TOW #6

               Hannah Greenwald is a High School student from New Jersey, who's blog was published in the Times of Israel. Hannah's article was about an experience she had with an Uber driver. Hannah is Israeli, and her driver was a Muslim. The beginning of the article discusses the numerous tensions between the two groups, and summarizes a recent killing of Israelis. She explains her hesitation when the app informs her that her driver will be Mohammad, but she proceeds with the ride anyway. Once she was in the car, Mohammad started friendly conversation with her. Eventually, it came up that Hannah was Jewish. However, instead of Mohammad being hostile to her, he was immensely intrigued by her religion. They both began discussing their religions, informing one another on the similarities and differences, and what they thought was interesting. Greenwald even speaks the small amount of Arabic she has been learning for him. Throughout the piece, Hannah Greenwald uses dialogue to appeal to pathos in order to prove to her audience that society should not judge a person based on stereotypes that were given to their religion, ethnicity, etc. Towards the end of her story, she writes,
 "“And here, people think we’re all terrorists. When they see my name, Mohammad, they don’t want me to drive them"
And at that moment my heart broke for him and his people.
“Why do you want to learn Arabic, anyway?” he went on to ask.
“Because I don’t think you’re all terrorists.” I responded.""
This dialogue triggers similar feelings that Hannah experienced in the audience. This helps put the audience in Mohammad's shoes, and have them realize that the stereotypes society has put against him are unfair. Hannah, who's 'people' have been persecuted by his 'people' has no trouble understanding this. She knows that just because he is Muslim means he has prejudices against Jews. This is very important, because if Hannah can get past the stereotypes, then society can too.
           As a Jew myself,  I easily connected with this piece. I have heard the common stereotypes, and it is hard to grow up in a world surrounded with negative groupings to grow up unbiased. However, luckily I live in a part of the world where I do not need to worry about being attacked for my religion. This is why Hannah's piece spoke so much to me. It was able to express the necesity for learning to understand other religions. If both sides approach this learning with an eagerness, rather than skepticism, then there should be no conflict. I think a new generation with Hannah and Mohammad's attitudes can be a start to ending the tensions between religions.