Jerusalem Mayor: “We Are Strong, United, and Determined”

The Fellowship  |  October 16, 2015

Responding to the recent surge in terror against Israelis by Palestinian extremists, which has mostly centered in Jerusalem, the city’s mayor, Nir Barkat, offered strong words in The Times of Israel.

The wave of terrorism that we are experiencing in Jerusalem is brutal and cruel. Inflammatory incitement and lies from mosques, Palestinian leaders and the Islamic Movement are resulting in the murder of innocent civilians, and terror in the streets of Jerusalem that attempts to disrupt our daily routine. To our shock and horror, there is no limit to the cruelty of murderers who use meat cleavers and kitchen knives to attack innocent young children on bikes on their way home from school. We Jerusalemites are strong, united and determined. We have survived harder times and overcome them.

. . . The emergency routine in which we find ourselves requires us to be alert and responsible, and, most of all, unified, strong, and determined in the current struggle against terrorists and the shocking forms of evil that we are being confronted with. But is also requires us to continue with our daily routines and to build and strengthen Jerusalem. It requires us to overcome our fear and anxiety and to pursue our daily lives, and to continue planning for the future.

Jerusalem is sending a loud and clear message to all the people of Israel: do not let the murderers get what they want. We must continue with our lives. Citizens from all of Israel and people from across the globe must come and visit Jerusalem, especially now. Come and pray at our holy sites and at the Western Wall. Enjoy our abundant cultural events, museums, and tourist sites. Walk around the city center and the Old City – because that is how we will show our enemies that they will not win.