Out of Zion

Announcer: Welcome to the Israel Answers Series, connecting Israel, the Bible, and you. Join Susan Michael as she explores timely issues and current events from a scriptural perspective to equip the Christian world with a balanced and biblical response. Be sure to subscribe for future episodes, which will ignite your faith and bring the Bible to life in your everyday world. Now, let’s join Susan with your Israel Answers.

Susan Michael: Welcome to today's Out of Zion podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Susan Michael, and I have with me a lovely guest today that I can't wait to get to know better. I'd like to introduce her to you. Her name is Yasmine Mazawi. Yasmine, is that the Arabic for jasmine or is it the Hebrew?

Yasmine Mazawi: The Arabic.

Susan Michael: Arabic for jasmine. What a beautiful name. It’s great to have you with us today. You are from the city of Nazareth, is that correct? The home town of Jesus. You are here because you're working with Magen David Adom, which in English is the Red Cross of Israel, the Red Star of David for Israel.

Before we get into talking about your work, I just want our audience to get to know a little bit about your story. Your background, you are an Arab Christian, grew up in Nazareth. Tell us a little bit about that.

Yasmine Mazawi: Thank you for the opportunity. I grew up in Nazareth. I was born there. I grew up in a family open to cultures, people, and communities. We had friends from so many religions and backgrounds. Nazareth is my hometown. I started volunteering at Magen David Adom since the age of 15. I was a very young volunteer.

At the age of 18, I took the decision to do national service, so I did a one-year intensive training for a paramedic course. I did two years of national service and continued volunteering at Magen David Adom since then. I've been there for 12 years, and eight years of them as a paramedic. I'm doing it as a full-time volunteer job.

Guest (Male): Full-time volunteer? How does that work for you? Volunteer means you're not paid.

Yasmine Mazawi: Yes, I've been doing that for 12 years. I started as a young volunteer, and still today I'm doing everything at MDA volunteering. MDA is based on volunteers. We have approximately 35,000 volunteers and only 10 percent, which are 3,500, are employees.

Guest (Male): That's really special. That shows the spirit in Israel, the volunteer spirit for each other and the commitment to preserving life. Let’s go back to you. You grew up in what type of church? Catholic or Orthodox?

Yasmine Mazawi: Catholic Church.

Guest (Male): For our listeners, they don't know what it's like growing up in Nazareth as a Christian Arab and as a minority in Israel. Could you tell us a little bit about your family? Were they very committed to the state of Israel? What was the atmosphere you grew up in and what about your church? How did that become so strong in you that you would volunteer?

Yasmine Mazawi: I think it starts from home. I grew up on values of loving the other, of giving to the other without any return. For my parents, it was very important that I get involved in the Israeli community and feel an integrated part of the Israeli community. I went to a high school in Nazareth with only Arabs—Christians and Muslims—but I wasn't involved in any Jewish community.

For my parents, it was very important as a Christian Israeli Arab young woman to get involved and integrated in the Israeli mosaic, because Israel is very diverse. People are from many different backgrounds in Israel. For them, it was very important to bridge the gaps between communities.

For example, between Arabs and Jews. The most authentic way is to integrate, volunteer, and get involved with other communities. I did that in my own language very authentically in order to bridge the gaps in my community, starting at a very young age.

Guest (Male): So you see Magen David Adom as a way of integrating?

Yasmine Mazawi: Absolutely. They bring together Jews, Arabs, Christians, and Muslims. Everyone works together for one mission of saving lives. When we get to patients in an emergency case—rocket attacks or a car accident—we never ask who the patient is. We treat everyone the same. We don't ask about background, community, religion, color, race, or gender.

We treat everyone the same. Our goal is to be in every spot in the country and serve 24 hours, seven days a week, and be there for the whole Israeli community in every spot. We want to get to patients as fast as possible.

Guest (Male): One more question about your family, then we'll talk more about your work. Tell us a bit about the background. Have they been there for many centuries? Were they there during 1948, the War of Independence, or did they come from other countries? What's your family history?

