Some of the entrances to Bethlehem appear to be operating on the \"zipper\" principle: closed on Sunday morning, opened during the day, closed again following the murder of Baruch Cohen yesterday morning, and are now open once again. This, despite clear statements by Yesha IDF commanders and police officers yesterday that the removal of the encirclement eased the way for the terrorists to commit their crime.
The large family of Baruch Cohen is gathered together in his home in Efrat to sit \'shiva\' [ritual mourning] for him - his wife, six children, and ten brothers from around the country. One of his sons is Lt.-Col. Amnon Cohen, Commander of the IDF\'s Liaison Office with the Palestinian Authority in the Hevron District, and one of the first people to arrive on the terrorist-attack scene yesterday. Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal asked another son, Avihu Cohen, the secretary of the nearby Yesha town of Karmei Tzur, how he felt about the removal of the encirclement only hours before the murder. Avihu\'s response:
\"All we have to do is make a simple calculation: If the encirclement hadn\'t been removed at midnight Sunday night, seven hours before the murder, it\'s clear that the terrorists wouldn\'t have been able to act, and we wouldn\'t be talking now.\"
Asked about his father, Avihu said,
\"At the funeral yesterday, I read something that we [the six sons of the victim] wrote up in our father\'s memory; allow me to read parts of it: \'Our dear father, the connection between you and us, and among ourselves, will remain as strong as a rock and as the pain that remains. You wanted only good for the people around you, and this was just one more reason why everyone loves you... You taught us to believe in the proper way, in honesty, in warmth, and in G-d... \' - but I would like to add that my father, may G-d avenge his blood, had a special trait of happiness. In every situation, he always had a smile and a little joke that would put everyone at ease. His happiness and his optimism is that which will remain... I will be getting married in three months, and as I said spontaneously at the funeral yesterday, that despite what happened, our wedding will be one of the purest happiness, of the greatest happiness of mitzvah [Torah commandments], and with G-d\'s help our entire house will be [one of joy] in his memory, and we will continue to live and build this land, and nothing will stop us.\"
The large family of Baruch Cohen is gathered together in his home in Efrat to sit \'shiva\' [ritual mourning] for him - his wife, six children, and ten brothers from around the country. One of his sons is Lt.-Col. Amnon Cohen, Commander of the IDF\'s Liaison Office with the Palestinian Authority in the Hevron District, and one of the first people to arrive on the terrorist-attack scene yesterday. Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal asked another son, Avihu Cohen, the secretary of the nearby Yesha town of Karmei Tzur, how he felt about the removal of the encirclement only hours before the murder. Avihu\'s response:
\"All we have to do is make a simple calculation: If the encirclement hadn\'t been removed at midnight Sunday night, seven hours before the murder, it\'s clear that the terrorists wouldn\'t have been able to act, and we wouldn\'t be talking now.\"
Asked about his father, Avihu said,
\"At the funeral yesterday, I read something that we [the six sons of the victim] wrote up in our father\'s memory; allow me to read parts of it: \'Our dear father, the connection between you and us, and among ourselves, will remain as strong as a rock and as the pain that remains. You wanted only good for the people around you, and this was just one more reason why everyone loves you... You taught us to believe in the proper way, in honesty, in warmth, and in G-d... \' - but I would like to add that my father, may G-d avenge his blood, had a special trait of happiness. In every situation, he always had a smile and a little joke that would put everyone at ease. His happiness and his optimism is that which will remain... I will be getting married in three months, and as I said spontaneously at the funeral yesterday, that despite what happened, our wedding will be one of the purest happiness, of the greatest happiness of mitzvah [Torah commandments], and with G-d\'s help our entire house will be [one of joy] in his memory, and we will continue to live and build this land, and nothing will stop us.\"