Willow Tree

Losing the World

This morning the Monkey brought me a book and showed me she could "read." Well, not yet, but her joy in her not yet ability was quite unabashedly strong. While English is her first language she will learn to read and write in Hebrew first, and that is how I want it. Next she treated us to a song called the Cheaping; a song consisting of tongue clicks "because it souonds like chirping" she explained.

On September 1rst, the day my daughter started her first day of "gan hovah" advanced gan, a sweet Israeli boy of 3 was buried; vicitim of the double bus bombing the day before. On Sept 1rst as my children were welcomed to their first day of school, as the Artist and her friends and all the upper classes made a ceremony welcoming the first graders, and and wishing the 6th graders a great last year, some several hundred children were taken hostage in Russia, and the last figure I read was 323 dead, 156 of them children.

Children, thirsty after three days of no water drank their own urine, hungry, ate leaves from plants in the building.

Some of the children were shot in the back as they tried to escape. One child reports that one of the terrorist doing the shooting smiled as the children fell.

All this via LOGIC AND SANITY, here and here.

What world is this? I want the world of my five year old for all children. I realize how vulnerable she is, and how vulnerable we all are. What is to be done?

Putin said, and I agree with him "We showed weakness, and weak people are beaten,"

But it isn't simply strength that we need; it is moral strength. The courage to stand up against all evil and fight it. To end terrorism we need to unite against it and not allow it to stand. Were mistakes made by Putin and the Russian security force? Yes, of course. But blaming Putin is blaming the wrong person; whether or not he is re-elected the blame for this horror has to be placed where it belongs; ont he terrorists shoulders.

All those who participated in this horror must be brought to justice and dealt with swiftly.

I wish I could pick up a book and read the words I'd like to be there instead of the words that are there, but this is the book we are handed, and I can read now. Somedays I wish I couldn't.

Those wishing to donate to the vicitims and/or to donate to a memorial fund can go here.

I don't know what else to say. To seize, torture and murder children; we must as a world prevent this from happening ever again.

Posted by Rachel Ann at September 5, 2004 06:18 AM