Leave my body alone.
This is my thought when I see terror.
I don’t care if it’s a truck, a gun, a knife, a bomb.
Just leave my body alone.
Do not slice my flesh.
Do not splinter my bones or explode my arteries.
Do not rape my muscles and ligaments.
We talk about ISIS and Islam and hatred.
But hatred doesn’t bother me.
What bothers me is a bullet that pierces my pancreas.
Or a car that severs my spine.
Madness doesn’t bother me.
A sharp knife launched into my belly bothers me.
Or a rock that cracks my skull.
I don’t care about pundits or faith or interfaith.
About stereotypes or damage control.
I care about a bomb blowing next to my brain.
Or a white truck crunching 84 bodies.
Terrorists are not cowards,
They are artists of death.
Do not call them animals.
Animals kill to eat,
Terrorists kill to break bodies.
Animals do not want to die.
Terrorists?
What shall we do with them?
We can leave their faith and minds alone,
But we cannot leave their bodies alone.
We must break their bodies,
Even if they want us to.
David Suissa is president of TRIBE Media Corp./Jewish Journal and can be reached at davids@jewishjournal.com.
