Abbas is a Palestinian Arab citizen of Israel who happens to be a devout Muslim and a member of Israel’s parliament, where he leads the important United Arab List party. And we cannot condemn it and say ‘but’ — that word ‘but’ has become immoral.” (Recent polls show overwhelming Israeli Arab condemnation of the Hamas attack.) Abbas sees the complexities lived by that Israeli Jewish mother in Jerusalem who never lost trust in her kids’ Palestinian Arab teacher, and by that Israeli Arab bicycle shop owner who spontaneously reached out a hand to ease the pain of Jewish children he’d never met. At the same time, though, Abbas spoke about the searing pain Israeli Palestinian Arabs and Bedouins feel at seeing their relatives pummeled and killed in Gaza. “One of the hardest things today is to be an Israeli Arab,” Abbas said to me.

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