As Tears
Turn To Smiles, Israel, IDF Celebrate 65 Years
By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem,
Israel --- April 10, 2013
Israel is now celebrating her
65th year of Independence. Following two weeks of mourning and
remembrance ceremonies for Holocaust, IDF and terror victims,
Israelis are now enjoying fireworks, picnics, houmos and falafel.
As
the Jewish nation turns 65, over 8 million people are now living
in the only democracy in the Middle East.
"In
a day or two the flags will be folded," Israel President
Shimon Peres told families of the fallen from the Israel Defense
Forces.
"The
trumpets will return to their regular sounds and Israel will go
back to its daily routine. You will also return to your regular
routines, but it will never be the same as ours. You will wake
in the morning and in an instant, abruptly the smile that accompanied
you all those years vanished. You will sit down here in Israel
for breakfast and the chair next to you will be empty and will
never be filled again. It is the son that won't wake up late for
the meal. It is the daughter that will not come. You will sit
with friends in the evening and they will tell a joke and you
will smile, like everyone, but the smile will be forced. Your
friends will be relaxed. You no longer will be. Their stories
and their words will seem like they come from a distant land.
You will walk in the street and old friends will look down. And
you will understand; it is hard for them to look into your sad
eyes. You will hear family members, friends, acquaintances all
try to speak to you but the words get lost. Because in front of
your eyes and your faces words are lost.
You will look
closely at friends who always came to visit them. You will see
them grow-up in front of your eyes, finishing their army services,
getting married, having children, building a career, rising up
the ladder and rising in rank. Your thoughts will wander to distant
and dreamy scenes; that's your daughter, that's your son, who
will no longer see the light of day. Who will not be a father,
who will not grow old. His face will always remain as pure as
snow. And the lines will decorate your face, not his.
We are those
that know your routine will never be like ours. We are those in
Israel that know the secret of your tear-stained pillow at night.
We who walked side by side with your children, who saw them in
the last moments of their lives, we know that this evening there
are no words that can heal that pain. We know that the hug which
can roll back the wheel of life as if nothing had happened, has
not yet been discovered. As if the nightmare is over, as if it
was a bad dream.
If only there
was such a word, such an embrace we would go to the ends of the
earth to bring it to you. You, who will never again hear your
children's laughter or their voice as they come down the stairs,
you will not pull the covers at night over your child, the father,
the husband. You, who will not worry again about their late return
home. There is no end to your pain, there isn't a day or a night,
nor a month or a year. You the parents, the fiancés, the
children, the brothers and the sisters You are the real
heroes of life.
Tomorrow,
or the next day, you will return to your home which is missing
a son or a daughter, you will look at the pictures on the wall
and in the albums, remember each moment, each word, each laugh
and the tears will run down your cheeks. We won't be there
when you cry, but we know well the rivers of your tears. We know
how much you invested in raising these wonderful children.
We are here
today to say to you that we know there is no comfort for someone
who lost a son, a husband, a father, a brother in the IDF. That
we cannot replace those who have gone. But maybe it will comfort
you, even a little, the knowledge that we, your family, your friends,
we remember them and will always remember them. Their faces will
never disappear from the images of our life.
For every mother and father whose world has been darkened, for
every wife who became a widow, and for every brother and sister,
son and daughter of a fallen soldier, who shed a tear for their
loves ones who hug and embrace the cold stone lovingly.
To you, the families, this stone monument is not unknown. It is
an anchor for your longing which will never move. It is a load
of sorrow, always in your hearts.
Nurit Dagan,
who son fell in a terror explosion in Beit-Lid best described
the sense of loss. She wrote:
'The hardest
thing is living, to carry on as if nothing has happened. To know
that the sun rises and sets even without you. The easiest thing
is to wear dark clothes, to curl up at home in painful silence.
It is hardest to buy new clothes, to put on make-up, to go the
cinema and the theater, to go to friends weddings, to laugh at
jokes about the country. It is easiest to stay at home and watch
soap operas. It is hardest to watch the news and see young soldiers
injured and killed. Killed, like you. Our children. It is easiest
to flee abroad during the holidays. To wander around a foreign
country, to forget the festive atmosphere at home, that everyone
is celebrating with their families. It is hardest to stay in Israel
during the festivals, to take part in the festivities, to smile,
to speak gently while inside your heart is broken, broken and
decaying with longing. It is easiest to take part in the memorial,
like the one here tonight. To mourn with everyone of the loss
of our beloved children, too soon, the hardest thing is returning
home from here, to the missing, to the emptiness.' So she wrote,
in tears not in ink.
When you and
I look out from within this deep mourning, at this historic place
called the State of Israel. At our victories on the battlefields
and in peace. The vibrant pulse of creativity. The fantastic achievements
that place this country at the forefront of the world in so many
fields. There is no limit to our pride, there is no limit to my
pride. Israel's existence is no longer in question. The IDF is
ready for any scenario, against any enemy. Against any danger.
The courage
and spirit of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and their
commanders, their courage and faith in the righteousness of their
path together with the preservation of their morals and values
are the guarantees that the IDF will prevail. We know it. Our
enemies have learnt it. May they not err again. We have a duty
to spare no effort and no cost to end the war and bring security
and peace to this country. Because even if the price of peace
will be heavy we will always be able to bear it. Terror
brings death. Peace brings life. For us and our neighbors.
We will not
forget even for a moment and will always remember those for whom
the survival of Israel and its glory are indebted. Those who over
the 65 years of the state's existence, protected her with their
bodies, their blood and their lives, defended her borders and
the security of her citizens, her independence and her freedom.
Israel is as dear to us as the bravery of her fighters, and as
dear as the depth of the sorrow for each fallen soldier.
Here, next
to the sacred stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, I say on
behalf of all of Israel, that you, the fallen of Israel's wars
deserve eternal glory and our ultimate gratitude."
Israel Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: "Today, the State of
Israel honors the memory of its fallen, our soldiers and our people
who fell in Israel's wars and in the terrorist attacks. From the
moment the state was established, it has not ceased to wish for
peace with its neighbors, and to the same degree, its enemies
have not ceased from their aspiration to wipe it off the face
of the earth. We are here thanks to Israel's fighters who joined
the struggle for our existence, thanks to those who survived the
wars and thanks to those who fell. We do not forget, even for
a second, that we are here thanks to the fallen.
Today, while
the accumulated threats against the State of Israel are greater
than in the past, both the IDF and our security services are stronger
than ever. We will continue to strengthen our security, we will
continue to aspire for peace with our neighbors, and we will continue
to ensure the future of our country."
Follow Israel's
Israel Independence Day celebrations on the Hatkivah
page of Facebook.
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working with both the Israel Defense Forces and the US Army in
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