On Wednesday morning, a 19-year-old boy was stabbed to death while sleeping on a bus. Eden Atias had been in the Israel Defense Forces for two short weeks and was returning to his base in Tel Aviv when he was murdered on a bus, in his seat, fast asleep.
It’s shocking that the international media responded to this cold-blooded murder with a resounding silence. There was little to no mention in any of the world’s major newspapers about Atias’ murder. Israel and the Israel Defense Forces are constantly berated in the media for every move they make. It’s an apparent crime against humanity for a Palestinian to be arrested after throwing rocks at soldiers or civilians. The media goes up in arms about such a thing and condemns Israel as a violator of human rights. The world’s media has displayed this double standard time and time again, but one would hope that now, just maybe, it would be a little different.
On his Facebook page, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum congratulated the terrorist who murdered Atias and called on “the Palestinian youth to take part in the movement of the resistance, no matter the sacrifice.” Words of incitement only hinder the peace process and any potential for a Palestinian state. Since July, Israel has released hundreds of terrorists as a compromise to further the peace talks facilitated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. What I’m afraid the international community does not understand is that these prisoners are murderers of innocent Israelis and people who attempted to murder Israeli citizens. Two years ago Israel released a number of prisoners in order to finally bring home Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held in captivity for five years by Hamas, from the horrors of Hamas’ captivity. One of those prisoners was the terrorist who hijacked a car that a cousin of mine was in. The terrorist shot my cousin in the leg, shot another passenger and killed the driver. They were on their way home from work.
This year I proudly serve as the president for the Binghamton University Zionist Organization (BUZO). Our organization seeks to spread the pro-Israel message on campus and educate the student body about all the wonderful things Israel contributes to the world, as well as the ongoing conflict in the region. I felt compelled to write this article following the complete void of national and international media coverage of such a tragic death. If Atias had been born in the United States, he could have been a freshman sitting in your Intro to World Politics class, or maybe even pledging a frat. Instead, he was born an Israeli citizen with the duty to serve his country in order to end the terror that inevitably killed him.