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| The Eiffel Tower's lights went dark to honor the victims. |
“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?”
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.--Slaughterhouse-Five
While I find the images printed in Charlie Hebdo pretty offensive, I applaud the use of satire and humor as a way to reach people who may not watch the news or read government policy. Just as we have "South Park" (which I don't really care for) or "The Daily Show" (j'adore!!), Charlie Hebdo used cartoons and satire to call out everyone...no one was immune and everyone was equally skewered. Our own "Mad" magazine is the same type of publication, maybe not quite as intense, but similar.
I wish I had some profound, ground-breaking thing to write about this attack, but probably like many of you, it leaves me speechless and amazed that someone could take hatred to a level such as this: to walk up to an unknown, unarmed person and shoot them dead. I cannot understand a hate like this. I also cannot understand how it must feel to live under this shadow every single day, the way my Israeli friends must.
So what do I believe? I believe there is a place for everyone. There is a land for the Israelis, the Palestinians and all the rest of us. I'm not sure how the Palestinians, the PLO, Hamas, ISIS and all others who want to exterminate our earth of the Jewish people don't yet understand the truth I believe from my Bible: the Jews are a chosen people and they will not be removed. Even if you aren't religious or a Bible-believer, throwback to that 6 Day War and many other battles when the odds were never in their favor, but the Israelis were unbroken and undefeated. These signs strengthen my faith in the Israelis as a people, a nation, and my God as Mighty.
I had the opportunity to have a conversation on this subject with a friend back in June, while still living in Paris. He is an Israeli, familiar with these complicated issues. He told me there would be a terrorist attack in France, but just when or how, the French hadn't uncovered the information yet. So for me, it was quite eerie and of course, disheartening, when I saw it all happening last week. I did feel relieved that several of our Israeli friends are no longer living in Paris, so I could breathe a sigh of relief to know they were safe. So sad I couldn't be there to march on Sunday at the unity rally. So proud to see many of my friends there supporting free speech, a free country and keeping the spirit of Paris alive and well.
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| Paris rally for unity--3.7 million strong! |
"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire
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