Outwardly, life was back to normal here today. But grief over the victims of Tuesday’s terrorist outrage is still fresh and the townspeople are searching for explanations of their own behavior in burning the corpses of the slain terrorists. People returned to that subject again and again in conversations with each other and with visitors.
“I do not understand what happened to many of us,” 50-year-old Moshe Ochayon, a veteran settler, said this morning. He was referring to the crowd that burned the bodies of the three terrorists killed in a gun-battle with Israeli troops and who also, in their frenzy, burned the remains of one of the terrorists’ victims, 52-year-old Yehuda Beibas, who they wrongly identified as one of the terrorists.
“Maybe seeing our children jumping out of windows, seeing the blood of innocents, made our blood boil,” Ochayon suggested. He and other Beisan residents acknowledged their deep shame for the act. They agreed that it revealed a savage side to the nature of people who, with justification, considered themselves civilized and humane.
Ochayon recalled that terrorist violence was no stranger to Beisan. Only a few years ago it was a regular target of El Fatah rockets and artillery fired from Jordanian territory four miles away. “We wanted revenge, but the enemy was too far away.” Ochayon said. “This time they were here, in front of us, in the blood of their victims, and even though they were dead, we could get our hands on them,” he said. “We regret it,” he added, summing up the feelings of Beisan. “But who can say what you will do when you see the blood of your own children, your neighbors and friends in front of you?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the township, almost without exception, has condemned the mob responsible for desecrating the terrorists’ bodies. High school students demonstrated with posters saying “Fight terrorists, not their corpses.” Repairs were being made today in the apartment building that was seized by the terrorists and held for nearly three hours before it was stormed by Israeli troops. The damage is mainly from bullets and grenade fragments. The municipality has allocated IL 1 million for relief of the victims’ families.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
