The attack by two Palestinian terrorists on civilians on and near a bus occurred while we were having a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Rev. Mike Huckabee. Our discussions were related to an attack in which my son and I were injured in 2002. While I won’t go into the details of our talks, I can say that the U.S. is being very well represented by its present ambassador. Donald Trump made an outstanding decision in putting him into his present position.
As we were leaving the embassy, our son told us of the attack near the neighborhood of Ramot. We pass through that stretch of road frequently as our health club is in Ramot. The specific details of the attack are still under investigation, but witnesses claim that the Arab bus driver stopped, made a phone call and then took his belongings and left the bus (while refusing to open the doors). Then the two terrorists boarded and sprayed the passengers and those around the bus with bullets. Two ultraorthodox fellows on the spot eventually returned fire and killed both murderers. As I wrote about the moral relativism of Tucker Carlson, if one cannot see the difference between terrorists shooting innocent civilians and civilians neutralizing shooting terrorists, then he should be confined to an insane asylum.
My wife heard shortly after the attack of a fellow who had been waiting for a bus for a long time. A car came by and offered a ride. He and another got in and just as they were about to leave, a third man approached the car and said that he was having a medical emergency and needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. The first fellow got out in order to let the ill person get in. And then he was killed in a hail of bullets. As I left morning prayers, there was a large sign announcing the death and funeral arrangements for another of those killed at the Ramot bus stop. Just as we had no clue when we left the house on March 21, 2002, that we would end the day in Hadassah Hospital after surgery, the families of the six killed and 21 wounded thought that their loved ones would come home after work or school as they did yesterday and last week and last month.
Recommended
Sometimes death is expected. I think that the BBC prepared its “The Queen is Dead” reel 30 years before she actually died. I am sure that they have one for King Charles and only need to push the “Play” button in order to present his life from diapers to his death on the throne. Other times, death is sudden and with no warning. A neighbor passed away last week suddenly. He was 72. We always used to see him in the local market or passing our house. And now he is gone. And just like people who lose a limb still feel that it is there, one almost expects him to show up at the fruit stand or turn the corner to walk by our place. He had no ailments and did not show any signs of being on death’s door. Maybe when a 98-year-old person who has been hospitalized for months passes away, the outcome is less surprising. But for those who love the deceased, the pain may be no less intense. Yesterday, we had their company and counsel. Now we only have silence and memories.
In the past, death was far more prevalent. A woman might give birth to 12 kids but only six made it into adulthood. Life expectancy was far shorter. When Germany instituted the first Social Security system, only 1 percent of the population made it to 65. Today, that’s the age to just get started on life. Today, death is so rare that if a person is killed in a car crash or if a soldier is killed in the field, it warrants a news report. We are fortunate to be beyond Monty Python’s “bring out your dead” phase of society. Maybe because death is less prevalent, we are more shocked by its intruding into our lives. Besides the six murdered at the bust stop, four soldiers were killed in their tank by a Hamas attack on a base in northern Gaza. It was a very painful day for a very small country.
While the ambassador’s office was not enormous, it held quite a few pieces that reflect the resilience of the Jewish people. There was a Chanukah menorah fashioned from a Gazan rocket. Next to it were candle holders made from Katyushas, also fired from Gaza. Then there was the mezuzah in the shape of a B-2 bomber, fashioned from a recent Iranian missile. Israelis and Jews are by no means the only resilient people in the world. The U.S. came back from Pearl Harbor to become the undisputed world super power. Michael Jordan took the slight of not being selected for his high school basketball team to become the greatest player ever (this author’s Chicago opinion). Much of life is not what happens to you but what you do with it. The families of those murdered this week will “sit shiva” which is the seven day mourning period when friends and family come to comfort them. Then they will get up and figure out how they start a completely new life without a husband or son or wife. I saw a picture of one fellow sitting with his head in his hands, his murdered 60-year-old wife lying in front of him during traditional eulogies. He did not wake up in the morning with the plan to bury his wife in the evening. One can either ascribe the outcome to God’s inscrutable wisdom and plans for this world or mere chance. If she had caught an earlier bus….If she had stayed home as she had planned...There is no limit to how much one can torment himself. I knew that if we had passed the bombing site 10 seconds earlier, we would have heard a massive BOOM behind us and run home like crazy.
After our bombing, we took several CT scans to a pediatric brain surgeon. Exhausted, my wife and I sat on the couch in his living room. He held the images up to the light and said, “Well, if I had to put a bullet into someone’s brain, this is the exact path I would have chosen. You see, it missed this region, it just went under this blood vessel, etc.” We were speechless. He removed the shrapnel from our son’s head two months later.
When I first came back to my company after the bombing, we had a board meeting. One of the investors had a solid army/intelligence background. “We stop 97 percent of attacks before they happen,” he said. Well, 97 percent of anything is impressive. The problem is that it’s not 100 percent. How the two killers got into western Jerusalem and opened fire on bus passengers will be analyzed, determined, and a correction will be applied. The attack did nothing to advance Palestinian statehood or improve the quality of life in Palestinian areas. It simply provided the visceral excitement of knowing that Jews died and other Jews suffer because of those killed and injured. That’s the entire Palestinian playlist: kill Jews and enjoy the outcome. They do not want a state. They just don’t want the Jews to have a safe, successful state.
Israel fights in Gaza in order to remove genocidal maniacs that are Hamas. Hamas praised the murder of people going to work. There can be no peace with these people. Israel will have to soldier on while its critics in Europe become what Hamas has dreamed of: Sharia states under total Muslim control.
Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at Townhall, we will stand up and fight to deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth about what's really going on in Israel's war against Hamas. Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member