When a bomb explodes, a rocket falls, or a gunman has his way and there are no deaths to report, we may breathe a sigh of relief, but we must realize that while violent attacks may not always result in the loss of life, they almost always destroy lives.
Terrorist incidents alter or eliminate physical abilities and leave serious emotional scars. Indeed, violence can leave families and entire communities damaged for life, even if their stories aren’t reported on the news.
In September, US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by terrorists who stormed the US Consulate in Benghazi. Just a few weeks later, a car bomb killed Lebanese security chief Wissam al-Hassan. And last month, a serious Hamas offensive sent hundreds of rockets into Israeli cities previously thought invulnerable, killing five and wounding 70 private citizens. Now, our brothers and sisters in the United States are reeling from a mass execution at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, an act of extreme violence that left 26 dead, including 20 young children.
Stories about many other attacks, bombings and grisly murders around the world – premeditated acts of terror as well as impulsive and senseless acts of violence are circumventing the globe.
When terror attacks occur in Israel, we pray that there are no fatalities. When one man is killed, it is as though the whole country has a lost a father, brother, husband, or friend. When one young girl dies, all of Israel mourns the death oftheir little girl. In the hours after an attack, we focus on the death toll. If there are no fatalities, we often breathe a deep sigh of relief and go about our day.
We cannot just focus on the dead. We must not forget those who have survived terror attacks, but escaped with serious or minor injuries. We don’t often hear about their suffering because their stories are rarely picked up by the media. However, it is the survivors of terror attacks who are left to live a life of terror. In addition to physical injuries (many of which only develop days after an attack), survivors often suffer from shock, anxiety and, even the guilt of knowing that they survived while others did not. These “symptoms of terror” are debilitating and cause otherwise promising lives to veer off course.
In many cases, it is the families of survivors who suffer the most from acts of terror. While they have no physical scars and don’t require medical attention immediately following an attack, these men, women and children are plunged into a new reality where loved ones are no longer the same. Often the family’s primary breadwinners become physical and financial burdens.
These people are not recognized as physically or emotionally injured, but suffer from severe trauma. Organizations that provide for those who survive are often bound by restrictions and lack of funds. In Israel such organizations as ATZUM assist when other funding is not available. It may be quiet in Israel now, but that silence, while heartening for many, is painful for forgotten survivors of terror and their families, those for whom recognition and relief are both vital and unattainable.
Not only do we need to pray for the families and friends of those who have lost their lives to such circumstances, but the entire nation of Israel. They are the target of terrorism from all directions. She will not be destroyed, but the constant acts of her enemies have sown seeds of horror in the minds of her people. Let us pray for the peace and protection of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).
To read more about the lives of survivors after such acts of terrorism see The Times of Israel.
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