...There were no calls for "death to Arabs" or "death to Palestinians." There were no calls for revenge. Afterward, I specifically listened for any tone or temperament that suggested people venting in a way they couldn't during the prayer service. I heard no such thing.

After the service, people were shaking hands and hugging. They were smiling and greeting each other by saying, "Shabbes," which starts at sundown on Friday and ends some 25 hours later.

Dozens of men — mostly with long beards and either skull caps or strange-looking hats (the likes of which I had never seen before) — approached me. This was understandable since not only had they never seen me before, but I was dressed in long khaki pants and a casual blue button-down shirt — a far cry from the black slacks and pressed white dress shirts almost everyone else was wearing. But rather than scorning me as an outsider, they embraced me and welcomed me to their house of worship.

Less than 48 hours later, at a funeral for a Hamas terrorist responsible for repeatedly plotting mass murders of innocent Israelis, this was the scene as described by the New York Times:

"'We want martyrs, more sacrifice,' blared a voice amplified through loudspeakers as more than 1,000 Palestinians marched through Gaza City today during the funeral procession."