Israeli medical services responded to a group of injured Gaza residents in May, 2011. Photo: wiki commons.

A scary scene occurred recently near Jerusalem when a group of Israeli medics, who responded to the scene of a car crash involving Palestinian youth, were surrounded by Arabs and in the case of the ambulances driver, punched in the head and in the ribs.

“Suddenly, a Volkswagen came to a screeching halt and three Arab youths emerged,” one of paramedics said. “They started to curse and tried to discern who hurt the women.”

Following the medical crews explanations of why they were on the scene, the situation escalated.

“They started cursing the IDF, Magen David Adom (the ambulance service) and everything affiliated with the state,” one of the paramdedics said. “They called us ‘maniacs and f***ing Jews.’ We were shocked by how angry they were.”

As more Palestinans arrived, the lead paramedic decided to take precautionary measures to protect his fellow staff and the injured.

“I told them to lock themselves in the ambulance while I remained outside to deal with the situation.  The attackers cursed and pushed me. At one point more than ten people surrounded me and began punching me in the ribs and the head.”

After a Palestinian operated ambulance and police arrived, the crowd was dispersed, and three men were arrested.

“I’ve been through many things and treated many Arabs who were injured in accidents. But I’ve never experienced anything like this,” the lead paramedic said. “It hurts. My job is to help and save people. It’s really sad the way it ended.”