Yasmine Mazawi: My great-grandparents came from different countries in the Middle East. My parents were also born and raised in Nazareth, as were all my siblings. We're very connected to Israel and Nazareth.

Guest (Male): If you've been with Magen David Adom for 12 years now, you were working for them on October 7th. Do you have a personal story? Were you called up? Where did you serve and how was that for you?

Yasmine Mazawi: On October 7th, this terrible day, I was supposed to fly to submit my thesis for my Master's degree. It's an MBA in Data Analytics. I was supposed to fly to Germany. It was a dual degree between Arison Business School in Israel and Mannheim Business School in Germany. In the morning at 6:30, like all Israeli citizens, when we saw the alarms, we understood that there's something unusual here. It's not something that we saw in the past.

For me, it was very obvious that I'm not going to fly. I stayed in Nazareth and I called my supervisor so I could go to the station and support. That's exactly what I did, just like thousands of other volunteers and employees who did just the same.

Guest (Male): In your work on October 7th, where did you serve? Was it in the north part of the country?

Yasmine Mazawi: I was especially in the north. Many of the teams were headed to the south part of Israel. I gave support in the northern part. It doesn't really matter where we are geographically in the country because the ambulance that is closest to the emergency case is the ambulance that goes to that case.

Within a few days, there were missiles coming in from Lebanon, so we were very busy for many days. It had to have been really terrible things that you saw and had to handle. Instead of asking you about that, let's ask you about one of the more rewarding things that you've done in your work with Magen David Adom. Someone that you helped or a situation where you were able to really make a difference.

Yasmine Mazawi: I have so many stories which are rewarding, and that's why I love MDA. This is a kind of satisfaction that we cannot get from anywhere else. I love saving lives and bringing this smile to people's faces and this energy and light to people as well at their very hard situations they are facing.

The first thing that comes to mind was when I had an emergency case on a very young baby, about 10 weeks old. We did CPR. I think this was a story that I will never ever forget. It was very challenging. There were many people and I had to manage the whole emergency case with the family while providing the first aid to this baby.

With the whole team who were attending this case, the calling center, and the helicopter, it was a very complex one. The baby survived this emergency and he's with us today and alive. I think this is very touching for me. Also, during the war, bringing this source of light to people and to families in need are stories that I will never forget and are very rewarding for me.

Guest (Male): What else would you like our audience to know about Magen David Adom, your work with them, or your life in Israel? What message would you like to convey?

Yasmine Mazawi: I would love the audience to know that MDA is an amazing organization. All the volunteers and employees would say the same. It's a really great place. Communication is the keyword. Many people in the media don't see this beauty of Israel.

At Magen David Adom, it's a piece of cake of the beauty of the Israeli community where everyone is working together for one goal. For the audience that would want to know more about MDA, they can visit our website, savinglivesinisrael.org.

Guest (Male): Savinglivesinisrael.org. I agree with you, MDA is like a little taste of heaven. It’s this organization of peace of all the people of Israel working together to save lives, to better lives, and to help in emergencies. It's a beautiful thing and we're so appreciative of getting to know you today so our audience can see your beautiful spirit and love. We pray God blesses you and your work and your family. May He use you to extend peace in Israel in your life. Thank you so much for joining us.

Yasmine Mazawi: Thank you for the opportunity.

Susan Michael: Thank you so much for listening in today. We’ll put a link to her website, savinglivesinisrael.org. Thank you again for listening. God bless. Hey, give me one more minute. I want to offer you one of our free resources.

We have wonderful resources in our show notes and if you go to our website at icejusa.org/shownotes, you'll find links for a number of our free offers. We have downloadables to help root you in scripture, help you to understand the issue surrounding Israel, and the importance of Christian support for Israel.

And don't forget, please follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn and stay connected. Thank you and God bless.

Announcer: We hope you have enjoyed this episode of Out of Zion with Susan Michael. Be sure to subscribe to Out of Zion now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Pray.com, Salem One Place, Salem Life Audio. Out of Zion with Susan Michael is a production of ICEJ USA. All rights reserved.