A Day of Mourning

Naomi Ragen

After days of prayer and fear among Jews and good people everywhere, the
horrible reality of the Islamic terrorist rampage in Mumbai was revealed in all its obscene and mindless savagery when members of Zaka entered the Chabad compound. As an eyewitness told YNET, the sight was unbearable even to the practiced eyes
of those whose job it is to deal with the aftermath of murderous terror
attacks:|"The place was totally destroyed. Live grenades were all over the
floor. Torah scrolls and holy books were scattered on the floor, covered
with blood." The bodies of the Chabad rabbi and the kashrut supervisor were
found in one room, along with two other men whose hands had been tied with
telephone wire. The body of the Rabbi's young wife Rivkie was found covered
in a tallit. It is believed she was killed before her young husband's eyes
and he wrapped her in his tallit. A grandmother from Israel, and a Jewish
woman tourist from Mexico were also identified.

For photos you will not see
in the New York Times of the blood-soaked floor of the house of prayer and
hospitality, courtesy of the "religion of peace" whose riots kill hundreds when a Koran is desecrated,
please go to: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3630586,00.html

Police in Mumbai report that they found enough ammunition to blow up both
hotels and to kill thousands, which according to a terrorist captured alive,
was the intention. This carefully planned attack, which had the Chabad
House at its center, was orchestrated from Pakistan. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the
Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, of which Bombay is the capital, was
quoted yesterday as saying there were two "British-born Pakistanis" among
the terrorists, reports he later denied. A British Pakistani was involved
in a terror attack in Israel at Mike's Place not long ago. The Mail Online
reports "a banned Islamic terrorist group funded with cash raised in British
mosques is believed to be behind the Mumbai attacks." The Mail reports: "The
only terrorist captured alive after the Mumbai massacre has given police the
first full account of the extraordinary events that led to it – revealing he
was ordered to 'kill until the last breath' Azam Amir Kasab, 21, from
Pakistan, said the attacks were meticulously planned six months ago and were
intended to kill 5,000 people. He revealed that the ten terrorists, who were
highly trained in marine assault and crept into the city by boat, had
planned to blow up the Taj Mahal Palace hotel after first executing British
and American tourists and then taking hostages."

These descriptions brought back flashbacks to me of the Park Hotel which was
rocked by a murderous explosion by Hamas terrorists right before the Seder
began. Perhaps it is impossible for the average human being to understand
the depth of evil represented by Muslim extremists and their supporters if
you didn't witness such a thing. I deal with this in my book, The Covenant.
But I feel that I am whistling in the wind. People who have not seen this
with their own eyes just refuse to understand that these are not people with
grievances, people who can be reasoned with. These people are Nazis. Only
if you think you can speak to a Nazi and convince him to not wish to kill
Jews, can such a stand make sense.

No one should negotiate with any person, government official, religious
leader, or member of any group that does not condemn and despise and
excoriate these terrorists. No respect should be given to any religion, or
member of that religion, or religious leader who does not despise and
condemn these acts. When one views the bloody floor of Chabad House, one
sees the bloodied face of civilization. Those who are not prepared to
exterminate this evil, and those who are involved in it, are part of it.

Eyewitness Jonathan Ehrlich, a businessman who narrowly escaped death in
Mumbai,
sent out an e-mail of his experiences. In conclusion, he writes this:

The people who did this have no souls. They have no hearts. They are
simply
the living manifestation of evil and they only know killing and murder.
We - all of us - need to understand that. Their target tonight was
first and foremost Americans. Why? Because they fear everything that
America stands for. They fear hope and change and freedom and peace.
Let's make no mistake; they would have shot me and my children point
blank tonight without a moment's hesitation. Most of us sorta know
that but sometimes we equivocate. We can't equivocate. Not ever.