Today, in Tel Aviv, I saw the black basalt stones of memory where Prime Minister of Israel Rabin was gunned down by a Right Wing Israeli at a Peace Rally in 1995 for his philosophy of appeasement and unity.
We also saw the flowers of a fresh grave looking out on a storm tossed surf a few miles away in Jaffa; while breaking bread and drinking strong coffee with an Arab Christian woman grieving for a family friend buried yesterday under those flowers.
Friday, Jan 6th was the Orthodox Christian Christmas day. A day of feasting, dancing and celebration in preparation for the arrival of Father Christmas. Christian Lay Leader Gabi Kadees was at a parade of children when a man dressed as Santa Claus pulled a knife and stabbed him repeatedly. A few years ago, his car was firebombed, the following year he survived a bomb blast near him at a town meeting. This time, the attack was fatal.
Another senseless killing over seemingly intractable politics of land, taxes, retribution and justice in the cauldron of different religious peoples that populate places like Jaffa; a resurgent neighborhood being reconstructed out of ancient Turkish stone buildings in the port city better known as the biblical place where Jonah was swallowed by a whale; because he was seeking to avoid telling the town people that their behavior was unacceptable in God’s eye.
Evidently, it still is.
Jaffa, part of the thriving electric metropolis of Tel Aviv; the “Hill of Spring” is still a place where spring flowers are used to cover freshly dug graves of men, women and children who continue to be killed for their beliefs, politics, or just because they happened to be playing or shopping at a place targeted for carnage.
Violence in Israel is tragic, but per capita, there are 10 times more violent and unexpected deaths in America.
Violence and unexpected events affect people and organizations in every country. Here in America, school lockdowns are triggered by threatening events or people. Violent weather can cause tragic injures and death when unexpected. No matter the situation, leaders of companies, schools and religious organizations all have the incumbent responsibility to protect children, inform staff or parents, and engage their community to alert and inform them with messages that matter.
