Tuesday, March 8, 2016

International Women's Day- Honoring Nurit Peled Elhanan

On this International women's day I honor/honour Nurit Peled Elhanan.  Most years I chose a woman of inspiration to honor/honour. In the past I have picked the mother of civil rights the late inspirational great Rosa Parks, another year I articled on the Viola Liuzzo a beacon of light. Grant it I have missed a couple of years due to personal events. The women I pick are not always renowned people; some of them are unknown and their inspiration is not heard by many.

This year I have picked Nurit Peled Elhanan as my inspiration in honor/honour of Internatonal women's day and she may be an inspiration to other women, mothers and grandmothers after you hear her story of both tragedy, and spirited triumph, of an uncontaminated pure truth of veracious ennoblement; at a time that most people would not be able to stand in the virtuous enlightenment as Nurit did, so soon after her precious child was taken from her.


  
Nurit is the sister of Israeli activist Miko Peled and the daughter of a famous Israeli General. It is Nurit's personal tragedy, a parent’s worst nightmare come true, that brought forth a hidden truth that has lit a path of honesty and justice at a most difficult and challenging time for the Peled/Elhanan family.

Nurit and her families tragedy begins on September 4, 1997 when their little 13 year old daughter Smadar was killed by Palestine suicide bombers.

The unthinkable happened to Nurit and her family, a mother/parents worst nightmare came true, that their precious child was taken from them so suddenly, unexpectedly , tragically and so final.



For any parent to lose one's child, it is the most traumatic difficult time to grieving parents. It’s unconscionable to a mother and/or parents that their baby has been taken from them, that their child has predeceased them. After all in a perfect world, parents should never have to bury their children.

When a parent loses a child, it is one of the most unjust, unfair, cruel events that totally guts and squashes the soul of the parents that are grief stricken. In so many ways a parents spirit and faith is broken. In fact parents that have lost their children go through every emotion known to humankind. from anger, to sorrow, deep pain, torment, etc.... and it is painful for other family members to helplessly watch parents and/or family members suffer in the deepest of sorrowful anguish and a most painful ordeal of losing one's cherished child.

There is essentially nothing that anyone can say to comfort parents that lose their children. Mothers cannot be consoled during a time of immense grief. Nothing will be the same again, and a mother's heart is broken. Mothers/parents never fully recover from losing their cherished children. There is a forlornness and a suffering of mothers/parents that cannot be measured by any means. It really is a painful process of undescriable heartache and the depths of despair.

So soon after Nurit Peled Elhanan lost her child she was asked about if she wanted vengeance and her response was what inspired her brother Miko and I imagine many others.



Her response was, “No real mother would want this to happen to another mother. Don't talk to me about revenge. My government is responsible. My government brought these two young men to such a level of despair that they would take their own lives and take the lives of other innocent people including a 13 year old girl."

The brutal oppression, under which the Palestinians have to live because of us, is the cause of this. That is why this is happening; we have to lift the oppression. As long as Palestinians are denied hope, and denied freedom, and denied water, and denied their land and their homes, this will continue to happen. I point a finger at my own government.



Imagine a mother that lost her child, somehow being able to draw on a tremendous amount of strength, restraint and faith in the face of her treasured lost child, she refused to seek retribution and instead told a truth/her truth/ of her experience with her Government/The Israel Government.

I mentioned this before and I will reiterate, I don't know about anyone else, however, I do know that Nurit Peled Elhanan words of principled righteous infallible honest truth resonated with me and in fact struck a deep cord in me.


From one mother to another and having the experience of what families go through at the loss of their child. Nurit tremendous courage and virtue on telling a simple truth as she saw it and as she lived it under her government. To be honest most people would not have been able to overcome the challenging obstacle upon the sudden loss of their child and would have wanted revenge.

I reflect that not only did Nurit words resonate with me, that her act of courage may be small in its symbology to some , but her courage was actually a great truth,  a great fortitude, a humbleness in her honesty, her humility.

So many of us can draw off of Nurit Peled Elhanan inspiration of steadfast quiet greatness, that can serve us as an enlightenment of perseverance, faith and humanity.

French philosopher Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède and de Montesquieu, was a highly influential political thinker during the 18th century" Age of Enlightenment", and he once wrote the following: “To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.”

This  International women's day I honor/honour Nurit Peled Elhanan, because I admire her personal conviction of pure goodness enshrouded in a glory and the grace of pure honesty.