Master-Sergeant Zidan Saif,(HY"D) the Druze policeman who died from wounds sustained in yesterday terrorist attack on a synagogue was laid to rest today, accompanied by thousands of Israelis, both Jews and Druze.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was among the mourners.
"To the Saif family - I stand in front of you shaken and pained," he said. "Terror has struck Jerusalem once more. Terror that does not distinguish between people. Terrorists turned a house of prayer into a house of slaughter. Your son did not hesitate or waver . . . He stood fearlessly against the terrorists and risked his life to protect the people of Jerusalem.
"He acted according to the values he was raised with - courage, heroism, and self-sacrifice." Rivlin concluded his euology on a personal note. "What will we tell a five-month-old baby who will never know her father, who has been orphaned? We will tell her that her father was a hero."
Saif is the second Druze policeman who has been murdered by Palestinian terrorists in recent days. The first, Border Police officer Jedan Assad (HY"D, May G-d avenge his blood) from Beit Jann was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist who used his van to attack a crowd of people waiting at a light rail station.
The Druze are Arabs but not Muslims, whose prophet is Yithro(Jethro). They had always had peaceful relations with the Jews, and during Israel's War of Independence in 1948 they remained neutral, neither attacking the Jews or fleeing.
Like all Arabs who chose to remain in Israel after the war, they became full citizens, but insisted on being subject to Israel's compulsory military service. Like many other Arabs in Israel, they serve with distinction and courage in the IDF and Israel's other security services...because they know that Israel is their country too, and are willing to shed their blood in her defence.
No comments:
Post a Comment