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Jewish woman describes narrowly avoiding knife attack

In Hebron, where Arabs outnumber Jews, a young Arab was shot to death while trying to stab an Israeli woman
Israeli woman describes close call from knife attack 02:18

HEBRON -- Tzipi Schlisel thought she could have been stabbed by an Arab on her way to morning prayers. "This [is] where a terrorist came with a knife, and the Jew that saved my life stand here and shoot at him."

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Tzipi Schlisel shows CBS News' Barry Petersen where she was almost attacked CBS News

The aftermath was caught on video: a Jewish man in white shot to death the Arab that tried to attack Schlisel. The street is still bloodstained.

"I feel that it could be my blood here. And I bless God that it's my enemy blood and not me," said Schlisel.

It wasn't her first taste of violence. An Arab stabbed and killed her father in his bed 17 years ago in the same neighborhood.

She is among about 800 Jews under constant watch living in the midst of 170,000 Arabs in Hebron.

The city is so much of what the Arab-Israeli conflict is about. Both sides vow that their claim on this land goes back thousands of years.

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Palestinian protesters CBS News

Just down the road, Palestinian protesters face the Israeli military protecting the street to the tiny Jewish enclave.

The protesters have no advantage -- all they have is rocks. The Israelis have weaponry, grenades, and live ammunition. But they are as determined as the Jews.

One young Palestinian wearing a mask told CBS News he is not afraid of dying in the violence. He wants to be a martyr, he said, and "to stamp on the heads of Israelis."

"We don't have any other place to live," Tzipi said. She won't leave Hebron, where the Jews and the Arabs have one deadly thing in common: their vow to never surrender.

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