Of Bus Bombs and Bones
In early Nov 2013, pictures flashed across media screens in Israel showing the remains of Yasser Arafat, exhumed for forensic tests:
“My phone rudely rang at 7 am. I ignored it. It rang again
and again. By 7.30 the unwanted
invasion had won. I answered. My entire day changed.
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| Jerusalem Bus 19 explosion |
“ Did you see the pictures of Yasser Arafat’s bones?” Leah*
asked. I could tell she was breathless,
in a panic. Leah has climbed back from a
deep black hole where she, like Joseph of old, was thrown the day her loving
husband and father to her four young children was murdered on a bus as he went
to work in a hospital kitchen. Her
husband was being buried, while her Mother in law threw her and her children,
minus their possessions out onto the street and claimed the dead husband’s
house as her own.
“ Did you see how black the bones are? Is that what happens to bones? I thought my Shmulik* was still a body, I have
never thought of him as black bones. How
did that happen? Where is he? Where is his soul? How did his body disintegrate? Was he eaten alive down under the ground? Can we take his bones up, clean them and put
them back again? Will you help me do
this?”
It does not take much to trigger the memory, to trigger the
pain, to take a person back to an open grave with a body covered in a prayer
shawl which is being tipped into the damp soil.
Most lay the required stone on the grave and walk away. Leah is still there, beside, if not inside the
grave. Who will help her to walk away?”
Springs of Hope is a Jerusalem based organisation that assists
the recovery of families personally impacted by acts of terror, usually involving
the loss of a close loved one. In March
this year, they are organising ‘Walk With Me’, a sponsor powered event that
will give people like Leah the opportunity to join a team of ‘terror survivors’
as they take part in the annual Jerusalem Marathon. The idea of moving past
their victimhood, of
getting up and walking forward into life, is dramatically represented by
completing part of the Marathon and crossing the finish line. For some, they are ready to walk out their
healing and begin using their experiences by investing in other terror
victims. The Springs team members are being encouraged
to get sponsors and get involved, to help raise funds to help bring healing to
so many others in 2014.
They are inviting people from the nations to come and ‘walk
with them’, either in a literal sense or in partnership through sponsoring
someone like Leah to take part.
If you would like to sponsor a Terror Survivor - click here
If you would like to join the Springs Team at the Jerusalem
Marathon in March 2014 - email us
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| Jerusalem Marathon |
*Names changed