Something extraordinary happened today, and it deserves the attention of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and every human being. A flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, carrying more than 170 people, many of them Israelis, faced a terrifying emergency in the air.

According to Israeli officials and passenger accounts, there was violence in the cockpit. One pilot was badly injured. The aircraft suddenly plunged thousands of feet, and passengers feared they might die.

But people on that airplane acted. Passengers and crew intervened, and other pilots who happened to be aboard helped take control of the aircraft.

Then consider where this plane landed: Saudi Arabia. A plane filled with Israelis came down safely in Tabuk, in a country that has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

What happened next was simple. Saudi authorities received the aircraft. The injured were taken for medical treatment and the passengers were kept safe. No one asked, “Are you Jewish? Are you Israeli? Are you Muslim? Are you Christian?” They saw human beings whose lives were in danger, and they helped them.

“Whoever saves one life, it is as though he has saved all of humanity.”Principle from the Quran (Al-Ma’idah, 5:32), cited in the reflection

“That is the Islam I know,” the reflection reads. “As a Muslim, this is the story I want the world to see.” Saudi Arabia is custodian of the two holiest mosques in Islam, and few acts reflect the values of the faith more clearly than saving a human life.

Many hands, one aircraft

The injured captain has been reported as Indian. Israelis helped inside the aircraft. Saudi Arabia became their place of refuge. Governments may disagree and histories may be complicated, yet when life hung in the balance, those labels became secondary.

A faith-wide call

“Islam should bring out our humanity. Judaism should bring out our humanity. Christianity should bring out our humanity. Hinduism should bring out our humanity.” Faith, the reflection says, should never teach us to celebrate another person’s suffering.

Today, Israelis landed in Saudi Arabia not as enemies but as human beings who needed help, and Saudi Arabia helped them. “Maybe that is the Middle East we should be working toward,” it concludes. “Not a Middle East defined forever by hatred, but one where, when another human being is in danger, we reach out our hand.”

Before all the politics, before nationality, before everything else, a human life is a human life. And saving it is sacred.Closing words of the reflection

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Source: Monitoring Desk FFN. Details are drawn from Israeli officials’ and passengers’ accounts and may be updated as official statements emerge.
Article link: fandfnews.com/humanity-lands-first-flydubai-flight-diverted-to-tabuk-saudi-arabia-saves-lives/