Arab Woman Gets Kidney From Jewish Man Killed In Israel Riot

JERUSALEM, Israel  — In these difficult times, a Jewish man killed in an outburst of Mideast abuse has brought a new lease on life to an Arab woman gets kidney from Jewish.

Yigal Yehoshua, 56, was killed on May 17 in Israel’s mixed city of Lod after being pelted with rocks during clashes between Arabs and Jews.

Protests and riots in Jerusalem sparked ethnic strife, which also sparked an 11-day Gaza War.

Groups of Arabs and Jews clashed in the streets of Lod and other mixed cities in Israel, torching cars and businesses and savagely beating anyone on the other side who entered their way.

However, after days and nights of fighting and ugliness, Randa Aweis, a 58-year-old mother of six, received one of Yehoshua’s kidneys after a 10-year wait.

He was an organ donor, and the Jewish man and the Arab woman were medically compatible.

In an interview Monday at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, she said, “I couldn’t believe it.” “I couldn’t believe it,” says the speaker.

“They rescued me,” she said. “People suggest he was a decent guy who did no wrong, so why was he murdered?” they ask. …… That is not permitted. There must be genuine harmony between Jews and Arabs.”

The bloodshed, which struck closer to home than at any time since the Palestinian intifada, or rebellion, in 2000, stunned Israelis who had become used to sporadic unrest in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. It seemed to be the onset of a civil war at times.

The conflict was rooted in long-standing grievances, according to Israel’s Arab people, who make up 20% of the population. They are residents, with the right to vote, but they are subjected to systematic prejudice. Many Jewish Israelis are suspicious of them because they have strong family links to Palestinians and largely side with their cause.

When Yigal Yehoshua’s death was revealed last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I share in the grief of the family of the late Yigal Yehoshua, who was murdered in a lynch carried out by Arab rioters in Lod.”

“Whoever was involved in this crime will be held accountable; no one will go free,” he said.

Several people have been arrested in connection with the violence.

Aweis never knew Yehoshua, but she did have a tearful video chat with his widow. When she has recovered from the transplant, she plans to pay a visit to his family.

“Yigal saved my life, and no amount of gratitude I can express to the family, to anyone, is enough.”