One Year Later, Not One Word. We Must Break the Silence

Yehudit Tayar..
12 September '12..


Yesterday (Tuesday), September 11, was another of the painful, heartbreaking days when we went to Opher Military Court to hear and witness the continuing trials of the Arab terror cell that planned and perpetrated the murders of Asher and Yonatan Palmer HY"D.

Last September 23, on that fateful Friday, Asher Palmer was driving with his small infant son, Yonatan, to Jerusalem to meet up with his pregnant wife Puah, and spend the Shabbat there. As they traveled down Highway 60 from Kiryat Arba, towards Jerusalem, an enormous boulder was thrown out of a moving car at Asher's car. The result of this murderous, pre-planned terror attack was the murder of two innocent souls: Asher and Yonatan Palmer z"l.

Yesterday, in the Military Court, the hearing was about the head of the terror cell, Wahil, who planned and perpetrated this attack on innocent Jewish travelers. As we sat there waiting for the hearing to begin, we were even more upset than usual because yesterday was the Memorial for these two innocent souls who were murdered, only because they were Jewish.

Wahil turned to the court and explained that it is "very difficult for me to travel from the prison to Opher, and I feel ill from the journey." He then asked for the consideration of the court to reconvene the trial only in November as he is studying for his matriculation exams.

At this point Michael Palmer, who was sitting next to me, and Adv. Adrian Agassi representing the family of the victims and I looked at one another, and not for the first time in all of the unbelievable experiences in this unending series of court hearings, were left at a loss.


From the hearing we traveled up to Hevron to dedicate a Vineyard in memory of Asher and Yonatan z"l, and then up to the cemetery to the first year memorial.

All of us who were there were broken, sobbing and praying in their memory and also for the family to be blessed, and healed enough from this horrific tragedy to allow them to live a more normal life. Puah, the young widow of Asher and mother of Yonatan visited their graves for the first time since she was pregnant before. There is no way to describe the nightmare of seeing her sobbing over the tiny grave of her infant son. There is no way to describe the heartache and pain of the loss of two innocent souls.

Not one word was mentioned in the media about this memorial. I vowed to break the silence.

Here we are a few days before Rosh HaShanna, the Jewish New Year. This is a time more than any other that we must remember our mutual commitment to each other, and our mutual responsibility. We must shout out that this horrific murder did not occur because they were living in Hevron or traveling on that road. We have lost loved ones in terror attacks all over Israel: Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Ashkolon, Be'er Sheva, Netanya to name a few.

I will not be silent- we must not be silent. We shall continue to hold the family close to us, and continue to show a presence at each trial session until these murderers are brought to justice. We are one people, and we must break the silence!

Yehudit Tayar serves as a volunteer emergency medic, and as one of the veteran spokesmen for the Jewish pioneers in Yesha. She lives with her family for over 32 years in Bet Horon in the Benjamin Region.

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