19.04.2005 What Happened in Beslan!

The monstrous attack in Beslan, Russia was an assault on the very things that are necessary for people to be able to live together as a society.
Societies work when husbands, wives, and children can wake up in the morning fairly confident that they will go through their day in a stable and secure environment.
Terrorism undermines that stability by cultivating fear, anger, suspicion, and hate. Terrorism is more than bombs and physical assaults. It is the combustion of social instability through the incitement of hate. Terrorism is a threat to us all, and it has many faces. It is a neo-Nazi shooting a 64-year-old academic through the front door of his home…It is a gang of skinheads stabbing a nine-year-old Tajik girl to death in front of her father…it is a group of barbarians brutally executing hundreds of innocent children on their first day back at school.
The terrorists in Beslan shattered any semblance of security for the people of Russia, when they unleashed their horror in School Number 1. In the ensuing despair, horror is turning to hate and former friends are turning against each other, as ethnic Ossetian victims spill out their anger at their Ingush neighbors and vow revenge.
Hatred is most easily aroused when there is a history of contention and conflict among groups in a diverse society. But it is in everybody’s interest – government, law enforcement, and the community - to deal with those conflicts in a way that defuses tension and promotes a stable environment.
We grieve with the victims in Russia, and express our commitment to work together toward a future of tolerance and stability.
Bay Area Council for Jewish Rescue and Renew