‘Oasis in middle of craziness’
In a sunlit, tan-stone building on the dividing line of Jerusalem, Arabs and Jews come to live out the last period of their lives.
The St. Louis Hospital, a hospice, is a rarity in Jerusalem — a place where the city’s mistrustful residents come together in an atmosphere free of political tensions.
"This feels like an oasis in the middle of craziness, which is ironic, because all these people are sick," said Tammy Einstein, an art therapist at the hospital.
It’s not that the hospital has suddenly made best friends out of wary Arabs and Jews. But in the last days of their lives, the facility’s patients and their families find themselves on equal ground, getting a rare glimpse of each other’s worlds.
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"We aren’t a peace organization. We are here to work," Einstein said. "When people talk to me (about politics) I try to keep it on a human level — isn’t it a tragedy that we have to lose more people in this fabulous city?"
The hospice faces the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on one side and the predominantly Jewish west Jerusalem on another.
