20 May '12..
Today we celebrate the re-unification of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. We have in our lifetimes been blessed with the miracle of our return to Jerusalem, tomorrow is the celebration of our return to Hebron, the City of our Fathers.
This day was also yet another day of the pre-trial sessions for the murderers of Asher and Yonatan Palmer HY"D in the Opher Prison Camp. Meeting there in order to support the Palmer family and to show that we are one people and stand together, is the reason that we go.
The last few sessions we have held a photograph of Asher and Yonatan z"l before we went in, and during the court sessions in order to show the faces behind the names. To humanize the situation for the court and prison officials to see what was lost by this murderous attack, and of course to show the murderers who they brutally took away from their loved ones simply because they were Jews.
A group of us waited outside the prison court for permission to enter already well trained to leave cell phones, and all of our personal possessions outside. The waiting period as usual was lengthy, and all around us were Arabs and many representatives of "Machsom Watch" the EU etc. meeting with the families of incarcerated Arabs.
Finally after almost two hours we were passed through the inspections and after another rather long wait were escorted into the court chamber by a very sympathetic group of Prison guards and soldiers.
Seated quietly I held the photograph that Michael had printed out of Asher and Yonatan – a simple A4 black and white print of these two precious innocent souls who were murdered.
The prisoners entered and so did families of the accused carrying on an open, loud and boisterous conversation one with the other. We sat silently on the other side. I held the photograph silently.
The proceedings began, and one of the lawyers for the accused opened up and demanded that the court force me to remove the photograph which he claimed would prejudice the judging.
The military court judge did not understand what the lawyer was referring to, and responded that he did not see any demonstration what so ever. The entire session today was regarding the photograph and the lawyer for the group of accused terrorists kept repeating his demand to force me to remove the photograph.
The judge ruled that it was not a demonstration, and that I could be allowed to continue to hold the photo because these were the victims. The judge continued by stating that I was causing no disturbance to the court nor would the photo influence any more than if the photo was not there, since the entire proceedings were because of the murders of the two depicted in the photo.
I am not ashamed to say that during the entire process we, who came for the Palmers, were very emotional. It was surrealistic that this photograph of the victims was the entire topic of the court session. This photo did what we wished it would do. This photo humanized the situation and brought the faces of the innocent victims in front of the court staff, and the accused murderers, and that is what the lawyer did not want. He did not want faces. The lawyer of the accused preferred to concentrate on time-wasting delays but now there was this photograph bringing reality into the court.
We, the Jewish people cling to our roots, to our heritage and to our faith. We, the Jewish people know that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people as we know that Hebron belongs to the Jewish people forever.
I know as all of us do who have lost loved ones, that it is up to us to never ever give up on our heritage, or on our memories and with that the responsibility to teach and show those who hate us and wish to destroy us that eternal is forever – that we are here to stay.
Chag Yerushalayim and Hebron Sameach forever, Amen.
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