As the grief deepens
Malki, my angel, know we will never cease fighting for justice.
Your death will not remain demeaned.
Eleven years ago today, Israel was rocked by one of the worst terror
attacks it has known. The suicide bombing of Jerusalem’s Sbarro restaurant left
fifteen men, women and children dead – the equivalent of 643 Americans or 121
Britons.
Memories of that horrific day are chillingly vivid for my family: our
teenage daughter and sister, Malki, was among the fifteen who perished in the
inferno produced by the 10 kilograms of explosives concealed in the terrorist’s
guitar case.
On the heels of that grief, we have suffered an unprecedented travesty of
justice perpetrated by our own leaders. Malki’s murderer, Ahlam Tamimi, was one
of 1,027 Palestinian terrorists released in the Shalit deal of October 2011.
Alongside our untold personal pain, that move shook the foundations of Israel’s
justice system and, perhaps most disturbing, has endangered all Israelis.
Uncontroverted evidence has emerged of the consequences of that fateful
move. Starting the day after Gilad Shalit returned to Israeli soil, a
succession of journalists, IDF officers and Netanyahu confidantes have
publicized damning information hidden from the public throughout Shalit’s
captivity.
First we learned that, contrary to our prime minister’s insistence, the
release of murderers was not the only way to rescue Shalit. Intelligence and
military options existed for locating and saving him but were never pursued.
[See "Why Did Netanyahu Free My Daughter's Killer? Mother Blasts Prisoner
Exchange To Free Gilad Shalit", published in FORWARD December 09, 2011 [source]
In July 2012, David Meidan, who served for many months as Netanyahu’s envoy
to the Shalit negotiations, delivered a lecture at Tel Aviv University.
Contradicting Netanyahu’s strident assertions, Meidan disclosed [source]
that politics, and not only security and diplomacy, were a factor in the prime
minister’s decision to sign the deal. According to Haaretz [source],
Netanyahu also recently conceded to the German newspaper Bild that his decision
to sign the deal was in part due to pressure from his wife, Sara.
The ramifications of Netanyahu’s selfish gambit have proven dire.
Six months after the deal, the IDF website [source] posted the
following: “Several of the terrorists recently released from captivity as part
of the deal… have returned to terrorist activity… with ten terrorists arrested
so far.”
This was a consequence of the deal against which we and other terror
victims warned. Tamimi had declared “I do not regret what happened. Absolutely
not… Do you want me to denounce what I did? That's out of the question. I would
do it again today, and in the same manner.” [source]
Last month, Army Radio interviewed Col. Saar Tzur, the outgoing commander
of the Binyamin division. Tzur said that the Shalit deal triggered a steady and
noticeable rise in the number of attempted terror attacks in Judea and Samaria
and inside the Green Line [source].
"It doesn't matter whether they were released to Gaza, the West Bank or
abroad,” Tzur said. “We see a return to terrorism.”
This last point is particularly telling in light of an assertion by
Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev in June [source]:
“Israel does not have a problem with terrorists leaving,” said Regev. “It’s
easier for us when hardcore terrorists actually leave. Their ability to hurt us
in the future is much more limited.” Apparently,
Netanyahu presumes to know better than the IDF.
Regev was responding to a reporter’s question about the government’s
decision to permit a convicted murderer, Nazir al-Tamimi, to cross from the
West Bank into Jordan. According to the conditions of his release in the Shalit
swap, al-Tamimi was to be confined to the West Bank for life. Yet in June 2012,
Netanyahu agreed to ignore that restriction thereby enabling him to marry his fiancée.
She happens to be Ahlam Tamimi.
Granting marital bliss to two such evil souls is probably the most
infuriating of Netanyahu’s confounding actions.
As the parents of a child who died in Israel’s ongoing war with its
bellicose neighbors, we have enjoyed not one iota of consideration from the man
who now holds our lives in his hands. Netanyahu has ignored each of several
impassioned pleas by us to keep Malki’s murderer behind bars. He has never explained
or justified to us his decision to consent to the mass release of convicted
murderers.
Today, on the anniversary of their deaths, some Israelis will visit the
graves of Tamimi’s victims: Mordechai and Tzira Schijveschuurder and three of their
eight children; Shoshana Greenbaum and her unborn baby, the only child of
Shifra and Dr. Alan Hayman; Michal Raziel and Malki Roth, best friends buried
side by side; and the seven other men, women and children whose deaths caused
Tamimi to smile joyously on video [video].
We can be certain that one Israeli will not honor these precious souls
today - our prime minister. He has made it clear that people without political currency
simply do not merit his attention.
He and his cohorts could learn a lesson from Malki. In the final year of
her life, she kept a lengthy daily journal [source] of her
thoughts and activities. She was a smiling, active, vibrant and talented girl
but she carefully recorded the details of each Israeli terror victim on the day
he or she died. They mattered to her. On May 29, 2001 for example, three
Israelis were shot dead by terrorists. Malki wrote: “In homeroom class, I
couldn’t concentrate at all and it was very difficult for me. Everything that
is happening with this “situation” has thrown me into a tough depression and I
was terribly sad.”
If only our leaders felt even a fraction of Malki’s love for their fellow
Israelis. This nation deserves that.
1 comment:
Hi, Shalom,
I receive your "thisongoingwar" every day and I want to congratulate you for as this is one of the very few ways to obtain such accurate information regarding the daily attacks on Israel and Am Israel!
Concerning your sweet and beautiful daughter Malki I cannot find words to express my pain and anger even if a perfect stranger! I am horrified to realize what the Netanyahu government dared to do after all these repeated murders of Jews: releasing such monsters as Tamimi and Nazir (cancel the R and you obtain NAZI) alTamimi is totally inacceptable for a Jewish state. Letting them to enjoy life is not acceptable when so many Jews suffer from having lost their loved ones. There must be a curse on these Jewish (really Jewish?) leaders. I mean it. We Jews cannot accept this situation where murderers can freely move around and repeat their crimes. I admire your reactions and actions in favor of terror victims. HaShem bless you for ever. Excuse my English.
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