By Paula R. Stern
December 31, 2007
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One of the hardest things to do, as a mother of a soldier, is to avoid absorbing every story, every tragedy, as your own. You have to accept these things will happen, and they aren't an omen. You have to take today, accept it, and move to tomorrow. In Israel, such a small country, we are so very connected, one with the other. This means that we feel the joys and sorrows of a nation as our own. When something happens to a soldier, it is as if it happened to a member of our family, our son, our brother, ours.
Late last week, my son Elie left his base to come home. Two boys he probably never met also left their own bases. It's a weekly tradition; that large numbers of soldiers rotate and have a chance for some down-time. Elie spent Friday running errands and helping me prepare for the Sabbath. Achikam Amichai and David Rubin decided to spend the day doing what they loved -- hiking through the beautiful mountains south of Jerusalem.
On Sunday morning, Elie and thousands of other young soldiers returned to their bases. On Saturday night, Achikam and David were buried. I never met them, but I mourn for them; I feel their mothers' pain and wish I knew some words that would bring them comfort. I am haunted by their faces, by the strength I see in their smiles.
I can only wish that Olmert will be forever haunted too. I wish that George Bush and Abu Mazen would see the faces of these young men in their dreams each night. Their deaths were caused by Palestinian gunmen who believed they could attack innocent Israelis. But even more, their deaths were caused by callous leaders too ignorant to understand that you cannot bargain with terrorists; you cannot appease the appetite of Hamas for the blood of Jews. The dreamers of Annapolis refuse to awaken to the realities clearly proven by a recent poll that was widely published showing that even the so-called moderate Saudis hate us. They want us gone from what they see as their Middle East.
Achikam and David understood this, but didn't let it stop them. They took their army-issued guns with them when they went for a hike in the hills they have always loved. But they still chose to hike. To abandon the land would be to surrender to the voices of hatred and so Friday morning, these young men chose to do what they have always loved doing. To walk, to hike, to explore. There is a message there, for all of us. We have but to listen.
Their lives were a product of all that is Israel; all that we have built here. Young men free to hike and enjoy the land and their youth in sunshine. Their deaths were a product of hatred beyond any we can imagine and outside all that is normal in a civilized country. They were doing nothing wrong; they were not in uniform; they were not enemies to be attacked. They were not involved in a drug deal as one pathetic Palestinian spokesperson attempted to claim. The Israeli Haaretz website was equally insulting when it came up with its own convoluted logic to explain the incident. "Israeli hikers do not frequent the Telem stream, where Friday's attack took place, so it is unlikely that terrorists ambushed the three Israelis." The website than decides to credit "Members of the Palestinian preventive security forces suggested yesterday that the Israelis might have accidentally
interrupted a meeting of arms dealers, who subsequently decided to shoot them."
The reality of what happened is so much simpler. The terrorists who killed them hoped for an easy victory, a quick slaughter of innocents out hiking in the land. Their error, in thinking that these young men would be easy to kill, cost them their own miserable lives. Small consolation, really, because we lost Achikam and David.
Focusing on that loss, it is perhaps hard to remember that President George Bush will come here soon. The government will be very happy to have that visit overshadow the deaths of Achikam and David because Annapolis was supposed to be a new beginning and yet another commitment by the Palestinians to end violence and terrorism. The government doesn't want us to remember that no one was there to protect Achikam and David; that they had to do that themselves.
In an effort to please Bush, Olmert will bow low to the ground, reverse himself, cross himself, zig zag and trip all over himself. At the Israeli Prime Minister's side will be Abu Mazen, but under Olmert's feet will be the land and people of Israel. Olmert has stepped on us, despised us, abused us, betrayed us. He has led his corrupt government to new depths of disgrace all in the name of his own glory and success.
We have lost Achikam and David and the grief is almost unbearable, except we must bear it. We must secure our land, despite the lack of leadership in our country. We must answer their deaths, with a dedication to their lives. What they stood for, we must remember. The land was theirs and it cannot be taken from them in death. Olmert can meet and bow to the Bushes of the world. Long after Olmert and Bush are gone, the love of Achikam and David for the land and people of Israel will live on because they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions and even in death they were not divided.
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