JANNATAH: Ziva Sharp said her Jewish faith motivated her to travel from Jerusalem to the West Bank to stand up for Palestinians — a commitment that led to her being set upon by fellow Israelis also professing to be driven by Judaism.
Sharp and around 30 other activists are part of a small movement of Israelis, many of them religious Jews, who periodically go to the occupied West Bank with a mission to protect Palestinians under growing assault by violent settlers.
On Tuesday, at least five of the activists were injured as settlers violently expelled them, throwing stones, unleashing pepper spray and injuring this AFP journalist, who was hit in the chin with a stick.
Sharp said she joined the movement to “practice my commitment to my Judaism, which is humanistic and not violent,” and to “decrease, to the extent that we can, the damage the Jewish people do to the Palestinians.”
She said her inspiration came from Jewish religious texts. “We are supposed to be part of tzelem elokim (the image of God), and to follow God’s ways, and God’s ways are pity, compassion and justice.”
