Page 91 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

I Unequivocally Condemn the Massacre of October 7
On that day, Israel experienced its worst terror attack in the history of the modern state, a horrific massacre that killed more Jews in a single orchestrated attack than at any time since the Holocaust. The trauma of past atrocities was experienced anew, in a present-day pogrom of indescribable brutality.
The destruction of October 7 consisted of a meticulously planned assault on predominantly unarmed civilians, intent on maximising their pain and suffering. No category of persons was spared—women, men, children, young people, the elderly, people with physical and mental vulnerabilities, couples, parents, grandparents, babies. In an unthinkable turn of history’s pages, even Holocaust survivors found themselves caught up in the hell of October 7. Some survived; others perished.
The 1200 murdered victims and the 250 hostages who were taken also included Muslims, Bedouins, foreign nationals and others welcomed into your country. It was not only Jewish life but the multicultural reality of Israel that was targeted for destruction that day.
The abominations committed on October 7 were a crime against humanity and an offence against God. It was not only human beings who were desecrated but also the peace of the Jewish Sabbath in the beauty of the Holy Land, a land intimately connected to your history, covenantal life and identity. Desecrated too were cherished values modelled by the Jewish people for millennia—life, love, family, children, the dream for a better world and a commitment to realising that dream.
Words fail and the human heart recoils. Confronted by October 7, the world is tempted to look away. Yet, as you rightly remind us, the world must not look away. To do so would be to
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