‘The smallest coffins are the heaviest’

Kfir and Ariel Bibas were kidnapped alive from their cribs while they slept in Kibbutz Nir Oz. They were later returned by Hamas in coffins, along with—supposedly—their mother Shiri, with stickers on their caskets indicating “7/10 date of arrest.”

Two babies were arrested by Hamas. Seriously. What were the  severe charges that deserved the death penalty? Being Jewish? Living in Israel?

On the day of the attack, Yarden Bibas secured Shiri and their two boys in the shelter room of their home, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to distract the terrorists who had infiltrated the kibbutz. More than 500 days later, he—who tried to save his family—is the only one left from the immediate family, to bury their children. After thorough forensic examinations, the IDF reported that the remains of Kfir and Ariel had been identified, but the third body in the coffin was not their mother, Shiri.

In the days prior to the release of the bodies, we hoped that Hamas was lying—that their claim of returning dead bodies wasn’t true. We desperately wanted this to be just another of their cynical psychological tactics. We braced ourselves for the worst, while still clinging to the hope that they were deceiving us. As it turned out, they were lying, but nothing could have prepared us for the news: discovering that the body wasn’t Shiri’s adds another layer of unimaginable cruelty and anguish.

Alongside Ariel and Kfir, the Jewish world also mourns Oded Lifshitz,  an activist known for bringing Palestinians from Gaza to be treated in Israeli hospitals. A beloved great-grandfather. In his wife Yocheved’s words, “They betrayed him.” Yes, those  whom he helped, were the ones who killed him. In their vile foolishness, they murdered precisely one of the few who still believed in them.

There will never be peace with the Palestinians. Impossible not to come to this conclusion, when the so-called innocent Palestinians in Gaza celebrated with music the parading of the dead bodies of those that had been kidnapped. They even took their children to rejoice in this sinister propaganda spectacle; proudly showing their babies, how they murdered the babies of others. A generation of terrorists will inevitably be replaced by another.

Not only are the sacred bodies of Kfir and Ariel being laid to rest after more than a year of their brutal murder, but so too is the hope for a better world. Their small coffins are unbearably heavy, for with them, we also bury the dream of peace that Oded and so many others, unrealistically  fought for.

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[1] “The smallest coffins are the heaviest.” – Anonymous quote, often attributed to Ernest Hemingway.