He Skyped me this morning once the name of the youngest victim, Saffie-Rose Roussos, was released. At the time he reached out, I was studying at the desk of my flat in Philadelphia where I'm attending rabbinical school. Angus was horrified and angered by yesterday's bombing. His voice cracked periodically as he spoke. He had the rough draft of a press release he wanted to run by me - a way to productively channel his anguish... "She was so cute!" he kept saying. "She could have been our daughter."
Here's what he read to me:
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| Saffie Rose Roussos |
FROM THE OFFICE OF Rt. HONORABLE ANGUS REESE, EARL OF GLAMORGAN
Official Press Release
Re: 5/22/2017 Manchester Terrorist Bombing
On behalf of the Glamorgan clan and myself, I want to express our deepest condolences to the survivors, the family and friends of survivors, and the murdered resulting from what The Honourable Prime Minister correctly called a “cowardly act”. Along with the rest of the country, I also want to extend my admiration to the first responders and regular citizens who selflessly extended themselves to help frightened children and their anxious parents during the initial hours of this crisis. The UK is certainly blessed to have such brave, caring individuals - from the cabbie offering free rides to the hundreds of individuals who used social media to share pictures of children in hopes of reuniting them with their loved ones. Your efforts demonstrate the strength that underlines all of the citizens of our Commonwealth. We will get through this and come out stronger, more resilient for it.
And I want to speak to those would-be terrorists skulking in the shadows of our law-abiding Muslim communities. Do you notice something about your previous colleagues' efforts? I cannot say whether or not you are rewarded in heaven – I’m not quite sure if I believe such a place exists. But even if it does and it is true that what you see as a sacrifice for a greater good becomes a guaranteed, nonstop ticket to a wondrous afterlife, isn’t it clear by now that your attempts to frighten us, the French, the Americans, the Germans, and even your own Muslim brothers and sisters in the Turkey and the Arab world have changed nothing? If you were hoping to make a difference, I don’t see it – with the exception of likely making the lives of the family members you left behind miserable both because of your absence and the unfortunate stench of being the relative of someone who would kill children, you have neither brought about the Caliphate you desire nor brought any government to its knees. If this is Allah’s plan for you, it is a pretty shitty one because it hasn’t and, if history is any predictor, won’t bring promise to your cause.
Unlike many of my fellow MPs, I admit that the centuries of economic and resource exploitation that resulted from British colonialism created the scars and trauma that continues to drive the negativity and oppression in your family’s homelands as well as for the youth living in the West. And, also unlike other MPs, I admit I don’t know what reparations or even change in current foreign policy can fix all the negativity we have caused. However, I cannot see how killing 8-year old girls makes up for it. Saffie-Rose Roussos’ family and community may feel the same pain as a Palestinian family living on the West Bank but long after Saffie-Rose’s memorial, that Palestinian family will remain just as disadvantaged as before. At the end of the day, killing civilians changes nothing and trust me when I write that our police and special services, with help from our allies around the world, will always keep you on the run; you may get a few bombs through but we will catch your comrades and relentlessly thwart your cause.
We can and will outlast you then destroy you. Just ask Adolf Hitler.
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