Such unlikely meetings have become more commonplace after the pandemic struck with particular fury in Jerusalem’s most insular and religious Jewish enclaves, just a few miles — but cultural light-years — from the Arab neighborhoods where Kharouf and other Palestinian physicians and nurses live.

The pandemic has created a bridge between their worlds. Hundreds of Jewish covid-19 patients are being treated by Arab practitioners they might never meet outside the hospital. Sick Palestinians are getting care from Jewish medical staff they might otherwise avoid.

For many health-care workers, exhausting themselves shift after shift, this shared fight against a common enemy has provided a boost of mutual esteem amid the dark days of crisis.

“I am sure we may have extremely different political views, but they are very respectful to me,” said Kharouf of his Jewish patients, who are mostly from ultra-Orthodox groups, known here as Haredim.

For his part, Kharouf, 30, has learned much about Judaism’s strictest sects. He has helped covid-weakened men wrap the …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]