funeral of four Jews killed by an Islamist gunman in Paris, in a
ceremony attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President
Reuven Rivlin and other Israeli and French officials. While the
families delivered heartfelt eulogies for their loved ones, Israel's
leaders denounced Islamic extremism and the terrorists it is
producing, and urged the world to confront the violence and restore
security.
The bodies of the victims were flown to Israel for burial following
the terror attack Friday on a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris.
They were among 17 people gunned down in Paris during three days of
bloodshed that began with a grisly attack on the satirical weekly
Charlie Hebdo, in a wave of violence that convulsed France and sent
shockwaves through its Jewish community, the third-largest in the
world.
The four Jews were laid to rest after the joint funeral at the
sprawling Givat Shaul cemetery which began shortly after noon.
President Reuven Rivlin addresses the crowd at the funeral for four
French Jews killed in an attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris, on
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Relatives of each of the four gave brief eulogies, before speeches by
Netanyahu, Rivlin and French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal. The
families also lit memorial torches in the victims' memory.
Philippe Braham's widow Valery broke up in tears as she delivered a
short eulogy for her husband. "Philippe, my love, my dear, was a
perfect man. As I said before, a man who thinks first and foremost
about others and not about himself. A great husband and a father who
lives for his children... I cry but I know you all cry with me, I thank
you... Philippe, protect me, protect Shirel, Naor, Ella and Raphael."
Rabbi Benjamin Hattab, the father of Yoav Hattab, who was killed in
the Pairs kosher supermarket atack, rips his shirt in a Jewish sign of
mourning during the funeral for his son and three other men killed in
the attack, Tuesday, January 13, 2015 (screen capture: Channel 2)
Rabbi Beto Hattab, eulogizing his son Yoav, said simply, "I accept the
judgment of Heaven with love."
Rivlin and Netanyahu both stressed the imperative for Europe and the
free world to fight Islamic extremism. They also both encouraged
immigration, but Rivlin stressed that aliyah should be through choice
not desperation, and said the free world had an obligation to ensure
that Jews be able to live in security anywhere.
Valerie Braham, widow of Philippe.
Said Rivlin: "Dear families, Yoav, Yohan, Philippe, Francois-Michel,
this is not how we wanted to welcome you to Israel. This is not how we
wanted you to arrive in the Land of Israel, this is not how we wanted
to see you come home, to the State of Israel, and to Jerusalem, its
capital. We wanted you alive, we wanted for you, life. At moments such
as these, I stand before you, brokenhearted, shaken and in pain, and
with me stands an entire nation."
'The murderer made sure to be in a Jewish shop, and only then did he
carry out the massacre. This was pure, venomous evil, which stirs the
very worst of memories. This is sheer hatred of Jews'
He stressed that the four were killed because they were Jews: They
"were murdered on the eve of the Sabbath, in a kosher supermarket in
Paris, in cold blood, because they were Jewish. The murderer made sure
to be in a Jewish shop, and only then did he carry out the massacre.
This was pure, venomous evil, which stirs the very worst of memories.
This is sheer hatred of Jews; abhorrent, dark and premeditated, which
seeks to strike, wherever there is Jewish life. In Paris, in
Jerusalem, in Toulouse, and in Tel Aviv. In Brussels, and in Mumbai.
In the streets, and in the synagogues. In the schools, and in the
local market. In the train stations, and in the museums."
And he warned, "It would be dangerous to deny that we are talking
about anti-Semitism, whether old or new. Regardless of what may be the
sick motives of terrorists, it is beholden upon the leaders of Europe
to act, and commit to firm measures to return a sense of security and
safety to the Jews of Europe."
--TheTimeOfIsrael
No comments:
Post a Comment