Wounded Syrian Boy Rides Donkey to Israel

Tuesday, September 09, 2014 | Aviel Schneider ISRAEL TODAY

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A badly wounded 12-year-old Syrian boy recently rode a donkey to the safety of neighboring Israel, one of hundreds of his embattled countrymen to make the desperate journey, only to find themselves lovingly embraced by the same Jews they were taught to hate.

The boy and his family suffered serious injuries during bombing of their neighborhood near Damascus as part of Syria’s ongoing civil war.

He was blinded and his arms were badly wounded in the shelling. Doctors at Ziv Medical Center in northern Israel told Israel Today the boy’s harrowing tale.

First, the family made their way from Damascus to Lebanon, where doctors amputated one of his arms, but were able to do little more. The boy was released from the local hospital, but the family was unable to return to Damascus with escalating fighting blocking the roads.

The boy’s brother, desperate and determined, decided to take his sibling to Israel.

As they reached the Syrian side of Mt. Hermon, the older boy loaded his little brother on a donkey and they started the difficult climb to the border, where, to their surprise, they were warmly greeted by Israeli soldiers who immediately transferred them to Ziv Hospital.

Doctors at the hospital told us that their newest Syrian patient has been overwhelmed by the treatment he receives in Israel. While the boy and his brother worry for their family, they constantly express thanks for the Israeli doctors and nurses who have selflessly provided love and care. Given what they were raised to believe about Israel, neither boy could have dreamed of such an outcome to their arduous journey.

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Tuesday, September 9, 2014