Arab woman gets kidney from Jewish man killed in clashes

STORY: Mideast Transplant - Arab woman gets kidney from Jewish man killed in clashes

LENGTH: 01:58

FIRST RUN: IN

RESTRICTIONS:

TYPE: Hebrew/Natsound

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

STORY NUMBER: 4327481

DATELINE: 24 May 2021 - Jerusalem

SHOTLIST:

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jerusalem - 24 May 2021

1. Randa Aweis (with her daughter Niveen) at hospital after receiving kidney donation from Jewish man who died last Monday from his wounds after he was pelted with stones during violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in the mixed city of Lod

2. Various of General Surgery B unit at Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center

3. Nurses' station

4. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Randa Aweis, 58; Arab patient who received kidney donation from Jewish man who died in violence:

"After 10 years I told myself, enough, there's no kidney, don't want it. Last week on Monday, I went to my dialysis (treatment), then I came home, I got a call from Hadassah. I could not believe it, I'm telling you I couldn't believe it.

5. Aweis' hand

6. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Randa Aweis, 58; Arab patient who received kidney donation from Jewish man who died in violence:

"I thank them. Thank you, as much as I can. They saved me. They don't have any problem, Arab or Jew. From what I heard of him, people say he was a good (man), Yigal (man who died) was good, didn't do any harm, why was he murdered? That's forbidden, haram (shame in Arabic). There must be peace between Jews and Arabs. Real peace, not lies."

7. Aweis in hospital bed

8. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Randa Aweis, 58; Arab patient who received kidney donation from Jewish man who died in violence:

"I spoke to his poor wife, she cried a bit. She saw me as we did a video call. I was at intensive care. It was a a bit difficult for her. What can we do?"

(Reporter: "Are you planning to meet?")

"Yes, but not yet. I need to get stronger first, then we'll visit them at their home. We'll sit and talk."

9. Nurses' station

10. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Randa Aweis, 58; Arab patient who received kidney donation from Jewish man who died in violence:

"(He) saved me. Yigal saved me, and as much as I say thank you, to the family to everyone, it's mish kifaya ('not enough' in Arabic)."

11. Aweis exiting room with daughter

STORYLINE

A Jewish man killed during violent clashes in Lod has given new life to an Arab woman long in need of a kidney transplant.

Yigal Yehoshua, 56, died last Monday after being pelted with rocks amid violence between Arabs and Jews in the mixed Israeli city.

The ethnic violence came amid the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers that was triggered by protests and clashes in Jerusalem.

In Lod and other mixed cities inside Israel, gangs of Arabs and Jews fought each other in the streets, and torched cars and businesses.

But after days and nights of war and ugliness, there was a rare moment of hope, when Randa Aweis, a 58-year-old mother-of-six, received one of Yehoshua's kidneys after a 10-year wait.

He was registered as an organ donor and, medically, the Jewish man and the Arab woman were a match.

"I could not believe it," she said in an interview Monday at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

"I'm telling you, I couldn't believe it."

"They saved me," she said.

"People say he was a good man, that he didn't do any harm, so why was he murdered?...That's forbidden. There must be peace between Jews and Arabs. Real peace, not lies."

Israelis, long accustomed to periodic unrest in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, were shocked by the violence, which hit closer to home than at any point since the 2000 intifada, or Palestinian uprising.

At times, it seemed like the start of a civil war.

Israel's Arab citizens, who make up 20% of the population, said the violence was rooted in longstanding grievances.

They have citizenship, including the right to vote, but face widespread discrimination.

They also have close familial ties to the Palestinians and largely identify with their cause, leading many Jewish Israelis to view them with suspicion.

"We will settle accounts with whoever participated in this murder; nobody will escape punishment," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when Yehoshua's death was announced.

Police have arrested several suspects in connection with the violence.

Aweis never met Yehoshua, but she spoke to his widow in a tearful video call.

She hopes to visit his family in person once she has recovered from the transplant.

"Yigal saved me," she said.

She added that any thanks she could offer to his family was not enough.

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