If the murdered Jews could speak from the grave

If Vivian Silver, the Canadian-Israeli peace activist, who was murdered in the Be’eri massacre of October 7th, could speak from the grave, here is what she might say:

I was dedicated to the goals of a peaceful future for Gazans. When I moved to the kibbutz, in 1990, with my husband and two sons, I became well-acquainted with the local Bedouin community and Gazans. I was proud to serve as Executive Director for the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development.  

I sought to help Gazans by instituting many different programs, including job training and getting fair pay. I worked tirelessly for peace, throughout the years, advancing business efforts and raising awareness of the struggles of Gazans, but it didn’t protect me on that fateful Sabbath morning when Hamas terrorists invaded. They didn’t grant me an exemption for having passionately taken up their cause over the course of three decades.

In the wake of the disaster, Silver’s home was gutted by fire, and her charred remains were identified by DNA testing. Far from an anomaly, Vivian Silver was not the only kibbutz member who dedicated her energies to doing all she could towards the goal of making the lives of Gazans better in every way.  

That’s because these southern community residents, many of whom never locked their doors at night, didn’t see Gazans as the enemy. To the contrary, they looked upon their neighbors as disenfranchised victims, whom they aspired to assist and empower in order to help them live good lives.

After being released from captivity, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifschitz, expressed her own disillusionment toward her captors, saying, “Aren’t you ashamed of having done this to people who have always worked for peace with the Palestinians?” As many others who were also taken captive, or lost their loved-ones and friends that day, Lifschitz was forced to re-evaluate her opinions and perspective as to the people on the other side of the fence, once she saw what they were capable of doing.  

As she stated, “My deepest beliefs were turned upside down. I thought the Gaza Strip was full of people who looked like us…But this was all false.” Sadly, she wasn’t the only one whose “illusions of peaceful coexistence” were shattered. 

Is it possible that these shocking accounts of survivors and eyewitnesses, along with reports of the staggering numbers of those who died torturous deaths has not been heard by all of the pro-Palestinian advocates worldwide who are arduously taking up the cause of Hamas? Or is there an anti-Jewish component which is fueling the hatred they are now hemorrhaging?

Even if they hold Israel with contempt, over what are fabricated charges, how could they feel good about a terrorist government which, rather than work to create a better society for its people, has, instead, reduced them to homeless, hungry individuals who have lost everything?  How can anyone respect parents who celebrate the death of their sons who died trying to annihilate the neighbors they despise?

After nearly two years of daily news stories, dedicated to the October 7th massacre, does anyone really have the excuse of not knowing what happened? What about the recent photos of our starving hostages? Can they still plead ignorance or is their deep prejudice against an entire race of people the driving force behind their vilification of our homeland, despite all the good we have tried to do for a world which barely tolerates us?  

It seems that even the gory details of what took place are not enough to wake up those who are against us. Many of our detractors are educated and sophisticated people, so you’d think they’d be eminently capable of applying reason and logic to ascertain who is right in this battle between good and evil. 

Nonetheless, rather than search out the truth, they shamelessly accuse Israel of starving the people of Gaza to death or committing genocide, both being charges which are not only false but have easily been debunked by individuals who went to Gaza to check out the situation for themselves.

And why would anyone accept such libelous allegations of genocide, starvation and ethnic cleansing, especially given our well-earned reputation of being the first to arrive in other countries after natural disasters have occurred? 

Their smears are not only absurd but blatantly fly in the face of years of documented accounts where we have sent rescue teams to help those in great need. Yet, they think so little of us as we see their deliberate choice to view Israel in the worst possible light.  

What we are learning, from all of this, is that Jews who dare to form their own independent country, cannot count on other nations to back us up at a time when we are brutally attacked and strike back, exactly as any other country would, in order to deter such attacks from reoccurring.

Eliminating an enemy which is set on your destruction is the obligation of every civilized nation which has pledged to protect and guard its citizens. Why is Israel not treated with the proper respect it deserves for taking on that same charge? Must we remain victims as in the days of the Holocaust in order to garner the world’s support? 

Those who are seeking to punish Israel, whether through boycotting her goods or recommending that she be sanctioned and disavowed, for the act of defending herself, are guilty of committing a terrible injustice to the memory of all those who were brutally killed in the barbaric massacre of October 7th.

Those victims, sadly, learned the hard lesson, too late. They tried to help the people they saw were in need but it didn’t save them, because, in the end, they savagely lost their lives.

But if they could speak from the grave, they would surely urge pro-Palestinian supporters to abandon their folly, because, had they also been present that morning, they, too, would have been killed in the most brutal ways known to mankind.

It is sad to say, but too many people don’t seem to comprehend that the same terrorists they are championing will, one day, be coming for them. In the meantime, Israel has nothing for which to apologize nor is she due punishment for wanting to live securely in the land which was given to us by the Almighty!