Published: December 04, 2008 10:49 pm         

The youngest victim, the youngest survivor

The horror of terrorism has a new face.

Two-year-old Moshe Holtzberg likely did not understand what was happening earlier this week when his parents, Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg were buried.

The only thing the child knew was, he wanted his mother.

“Ima. Ima,” the child cried as he clutched a toy basketball, tears streaming down his tiny face. The words are the Hebrew equivalent of “Mama. Mama.”

I challenge anyone to look at a picture of Moshe crying for his dead parents and not have their heartstrings tugged, not have their eyes fill with tears.

Those responsible for the senseless killings of 171 people during last week’s terror attacks in Mumbai, India, likely would feel nothing for this child, save perhaps contempt.

These monsters likely are only sorry they didn’t kill him, too.

The terrorists left Moshe orphaned last week, slaughtering his parents and leaving them lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the Jewish center run by the couple. Moshe was found next to them, wailing, his pants drenched in his parents’ blood.

His nanny found him and carried him out of the besieged Jewish center, saving his life. She is being hailed for her heroism.

Experts in international terrorism still are trying to determine just why the gang of brutally efficient killers attacked innocent people in this sprawling metropolitan area of some 19 million. The Pakistan-based terror group may have been trying to divert Pakistan’s military from pursuing terrorists along the border with Afghanistan. The killers may have been trying to damage India by damaging the nation’s financial hub and devastating the country’s tourist industry.

But the why doesn’t really matter. There is no possible justification for this kind of brutality.

It is time for the people of the world to put aside their differences and stand together in support of one cause — the elimination of international terrorism.

These animals can not be tolerated by any civilized nation. Any country offering them sanctuary or aid should be relegated to the status of world pariah and isolated politically and economically. And it appears that effort should begin with Pakistan, which is becoming known as “terror central.”

Moshe Holtzberg, who just turned 2, is far too young to be an activist, but perhaps his image and his plaintive cries can serve as a rallying point for world leaders who have finally reached the breaking point.

These people are not revolutionaries, they are not warriors, they are not freedom fighters, they are not even mercenaries — they are murderers, pure and simple, and should be treated as such.

Besides the Jewish center, these men attacked two hotels and a train station. They killed with guns and explosives, but also through more up-close and personal means. Forensic evidence suggests several of the Jews killed by the terrorists were strangled.

It is time to put aside politics, ideology, race and religion and unite in defense of the basic right of every human being to live without fear of these vicious madmen.

Young Moshe Holtzberg is not faring well in the absence of his parents. He is not sleeping well, according to reports. Who knows what the child saw, what horrors he experienced.

Moshe will be raised by his family in Israel. God willing he will grow up strong and healthy. God willing he will not be consumed by hatred of those who are different than he, the sickness that cost him his parents.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.