From Ian:
Live Blog: Tens of thousands stream to cemetery for burial of three teens
Live Blog: Tens of thousands stream to cemetery for burial of three teens
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon vows the Israeli security forces “will not rest” until the operatives behind the deaths of the teenagers are brought to justice. Speaking at the funeral for Eyal Yifrach, 19, in Elad, the defense minister says the teenagers “were kidnapped and murdered just because they were Jews.”Rabbi Lord Sacks: In memoriam Eyal, Gilad and Naftali
“The grief and agony that envelops you since receiving the bitter news, envelops the entire country,” he says, after the recitation of a Natan Alterman poem.
“In the past three weeks that have passed since the kidnapping of Eyal, Gil-ad, and Naftali, we discovered daily a bit more about their unique personalities: Their warm and loving connection to their families, their hobbies that were their trademark among the families and friends, all the small things that remind us, at the end of the day, that they were youngsters at the beginning of their lives, which was cut short.”
The defense minister addresses the Yifrach family directly, saying “these are the hours when the personal grief is in the public domain.”
Ya’alon says he had the “privilege” of meeting the Yifrach family during these tumultuous, difficult times, who embody “all that is good and noble,” and are “a symbol for us all.”
Eyal, Gilad and Naftali were killed by people who believed in death. Too often in the past Jews were victims of people who practised hate in the name of the God of love, cruelty in the name of the God of compassion, and murder in the name of the God of life. It is shocking to the very depths of humanity that this still continues to this day.Follow Golda's lead
Never was there a more pointed contrast than, on the one hand, these young men who dedicated their lives to study and to peace, and on the other the revelation that other young men, even from Europe, have become radicalised into violence in the name of God and are now committing murder in His name. That is the difference between a culture of life and one of death, and this has become the battle of our time, not only in Israel but in Syria, in Iraq, in Nigeria and elsewhere. Whole societies are being torn to shreds by people practising violence in the name of God.
Against this we must never forget the simple truth that those who begin by practising violence against their enemies end by committing it against their fellow believers. The verdict of history is that cultures that worship death, die, while those that sanctify life, live on. That is why Judaism survives while the great empires that sought its destruction were themselves destroyed.
Our tears go out to the families of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali. We are with them in grief. We will neither forget the young victims nor what they lived for: the right that everyone on earth should enjoy, to live a life of faith without fear.
Following the news, the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet convened in the exact same place where it met 41 years ago, headed by then-Prime Minister Golda Meir. It was the day that conflicting reports about a possible terror attack at the Munich Olympics started pouring in. At the end of that day, the murder of 11 Israelis by Palestinian terrorists was confirmed. The elderly, heavy footed woman turned to the generals around her and declared that the murderers and their accomplices must not be allowed to live. She spoke plainly, and the world knew that the Palestinian murderers were dead men walking, with targets on their foreheads just waiting for an Israeli bullet.Netanyahu Spokesperson: Murder of Israeli Teens 'Demonstrates Clearly What Hamas is All About'
The full execution of Meir's instructions stretched out over 20 years. In 1992, the last of the terrorists who took part in the Olympic massacre was killed. To their dying day, they were frightened and on the run.




























