns and communities, Hani said.
That would "give a push" to relations because it would signal to the Israeli Arabs that Israel wants and needs them. Then the Israeli Arabs could help Israel make peace with the Palestinians, he said.
As for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Hani added, if Israel thinks he is bad then it should find others with whom it can talk. But the important thing is not to stop talking, he said.
