Esam

There is land that grows people whose roots are planted in it for generations upon generations. People like Esam, who grew up in a stable and modest home in Kufr Yasif in the Western Galilee. His father - an Arabic and history teacher. His mother - the first hairdresser in the village, a pioneer in her way, a woman who worked with her hands and with courage in a profession that was hardly open to women back then. At age ten he visited the local church with his sister, and this visit blew a new spirit into him, an inner flame that never went out. Since then, his faith became his identity, and this is no small thing for someone who holds multiple identities: Arab. Christian. Palestinian. Israeli. Abroad they ask him: 'So are you Israeli or Palestinian?' In Israel people assume too much too quickly that if he is Arab, he must be Muslim, and if he is Muslim, he must be dangerous.'

Yet Esam's identity is firmly rooted in a faith that transcends identity politics. All the other facets of his identity are merely circles revolving around it.

At the Peles Center he felt the connection of the two axes between which he moved in his life: profession and heart. Justice and mercy. Work that is also assistance. Challenges that are also milestones. When he talks about the people he met, he gets emotional as if he is meeting them again right now.

"I saw that all people have the same problems, and that the problems among different nations are the same problems."

"Peles is an answer to so many questions, so many people. It is an ideal model." J. arrived terrified, frightened, in pain. With a tangible danger and an immediate threat to her life, simply because she chose to believe in a different faith from the one she was born into. In those days, the team was very small, with almost no resources - but with a lot of creative faith and deep familiarity with the systems. They navigated a minefield: applications to COGAT and the UN, searching for temporary shelter, social support, coordination between professionals, connections from every direction. A true rescue operation, accompaniment that lasted over a year. And in the end, after a race against time - they succeeded in flying her to a safe place. "A large law firm would have charged a fortune for this and wouldn't have done half of what we did," says Esam. Unlike in the commercial law world where success is measured by status and money. For Esam, success is dignity returned to a person. Stable ground to stand on. A head held high. A team working together.

"The very fact that you help people, and you manifest God's heart, that is success as far as I'm concerned."

L. arrived at the center with fear clinging to her skin. A young woman who supportively provides for and raises four small children. The children's father was violent toward them. She did everything in her power to get far away from him, but he always made sure to track her down and instill terror in her. Esam stepped into this broken world and helped issue protective orders one after another. In her struggle for the safety of her children, she taught Esam what courage is.

S. was courageous too. At first, he caused Esam frustration: another parking ticket, another fine, another warning. Esam almost despaired, but everything changed the day he met S. face to face. S. arrived with his son - a 16-year-old boy in a wheelchair, almost completely paralyzed. The father did not leave his side for a moment: adjusted his legs, supported his head, spoke to him gently. Esam realized that the tickets did not stem from negligence, but from boundless devotion. The father took his son with him everywhere, and the tickets accumulated because of the father's mistake in thinking that a disabled parking permit allowed parking in places where it was not permitted. Esam helped this father in every possible way: contacting lawyers, calls with the municipality, thorough examination of every single file, long negotiations over debts that allegedly had no way of being erased. In the end, in a way even Esam finds difficult to explain, almost all debts were erased. For Esam, this was a wonderful lesson in a father's love for his son.

"Sometimes I ask: Is what I am doing enough? Often I feel no. Many times I feel, no, something is still missing, we need to invest more, as much as possible."

As the only man on the team, he brings with him a listening, present, and gentle male voice. It is important to him that we stick to our vision and promote one another in order to promote the center. He guards love within a group that carries wars of nations on its back. He connects - between Jews and Arabs, between large systems and small people, between professional knowledge and human intuition, between a stormy world and steady loyalty. An ambassador of peace.

He believes that it is no coincidence that the center is located exactly where the Israeli-Palestinian wound is bleeding. And that it is no coincidence that he, Esam, is here. And he would like to impart this belief to all of us: if we are here now, we are probably part of the answer.

"We are living hope that it is indeed possible to live together, despite all the challenges."