The Israeli army's monthly magazine, B'Machaneh, recently profiled Sgt. Rima Baboo, an Israeli Arab woman with a Muslim father and a Christian mother.
Baboo said that her dual-religious upbringing left her feeling that she was "living a double life" and that she didn't truly "have a place."
As an Arab, Baboo was not required to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but she felt that volunteering to do so would help her find herself.
"I knew I would find my identity in the army," said the young sergeant. "I wanted to wear the uniform of the IDF, to be like everyone else and fit in better. Today I know that I was right all along. It's not that all my problems have been solved or that my family tree has changed, but now I have a better sense of who I am and I'm not ashamed of where I come from."
In what can be seen as a rebuke of all those accusations that Israel imposes apartheid on local Arabs, Baboo stated that she "feels just as Israeli as anybody else."
[hat tip to media analyst Avi Mayer for reposting this story]