My grandfather Isaac Rotenberg was a Holocaust survivor, he went through many hardships and immigrated to Israel. He fought in the War of Independence and was wounded in Manara. And after all that, he was murdered in cold blood here in the country he helped build.
Grandfather was 69 and still went to work, a true working man. I still remember that morning. It was during Passover in 1994. The ticket into Fatah for two Arab men aged 19 and 23 who worked alongside him was to murder a Jew, and so they murdered my grandfather -- with axes.
They were caught and sentenced to life imprisonment, and they were supposed to rot in jail until their deaths. Then, we were informed about 2.5 months ago, during the first stage of the prisoner release, that one of them, Atia Abu Mousa would be released. And now, in the second stage, the second terrorist who murdered my grandfather, Hazem Kassem Shbair, is being released as well.
What can I say? That I'm hurting? That I can't breathe? That I'm infuriated? I feel as though both my hands are tied. When the negotiations over the return of Gilad Schalit in exchange for a prisoner release were taking place, my father went to the Schalit family's encampment and said that if the release of grandfather's murderers would bring Gilad home, then he is for it. It was clear to him how important it was.
But today, everything is different. I am against the release and against the negotiations. If feels like we are paying such a heavy price and receiving essentially nothing in return. We did not attend the protests because it was clear to us that it would not change anything.
I will not turn on the television so that I don't have to see the terrorists celebrating their return home. From now on, the murderers will have happy lives, with family and friends. They are young and have their lives ahead of them, and my grandfather, who had several good years left to enjoy life, missed out on a new grandchild and on so many experiences he could have shared with his family.
It is painful.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו
