Shahid in Sbarro

Yesterday morning Suhil Ahmad Mitzri awoke from his final sleep. Or maybe his final awakening was one or two days beforehand, since he was too excited to sleep on this night. Just like a 4th grader cannot go to sleep a day before school starts, Suhil stayed awake. At around 13:50 o'clock he was walking around the streets of Jerusalem (full of children on their summer holidays), fascinated at the amount of people around him - people whose lives depended solely on his decision at this point.

I'm not saying that he wasn’t a little tense when he finally picked the spot at which he would become a martyr. Somewhere within his terrorist's body was an ounce of humanity. However, that humanity only cared for his life. His evil quickly comforted his humane side with the promise that another life would begin right away - a better life, offering 72 beautiful virgins and other luxuries.

Suhil entered the Sbarro pizza restaurant and stood there for a few minutes. At this point I must mention that this man is not blind, for anyone who may assume so. He had a chance to eye every person in it. He had the time to estimate the age of the little baby next to him, to count the members of the family enjoying a pizza, at the table beside his bag.

All he needed was a twitch of the muscles, an impulse, a reflex or burst of energy.
When it finally came he let his bag explode.

Total silence. A moment of surreal peace.

Chaos. Screams. Blinding smoke. Blinding blood. What happened? Where's the baby? Is mum around? Sirens. A deafening combination of horrible noises - all in connection with another suicide bombing that had just occurred in the heart of Israel.

15 people died in the terror attack. No, not 14 Israelis and the terrorist - as the media would inform you. 15 Israelis lost their lives. The terrorist resembles the 16th figure - but he does not deserve to be in the same count. He belongs in a different one - a count of "Shahids" who killed many more. 5 members of the family who sat next to him died. Maybe if he stood closer to their table, he could have killed all of them and 4 children would be spared the grief and agony that will weigh on them for the rest of their lives. A woman of 62, a 60 year-old Brazilian, a 31 year-old from the States, a 26 year-old male, three teenage girls - one 19 and two 15 years old, and a boy of 10 - all dead. A 33 year-old mother was found dead on the spot, whilst everyone was trying to locate her 8 year-old daughter. She was dead the whole time as well, but no one could recognize her.

People around the world must understand something. This is not a natural thing in Israel. We have developed some sort of immunity to the deaths - that is true. However, this country - if you have never visited then I suggest you come or confirm with someone who was here - is, in fact, just like yours. In fact, life here is at times more satisfyingly paced here, than it is in your country. I've been around the world - I know. I lived for 6 years in Australia; I've traveled Europe, Canada, the States. Israel is the same, apart from the fact that the girls here are better looking and that you have to join the military. Maybe those three-years in the army separate us in a way from the rest of the modern world, but other than those three years; we live the same lives.

Don’t you ever imagine for a second that the streets here look like the ones you see in the news when you watch news reports of Yugoslavia. That is the worst form of ignorance. Now that I have made my point - and again I urge that if you don’t believe me, ask - that my country is like yours, I call you to imagine hearing in the news about your daughter, brother, parent, being killed in a car accident. No one to blame. Imagine losing them forever. Imagine having memories of them beside you for the rest of your life, instead of themselves. Now imagine them being randomly murdered by a burglar. Someone to catch - revenge. Now imagine them dying (I know this is hard but no news report would present things like this - the way they should be presented) in a suicide bombing, whilst eating lunch in the restaurant you love. Being murdered by a man who represents a whole people who want everyone dead. Picture those people who are responsible for the death of your loved-one - picture them partying in the streets. Firing their rifles in the air in vulgar fashion, so that everyone can hear their happiness. 

Trust me - we hurt. We hurt so much that we have to keep it in, because if people here reacted from their stomachs, hell would break loose. When I see coverage of the event, I wish our army would just kill all of them - one by one. I don’t give a crap about their families at that moment. I want them to die suffering. I want their bodies tortured after they are stabbed to death, as they look in the eyes of the Israeli soldier killing them. But I am reasonable. I take 5 minutes to relax. Sometimes I think of pictures of them crying over their dead, and I remind myself that I don’t like that image either. Some people go as far as saying their immediate thoughts in the streets. The extremists, who I don’t like, are weaker, and so they preach their ideas. And there is Baruch Goldstein - the one who takes action. Maybe one or two more like him. They have several huge organizations populated by Baruch Goldsteins. The Hamas and the Jihad, the Hizballah, the Fatah and the Tanzim all take pride in their massacres.

What in the hell is wrong with Israel's retaliation? "Political assassinations" they call it on the news - so what. The army targets specifically the people responsible for murdering those children - just like Timothy McVeigh was killed - just like the people responsible for killing your family in a suicide bombing would be killed. And that doesn’t comfort us - no way. That only prevents more attacks.
Why do Palestinians say that the suicide bombings are in response to Israel's killings - that's bull… Israel would not assassinate anyone if there were no attacks, since there would be no one responsible for them.

Does the Hamas warn Jerusalem's mayor before a suicide bomber attacks? No. Does the Israeli airforce demand evacuation of a building that is a target? Yes. You will hear in the news today or tomorrow that F-16s destroyed the main Palestinian Police Headquarters completely. You will be shocked at the brutality and you will ignore the fact that absolutely no one was hurt! A whole building bombed and not a soul hurt. Did you ever stop to think why? Israel also warns the Palestinians who are the targeted terrorists, and offers them being arrested instead of being killed by our Helicopters. I think it is reasonable too, that the Palestinian authorities who want peace with Israel, would do their bit and arrest one or two terrorists. Instead - they release the ones already in jail.

Arafat calls for a mutual cease-fire. That's fair enough - it sounds good on the news, and it deadlocks Israel. We claim to want peace more and to be more humane and after we get punched in the face, the same man who punches offers peace.

And you know what? I am so desperate that I would agree. I just want one thing - one small sign that he is not fake. I want him, please, I beg him to turn to his people and on national media in front of everyone - to say to them "stop". It shouldn’t be so hard if he really wants peace. But he doesn’t.

You must understand that what he says on the news is only said in order to deadlock our politicians - who are dumbfound anyway.

In conclusion, and in attempt to show you that I empathize with their side as well, I want to say that they are in despair too. They do live in an occupied country, with streets like the ones you see when you watch reports from Yugoslavia. They don’t have normal lives like you and I. They have to cope with the normal burdens of life and with the fact that they are under siege.

So I ask, why do they support these terror attacks? Those will not bring them out of occupation. Why do they celebrate victory in the streets when they hear of the deaths of young Israeli children? Why do they refuse an offer from Ehud Barak to receive 99% of the West Bank and to finally have a nation? Why do they encourage their children to become Shahids? Until they straighten themselves out, until they let proper logic take over their instincts, retaliation is legitimate and is our only way of defending ourselves.

Before we do become Yugoslavia.