Let’s Talk about Israel: Grappling with Dissonance in Jewish Identity

“If the Arabs didn’t kill me, my wife would.” 

Did he just say that? 

After the split second necessary for me to process his words and maintain a neutral expression, I answer: 

“Why’s that?”

“She doesn’t want me walking through the Arab neighborhood.” 

Obviously.

We are talking, of course, about which gate to use to exit the kotel.

I think he means it as a joke, but it’s not funny.

On this visit to Israel, I have been floored multiple times by this kind of abject fear, prejudice and even hatred—veiled and otherwise—toward the vaguely-defined “Arabs.”