“Friend, you and I are the same. If I were in trouble, would you not help me?” said the Arab who saved an Israeli motorist from a lynch mob, risking his own life by doing so.
Moshe German, 47, escaped a lynch mob on Sunday thanks to an Arab passerby who pulled him to safety. The next day, German returned to Taibe to personally thank Majdi Baloum, the 37-year-old man who rescued him.
“You don’t understand how moving this is,” German said in an interview with the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. “I went here via the same road where I was almost killed yesterday. I saw the remains of my car, now just ashes. Images of what happened just flash in front of me all the time.”
“They threw rocks at me, concrete blocks and fireworks,” he continued. “I was terrified. I thought about my wife Eina and my sons Roey and Eitan, who is two-and-a-half. I thought my family would lose me.”
German said he had tried to hide in his car while the mob continued the violent attack. Suddenly, Baloum pulled him out and transferred him to his own vehicle.
In fact, Baloum, a father of five, put himself in a life-threatening situation by saving German.
“Even though they threw blocks at your jeep, you just went faster,” German told Baloum, Yediot reports. “Did you understand that you were saving my life?”
“Calm down,” Baloum responded, according to Yediot. “Friend, you and I are the same. If I were in trouble, wouldn’t you help me?
“When I saw they threw at your car large amounts of blocks and I heard fireworks explode, I realized that you would have no chance to survive and that you needed to be rescued – and fast,” Baloum explained. “I saw you trapped in the car. I knew there was no time to lose. You were in mortal danger…. I remember your face and hands were full of blood…. Your car began to burn….
“I’m glad I could save your life,” Baloum said.
The event happened in the midst of the current surge of violence taking place throughout the country, including major riots on Saturday in the North, where there are many Arab villages.
“We live in one country,” Baloum stated in Yediot story. “Let’s hope the violence will stop already.”
Author: United with Israel Staff
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