Ok, I was very sad yesterday about this deal. However, after reading this article and what was said during the funeral, I am proud to be a Jew, Zionist, and a firm supporter of State of Israel. Hezbollah and Terrorist Apologists always try to impeach Israel’s character through twisting facts and stretching the truth or using tactics to somehow condemn Israel, however today Israel proved its moral superiority in its struggle for existence in this barbaric place. This is not a publicity stunt, it is not Photoshop of pictures, and it is not a propaganda clip. It is the truth of what Israel and its morality represent as a nation. Please read the eulogies; the victims’ families are not asking for revenge, they are not asking for Lebanese Skulls to be crushed or cursing Lebanese like Terrorists’ mothers do when their Terrorist son is arrested or killed. This is the difference between the two cultures, one civilized and one barbaric; one is right and justified and the other one is something else. This is the difference: one is celebrating the freedom of a child killer, and the other one paid the highest price for its citizens and soldiers to return home. The world can simply see who is the terrorists and acting like a terrorist and one who is the civilized one in the region. However, whether they would recognize it or not is another story. At the end, Israel: I have never been more proud of you as I am today. Her is the eulogy (click here for the story).
"I'm proud to belong to those who love and not to those who hate," Ofer Regev, brother of fallen soldier Eldad Regev, who was returned in Wednesday's prisoner swap with Hizbullah, said at Eldad's funeral Thursday.
Ofer began his eulogy with a quote from a song by Israeli rock idol Shalom Hanoch: "A strange man, your enemy, exactly like you / You know he does not want to die, exactly like you. We lived in a world where we believed our enemy was exactly like us. We thought we could speak to people who also wanted to raise a child, grow a flower, love a girl, exactly like us. But the enemy proved it is not like us. And still, we will not stop trying. I stand here today sad, crying, but proud; proud of my country that fought with me to bring you back, proud of every citizen who thought of you, Eldad, as his brother. I'm proud to belong to those who love and not to those who hate. And to the entire nation who paid a high price with clenched teeth, they know that camaraderie has no price."
Paraphrasing a famous saying by former Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, often inscribed on the gates of military bases, Ofer said "Every Hebrew mother should know that the fate of her sons, even if they are taken hostage, lies in the hands of commanders who will not rest and never give up until they return. I am proud of you my little brother, a man of many talents, a lover of literature and soccer. A true patriot both on the front lines and in everyday life, during reserve duty or in the volunteer work you carried out," continued Ofer.
Regev's other brother, Eyal, recounted how on Remembrance Day 2006, two months and 12 days before his capture, Eldad wrote: 'Maybe there is eventual comfort and hope, and remembrance and faith are not for nothing.' "My Eldad, may your memory be blessed," he said.
"On the twelfth of July, at nine hours and six minutes, time stopped," Karnit Goldwasser, the widow of Ehud Goldwasser said during his funeral. "A journey began for you and me - for us, the family, and for the entire country. Now you and I move on to the next journey, the journey of my life. You will be a full partner in it, you will continue to be my inner voice, eternally young, accompanying me throughout my life. It will be lived without you, but forever you will be there. My love, they say that time heals and covers wounds. Is that so? Two years have passed since that one moment when, with a wave of a knife, the artery of our life together was cut," Karnit continued. "That moment, the worst of all [moments], was turned into a horrible reality; a reality which sunk us all into a dark and complicated world. Please forgive me, my darling husband, for not [talking about] your many virtues here, those which accompanied me every step of the way during the struggle for your return. This isn't the place to do that. With your permission, I will make my personal farewell in my own time," Karnit said. Speaking before Karnit, Miki Goldwasser, Ehud's mother said, "I hope we can come to see the Second Lebanon War as a victory. We have found this nation to be a wonderful nation. We have found bereaved families with superior mental fortitude; we have found generosity. We have found the spirit of volunteering, the meaning of the word friendship. This is an amazing nation," she continued. While Karnit and the rest of the family shed tears of grief, the mother remained stoic. "I will not cry here. I will save the crying for later," she said.
"I would like to salute the Arad family," the bereaved mother said, referring to the family of Ron Arad, the IAF navigator missing since 1986. "I would like to salute the members of the Shahar family - it took great strength for them to come. And in particular, I would like to salute a great woman who has been my inspiration by standing up to all horrors with her head held high - Smadar Haran."
Eliyahu Shahar was one of the policemen killed by Lebanese murderer Samir Kuntar, whose release was part of the swap deal to return the bodies of Goldwasser and Regev. Smadar Haran lost her husband Danny and daughter Einat to Kuntar's murderous brutality in 1979. She also accidentally smothered her other daughter to death while hiding from Kuntar.
"If not for your kidnapping and Israel's response, Hizbullah might have succeeded in wiping us out," Goldwasser maintained. "I turn to the Jewish nation and ask you to hold your head high in national pride," she added.
