Israelis have Hatikvah, hope

When I was in New York Saturday night, I experienced the real face of terrorism on a personal level. My friend Kinneret checked the news and we found out a Palestinian terrorist blew himself up in Israel. I was upset and frustrated when I heard about the attack, but then something happened.\nEzra started to read the report about the attack. Two teenagers were killed in the attack and when he read their names I was stunned by what I saw. Bruria started to cry. She knew both of the teenagers who were killed in the attack. The victims were friends of her family.\nI felt like I ran into a brick wall the moment she started crying. Sure I am always sad when I hear about the daily terrorist attacks in Israel, but this time was different. It felt more real than ever before. I can pick up any newspaper and read about how many people die but too often it just feels like words in a sad story.\nWhen Bruria started to cry I realized more than ever that there are real people whose lives are being shattered by Palestinian terrorism. Nehemia Amar and Karen Satsky, two teenagers whose only crime was being Jewish were both killed in the attack. A Palestinian terrorist attached a bomb to himself packed with nails, screws and bolts and detonated it in a mall in the middle of a group of civilians.\nWhat kind of justification can be given to this kind of terrorism? Why do so many people apologize for it and turn the blame on Israel for the attacks? At what point is the red line drawn telling the terrorists they can't do this anymore? Sure, both the Palestinians and the Israelis have grievances with each other, but there is no justification for terrorism.\nWe shouldn't become desensitized to all the terrorism against Israelis we hear about in the news just because it happens all the time. I read about innocent civilians dying at the hands of Palestinian terrorists everyday, but only on Saturday did I realize how real it is. When is it going to stop?\nI sit here in Bloomington, safe from terrorism, but not content. While people representing 41 states and 30 nationalities died in the Sept. 11 attacks, no one from Indiana was killed, according to The Associated Press. Innocent people are dying every day at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. Real people, not just names in a newspaper. Lives are being shattered and dreams destroyed.\nThe United States did not sit back and allow these things to happen Sept. 11. When terrorists killed Americans we did something about it. We urge Israel to show restraint when dealing with Palestinian people and it does. But how can anyone show restraint when dealing with terrorists?\nIsraelis and Palestinians have issues that need to be worked out between the two but not through terrorism. Former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin said it best. "We will fight terrorism as if there is no peace and pursue peace as if there is no terrorism." Innocent people are being killed and Israel must do something about it. I never knew this more than on Saturday night.\nThere will be peace someday. I know there will. Israel's national anthem is Hatikvah, meaning the hope. If we don't have hope, we don't have anything. I have Hatikvah.