Opinion
OTHER VIEWS
Murder, Not Paradise
I
did not know Daniel Wultz,
the 16-year-old American
victim of a homicide bomb-
ing in Tel Aviv who died on
Mother's Day. Neither did I know
his parents, Sheryl or Tuly, who,
after a tortuous monthlong vigil
at their son's hospital bedside,
flew his body home to Weston,
Fla., last week for burial. So why,
then, did the news of this horrific
tragedy cut to my core with such
emotional intensity?
As a mother, my heart heaves
with pain for the unfathomable
grief and anguish of Sheryl and
Tuly Wultz. I cannot shake the
sense of wrenching loss and sor-
row the Wultz family is suffering.
How many of us have traveled
to Israel with our children, as
did the Wultz family, to marvel
at the pride-inspiring magic of
our Jewish homeland? And how
many of us, while there, have
casually stopped for a bite to eat
at a by-the-way restaurant, as did
Tuly and Daniel?
On this fateful day, a deranged
fanatic was dispatched by a ter-
ror goon squad to blow up as
many innocents as possible. The
reality at once simple and shock-
ing is that the attack on Daniel is
an attack on our children as well.
Daniel, a good-looking,
basketball-loving high school
sophomore, was certainly not
singled out and marked for death
by Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, though both
gleefully shared responsibility
for the attack that claimed 11
lives and injured scores more.
For in their zeal to murder and
maim, terrorists so blinded by
hate do not really see their vic-
tims. Old and young alike; men
and women; Jews, Christians
and Muslims; Israeli, American,
European, Asian. All have been
among the 1,119 felled by terror
in Israel since the September
2000 onset of the Palestinian
intifada. Terrorism is an equal
opportunity industry of death
and destruction.
Following the April 17 attack
— the second deadliest in two
years —an Al Aqsa senior leader
gloated of Daniel's grave inju-
ries: "We are sorry there is not
more of this stuff. American and
Zionist — this is the best target
combination we could dream of.
This is the ideal target."
The Islamic terror organiza-
tions do not mince their words.
They brazenly defend their char-
ter to destroy Israel and annihi-
late Jews. Make the Holy Land
judenrein (cleansed of Jews).
Daniel Wultz, "one of the
sweetest boys you could ever
want to know," according to an
administrator at his school,
joins Jews across the ages who
perished simply because they
were Jews. He is now a symbol
of hatred's target — an innocent
teen becomes the enemy of a
virulent Islamic ideology that is
today's deadliest incarnation of
anti-Semitism.
Daniel's murder,
and Koby Mandell's
murder, the murder of
the four young Hatuel
sisters along with their
pregnant mother at
point-blank range (the
two youngest girls
shot while strapped in
their car seats) and the
murder of all the Jewish chil-
dren by Palestinian terrorists is
thus not unlike the slaughter of
1.5 million Jewish children by
the Nazis in their campaign of
Jewish genocide. And if the world
doesn't demand the dismantling
of the infrastructure and financ-
ing networks of terror, the cult-
like worship of death and incite-
ment to hate in education and in
the media will continue to breed
more skilled and determined
generations of Jew-killers.
The Bigger Picture
The national news media
largely ignored Daniel Wultz and
focused on the suicide bomber
and his mother's grief. It is the
Rachel Corries of the world who
become the media darlings and
causes celebres of "human rights"
and "peace" activists. Rachel
Corrie became the "martyr"
for the International Solidarity
Movement, upon her accidental
death while trying to block an
Israeli bulldozer from razing the
homes of Palestinian terrorists.
Unlike Corrie, who knowingly
put herself in harm's way, Daniel
Wultz had no
choice in his fate.
In an instant,
he became part
of the intended
carnage when
a brainwashed
psychopath deto-
nated near his
table. But where is
the world outcry at the murder of
an innocent American teen?
One could easily speculate that
the world's heart is hardened
toward loss of Jewish life. Riots
over cartoons dominate world
interest; the savage slaying of a
23-year-old Parisian Jew, Ilan
Halimi hardly elicited a blip on
the world's radar. But let us not
forget that the systematic exter-
mination of Europe's 6 million
Jews barely warranted mention
in the New York nines. It is a
despicable reality that Jewish life
has a lesser price tag in the eyes
of a world poisoned by alarm-
ingly escalating anti-Semitism.
That's why it's critical that we
not forget our vulnerability as
one of the smallest and most
threatened minorities in the
world. It's up to us to serve as
the Yizkor candles for Daniel
Wultz and Jews the world over
whd become "fair game" solely
becatise they.,are Jewish. We
must standup to the venal libels
against Jews and the vicious pro-
paganda singling out Israel for
vilification.
We cannot buy into the sloppy
rhetoric of moral equivalence
promoted by- Israel-bashers,
peace" proponents and specious
academics. There is no equiva-
lence between the cold-blooded
murder of innocents by terror-
ists, whose families were often
paid handsomely, and Israel's
right to defend her citizens
against such heinous crimes .
against humanity.
We should be adamant that
Jewish communal agencies not
enter into pacts of appeasement
with terror supporters and terror
apologists. Terror experts Steve
Emerson and Robert Spencer
speaking recently in Detroit -
warned of the dangers of confer-
ring legitimacy on, or proclaim-
ing as "moderate," organizations
tied to the nexus of terrorism.
I ask the same questions as
the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, quoted
in the New York Times at the,
funeral of Lior Anidzar, 26, mar-
ried only two weeks when he
became a victim of the homicide
bomber: "Who are these savages
who do these things? Heaven is
not for such people. For what do
they give their lives? To kill inno-
cents? This is religion? No, this
is a distortion of all mercy and
all religious feeling ... murder
doesn't bring paradise." I-1
((
Linda Stulberg is a Farmington
Hills resident and a founder of
StandWithUs-Michigan, a pro-Israel
education and advocacy group.
One Family Fund Aids Wultz Family
L
ess then two months ago,
the Detroit community
was visited by two vic-
tims of terror from Israel, Yossi
Mendelevitch and Hadar Gitlin.
Yossi, from Haifa, was talking to
his 13-year-old son Yuval by cell
phone, when the bus that Yuval
was traveling on was blown up
by a suicide bomber, killing him
instantly. Hadar was a security
guard at a mall in Afula. She
20 May 25 • 2006
stopped a woman from entering
the mall, and the bomber deto-
nated herself, severely wounding
Hadar, and killing her partner.
In both cases, One Family
Fund has been a central source
of emotional and financial help.
The Detroit community, moved
by the stories ,of these survi-
vors, donated $20,000 to the
charity. One Family Fund aids the
families of the deceased and the
survivors. The charity has dis-
pensed $12.5 million and provid-
ed assistance to 2,450 families.
In the Passover bombing
in Tel Aviv, the charity imme-
diately stepped in to help the
victims. Floridians Daniel
and Tuly Wultz, badly injured,
received immediate assistance
from One Family Fund, including
hotel rooms, Shabbot food and
plane tickets. Last week, Daniel
Wultz, a high school student, died
from his injuries. One Family
Fund assisted with all funeral
arrangements and is working
closely with the family, which is
now back in the United States.
The Wultz family designated
One Family Fund as the autho-
rized charity to receive dona-
tions on its behalf. Designate a
donation for the Wultz family in
memory of Daniel on your check.
For details about the Fund, call
Ashley Israel locally at (248) 855-
3020 or e-mailAshley@detroit-
development.com . The charity
Web site is www.onefamilyfund.
org.
Donations also may be sent
to Mimi Jankovits, One Family
Fund, 2627 NE 203rd St., Suite
111, Aventura FL 33180. Call
(305) 931-4545. II