Honoring Sayef Bisan Who Died for Israel

Staff Sergeant Sayef Bisan, 21, from the Druze village of Jat in western Galilee, was killed at the Kissufim crossing to Gaza by Palestinian terrorists on April 6. Sayef was serving in an elite reconnaissance unit, Egoz, of the Golani Brigade. His father served in the IDF; his brother is a combat officer. His Uncle said that Sayef was raised in a Zionist home, brought up to love his country. "We raise our children," he said, "to contribute to this country which we are part of."

We must praise and support these loyal Druze families whose sons stand side by side with Jewish Israelis in defense of our land and theirs. Making this effort is especially required at a time when the loyalty to Israel of some Druze and Bedouin and Israeli Arabs is uncertain. The next time we are in Western Galilee I want to stop at Jat to meet the Sayef family and tell them we honor them. Such a family, and perhaps the entire village, is a model of the way Jews and others lived before Palestinian hatred of Jews was fed to their children. Those days were not perfect, but they offered hope of coexistence without barrier fences against terror.