Rami owns Ramini, the best Cafe in midtown, with the best pastries, all homemade. He is my first stop every morning for years and I consider him family. Like a big brother.

Rami is an Arab, Muslim, and Israeli. He was born in Israel, in the village of Manda in the north of the country. I asked him last week about his family and how he was doing these days. We were having an unprecedented wave of violence between Arabs and Jews inside Israel.

His family has lived in Israel for generations. Israel is home for him, but does it feel like home? He said he didn’t like and couldn’t trust either the Israeli or Palestinian governments.

In the past week, we would just look at each other, quietly, sharing the same pain of unsolved conflict.
Most of us, like Rami and me, just want the same thing – to live peacefully next to each other.

Can we see both sides? Is there hope for our two nations?

Happy Tuesday,
Yael