Tzachi Sasson of Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim, who was murdered last night by Palestinian terrorists shooting from Beit Jalla onto the Tunnels Highway, was buried this afternoon in Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem. Thousands of mourners accompanied the funeral procession from Rosh Tzurim, in Gush Etzion. Sasson, 35, is survived by his wife - a social worker whose specialty is helping those who have lost loved ones - and two children.
After he was shot and his car crashed, Tzachi was extricated by a Magen David Adom ambulance team under unrelenting Palestinian fire. He was transported to Hadassah Hospital, where doctors tried unsuccessfully to save his life.
Sasson\'s sister Sigi tearfully eulogized him:
\"Tzachi, how can we say in words everything that you are? Tzachi - throughout this past Shabbat, I had a bad feeling that it was about to happen, but I tried to suppress it. When we came out of the synagogue, you hugged Dad as if to say \"Everything will be OK,\" and you said, \'You\'re great.\' When you left that night, I said, \"Bye, Tzachi, see you\" - but you didn\'t hear me, you didn\'t answer. When we were sitting around trying to organize your funeral, you, the one who always organizes things and relaxes everyone, you of all people was the one who was missing - you were there only in pictures on the table, and in our hearts. Tzachi, my big brother, I don\'t know how to part from you... You would always return home, filled with even more ideals and strength. We always worried about you. After each trip, we would always wait anxiously for you to call and say that you [and your family] had arrived safely. You didn\'t always understand our fear... and you didn\'t allow us to talk about fear in front of the children. You said when you visited on Sukkot, \'My children don\'t have to be afraid of any Arab.\' And now? What now?\"
Shmulik Drori, one of the founders of the Kibbutz, also spoke:
\"Jerusalem and Gush Etzion - they are the song of your short life. Jerusalem and Gush Etzion have been tied to each other for generations, starting with our Patriarchs. On the eve of the establishment of the State, the towns of the Gush fell for the sake of Jerusalem, including over 250 men and women. With the renewal of the settling of Gush Etzion [after the Six-Day War], we vowed to live, to build, and to worship our Creator by the side of Jerusalem. For years we have been doing this, tied to Jerusalem by bonds that are only as thin as a thread - on the Tunnels Highway. And next to us are murderers with guns that *our government* gave them. For how long? How much blood has to be spilt in this way? Will the new government find a true and appropriate Zionist response? In your name, Tzachi, we will not stop demanding this.\"
After he was shot and his car crashed, Tzachi was extricated by a Magen David Adom ambulance team under unrelenting Palestinian fire. He was transported to Hadassah Hospital, where doctors tried unsuccessfully to save his life.
Sasson\'s sister Sigi tearfully eulogized him:
\"Tzachi, how can we say in words everything that you are? Tzachi - throughout this past Shabbat, I had a bad feeling that it was about to happen, but I tried to suppress it. When we came out of the synagogue, you hugged Dad as if to say \"Everything will be OK,\" and you said, \'You\'re great.\' When you left that night, I said, \"Bye, Tzachi, see you\" - but you didn\'t hear me, you didn\'t answer. When we were sitting around trying to organize your funeral, you, the one who always organizes things and relaxes everyone, you of all people was the one who was missing - you were there only in pictures on the table, and in our hearts. Tzachi, my big brother, I don\'t know how to part from you... You would always return home, filled with even more ideals and strength. We always worried about you. After each trip, we would always wait anxiously for you to call and say that you [and your family] had arrived safely. You didn\'t always understand our fear... and you didn\'t allow us to talk about fear in front of the children. You said when you visited on Sukkot, \'My children don\'t have to be afraid of any Arab.\' And now? What now?\"
Shmulik Drori, one of the founders of the Kibbutz, also spoke:
\"Jerusalem and Gush Etzion - they are the song of your short life. Jerusalem and Gush Etzion have been tied to each other for generations, starting with our Patriarchs. On the eve of the establishment of the State, the towns of the Gush fell for the sake of Jerusalem, including over 250 men and women. With the renewal of the settling of Gush Etzion [after the Six-Day War], we vowed to live, to build, and to worship our Creator by the side of Jerusalem. For years we have been doing this, tied to Jerusalem by bonds that are only as thin as a thread - on the Tunnels Highway. And next to us are murderers with guns that *our government* gave them. For how long? How much blood has to be spilt in this way? Will the new government find a true and appropriate Zionist response? In your name, Tzachi, we will not stop demanding this.\"