Enough

By Paul Siegel

 

June 30, 2014

 

Today is a sad day for Am Yisrael as we learned to our horror that three of our sons, young boys, were murdered in cold blood by a ruthless, cruel enemy.  I was asked to speak to you, but I have nothing to say. I have no words that can provide comfort or inspiration to you. I feel completely helpless. I can only try to explain how I feel.
We live in a wonderful place. There are so many good, kind people who live there, people who do acts of kindness for each other and their community. And then, right down the road there is such evil. The contrast is so wide it is unfathomable perhaps for people who don’t live here. I realize that young people are kidnapped and murdered in other countries. And horrible things have happened before here in Israel. But there is something different about these three boys, there is something different about this time, there is something different about the way Israelis and even the worldwide Jewish community is responding. This time perhaps something is different. I don’t know what it is. Tonight all over the country there are thousands of people in the streets mourning. Everyone feels the boys are ours. Everyone feels torn apart. And we know that if we feel this way, then we can’t imagine what the boy’s parents and relatives are feeling tonight.  But the fact that we all feel this way is what make us different. And I am proud to be an Israeli tonight.
But no, actually not everybody in Israel feels this way. You see, the Arabs who live in this area were celebrating with fireworks and handing out sweets to their neighbors the day they heard the news of the kidnapping. The mother of one of the Arab terrorists told the press she was proud of her son and hoped he managed to stay in hiding. As the IDF and emergency vehicles went to retrieve the boys’ bodies tonight, the Arabs rioted throwing stones at the ambulance and at the rescue teams. There is no remorse; no there is glee for their great victory. For the murder of children is a victory for them. This is the face of Amalek. We have seen it—and we are always shocked by these blood thirsty acts, because decent good people cannot comprehend the evil that can exist in another person. This is our weakness and the advantage the enemy has over us
But there is something different about the three boys. There is a different spirit over Israel this time. I want to believe that maybe we have finally had enough. Maybe this time, we will act differently. Maybe this time we will say this cannot continue. Maybe this time we will rise up and demand that we will no longer accept the status quo.
·         We will no longer accept from our friends in the international community the advice that we need to negotiate with Hamas.
·         We will no longer pretend that the Palestinian Authority is not responsible- the murderers are their people, from their cities, they foster a climate of hatred and make heroes of the butchers of other years. They are responsible and we must say so.
·         We will no longer accept the ridiculous phrase that we must make peace with our enemies. We must go to war and defeat our enemies. A national enemy of the Jewish people is not someone to befriend but to destroy.
·         We will not tomorrow ignore the fact that many of our leaders traded over a thousand terrorists for an Israeli soldier and that they released terrorists from prison for the right to conduct peace negotiations with one of the founding fathers of modern-day terrorism-Mahmoud Abbas. We must also hold them responsible. We will not let them lead us any longer.
·         We will no longer pretend that these Arabs have any rights to our land and that they are a nation deserving of their own state.
·         We will no longer show them misplaced compassion.
·         We will no longer allow their ‘narrative’ that we are foreign invaders who stole the land from them be told without an answer. We must start telling the truth--we came back to reclaim our homeland and we will no longer apologize for this fact. And we are not finished yet. We are still coming, we will continue to settle our land and we are not leaving.
·         We will no longer accept the notion that these Arabs have rights to live in our homeland. It is a privilege that we grant them, and it is a privilege they can lose.
·         We will no longer accept the notion that a Jew should not be free to live or travel anywhere in our homeland.
Today there is quiet from the politicians who tell us we need to make peace with the enemy. There is quiet from the NGOs that tell us we must negotiate with Hamas. There is quiet from those who say we must divide Jerusalem and there is quiet from those who say we must vacate more of our land and there is even quiet from those who say the three boys should not have been studying at a yeshiva in Gush Etzion.
But in a few days we will start to hear all of these things again—and maybe this time we will no longer accept these things.
There is something different about what is happening in Israel. There has been incredible unity between the people. There has been increased prayer, and people helping each other, and treating our soldiers like they should be treated all of the time. Yes, maybe this time it will be different. Maybe this time we will continue to act this way towards each other.
Maybe this time we will speak as one nation and say we have had enough.
Enough!

 
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