Assuming Innocence

It is easy to get caught up in sympathy with the "oppressed" without asking questions and start regarding every incident as an act of injustice. Or perhaps I should qualify this as my own assumptions and mistakes.

In the old city of Jerusalem, we watched as an elderly man, obviously Palestinian, was roughly escorted out of the stone gates by three young Israeli soldiers. He was cloaked in traditional white, billowing robes, his garb contrasting starkly with the camouflage. His withered body hobbled out unsteadily, forced by the strong arm of the guard to march at a pace much too rapid for his age. A passerby saw the commotion and came to the old man's aid. The victim rested his weight gratefully on the witness's shoulder as he was led into the cobbled street.

Already charged with anger by checkpoints, tales of prison horrors and the abuse of a Palestinian boy on our bus ride over, this only served to heighten our tension. We followed the procession, disgusted, but ambled ahead, weary of the armed men. As we walked, the old man soon caught up to us. Eager to express our sympathy, we smiled warmly at him and nodded encouragement. We lacked common language to communicate much more. He approached us and took my companion's hand. They hugged lightly and the old man planted a kiss on my friend's check.

I stood behind and waited my turn at solidifying solidarity. What happened next took place too quickly for me to comprehend in real time and act in accordance, but I soon found myself molested by the seeming innocent. The old man's gentle hug transitioned into a sucking kiss on my check, moving down my neck and beyond. I could feel his probing tongue as my companion pulled me away and placed himself in between.

We had assumed the old man was removed from the city because of his ethnicity. Perhaps though he was simply a pervert who had attempted the same indecency with another unsuspecting female. We'll never know and I'm not sure if my reaction would or should change if I knew the answer. It would still be wrong if he had been treated unjustly because he was Palestinian, acting debase doesn't negate this. Either way though, I felt sick to my stomach the rest of the afternoon at having been violated.