As we settle to watch our favorite satire show on tv, the news breaks in of a terror attack in Ramat in Jerusalem, with many victims. A six-year-old boy dead, many others wounded, The name of the driver of the car from East Jerusalem that rammed into a bus and fired his gun was announced almost immediately. The newscaster is Moslem, and he is now interviewing the medical staff treating the victims – the staff I am sure is also comprised of people of mixed religions. Suleiman, the broadcaster, seems to be having a bit of trouble keeping his reportage cool – as a human being he is mortified by the fact that the victims may be of the same family, that they were off to rest on Shabbat. His sympathies are clearly with the victims and not with the youthful assassin –
The unfolding tragedies remind us of the multiple complexities of our situation.