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The Tragic Murder of Yoav Hattab and The Chain of Sorrow

by Nomad

A look at one of the victims of the Paris terroristattacks and how his life connects three cultures.

The name, Yoav Hattab, might not be familiar to you. He happened tobe one of the four murdered hostages at the kosher supermarket,Hyper Cacher, (The other victims were Yohan Cohen, PhilippeBraham and François-Michel Saada.)

That attack was connected with earlier carnage on the offices of asatirical magazine which left 12 people dead and 11 others wounded.

When terrorist Amedy Coulibaly stormed into the suburban market, heknew only that it was a Jewish owned. That was enough of a targetas far as he was concerned. In his mind, as in the minds of allterrorists, his victims had no families, no friends and no histories. So. like the priest in The Bridge of San Louis Rey, I wanted to take amoment to look at the life and the death of this stranger who becamea victim.

The most tragic aspect of the supermarket attacks- as with terrorismin general- was its random nature. The fact that location was a targetwas random. The victims too were random. The only real linkage,from the attackers point of view, was that the workers and the customers were most likely to be Jewish.

In Hattab's case that's only half of the story.This 21 year old man was not French but from the predominantly MuslimTunisia. He had been living in Paris while completing his graduate degree in international business studies. He wasclearly not afraid of life and was preparing himself for an interesting productive life.

Moshe Uzan, a 25-year-old friend, told one reporter that Yoav's character set him apart."There are those who arestand back and watch their lives. But him, he played an active role."

The last moments of Yoav Hattab are not quite clear. Perhaps we will never learn the whole story. However it was reported that Hattab was murdered when he attempted to repel the hostage taker.

Yoav's father learned that his son had died while trying to overcome the terrorist. According to RabbiHattab, his son hid in a freezer but was forced to leave his hiding spot after the terrorist threatened tokill everyone if those who hid did not join the rest of the hostages.When Yoav left the freezer, he found a weapon; however when Yoav tried to fire the weapon it did notbudge – and the terrorist shot him.

One witness, using only the name Sophie, described the events for Europe 1 radio. She said that one young man hadmanaged to get hold of a gun when Coulibaly put it down for a moment. He tried to turn it on the attacker.

"A young man took the assault rifle and wanted to shoot him," but Coulibaly "was faster and he shothim in the throat. The poor young man just fell,"

(There's some question whether the young man of the heroic act was actually Yoav Hattab or Yohan Cohen. Does itmatter in the end? Either way, it was daring and it was bold act of defiance, worthy of our respect.)

His father, like the rest of the world, heard the news of the hostage taking, but had noidea that his son was involved.

"I knew that my son worked in the area and I called his phone but he didn'tanswer. I knew he was there."

As it turned out, the outcome could not have been more heart-breaking or cruel. Whilehis friends and family watched the footage of the hostages being released, theybelieved that Yoav was one of the survivors. One friend reported:

"We said: 'That's him, that's Yoav!' before the bad news struck."

His father explained:

At 6:30 pm they called and said he was okay. At 7 pm, I said I wanted to talk to him and they said 'waita bit.' At 10 pm, they told us he had died."

In fact, it is not the first time a member of the Hattab family has died at the hands of terrorists. Before Yoav was born,his aunt was killed during an October 8th 1985 attack on a syngagoe on the island of Djerba in Tunisia. She was only14 years old at the time.

A Jewish Hero On a chilly Tuesday afternoon, Yoav (along with the otherJewish victims) was buried in Israel in a special ceremony.Thousands, including political leaders, turned out in force tothe state funeral at the Givat Shaul Cemetery in Jerusalem.The state of Israel provided the funds for the funerals, as wellas the families' travel and hotel expenses. A Jewish agencyand private individuals paid for all other costs.

As crowds gathered to pay their respects, helicopters circledand soldiers stood guard among the headstones. There werefears that the funerals could be an opportunity for yet anotherterrorist attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the terrorists:

"These are not only the enemies of Israel; they are the enemies of the world, and the time has comethat all civilized people should come together and should uproot these enemies from amongst us."

Hattab's was there at his son's graveside but found it difficultto speak. He did say that he accepted "judgment of heavenwith love."

The president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin spoke in turn to each ofthe victims:

"Yoav, you were here, just two weeks ago inJerusalem, for the first time. You stood at the WesternWall, you were photographed wrapped in the nationalflag. Today, you are here for the second, and the finaltime. You return as a Jewish hero, at one with us.

Although the four men will be buried in Israel, Israel will not officially recognize them as victims of hostilities becausethey are not Israeli citizens. In Tunisia, Hattab was, as the son of a rabbi that run the capital's Jewish school widelyknown among the 1,500 member Jewish community.

The Tunisan HeroBack in Tunisa, Yoav's many Muslim friends were could not understandwhy he was buried there. He belonged to them, they believe, and hebelonged to their nation too.On a Facebook page set up by Hattab's friend, one of them writes:

"Tunisia is the land of our ancestors, we could have gone to thefuneral of one of us and paid our respects. Instead, tomorrow it'll bestrangers in Israel who gather around his grave, may his soul beblessed."

Another of his friends wrote:

"You are the magnificent Tunisian that we will treasure forever.Rest in peace."

Another Muslim friend writes:

"The Tunisian Jews are an important part of our society, and are our brothers."

A photo of the victim shows him proudly holding up his dye-stained finger, provingthat he had voted in Tunsian's first democratic election.

The October elections there has sparked great hopes for Tunisia's future. TheArab Spring began in Tunisia in 2011 and spread throughout the Islamic world.When experts were still questioning whether any democratic reform would everhappen in the Muslim world, Tunisia was proving to the world that free and fairelections were indeed possible. Despite all of the problems and uncertainties,after the successful elections in Tunisian, things were looking a little more hopeful. By voting, Yoav was a part ofthat.

Alas, because of the insane and pointless events in Paris, that brighter and freer future for the country will not includeYoav Hattab.

The Chain of SorrowWhenever I read news of good people dying young and dying pointlessly. I recall a John Prine song. For me the lyricscapture that bitter feeling of frustration we feel at a senseless tragedy like this:

You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder,Throw your hands in the air, say "What does it matter?"But it don't do no good to get angry,So help me I know

For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit thereWrapped up in a trap of your very ownChain of sorrow.

A single life really does make so many connections. In Hattab's case, his life connected three different cultures,Tunisia, Israel and France, and his death (and the deaths of the other victims in the Paris attacks) connected thewhole world.

And that, perhaps, offers us the tiniest bit of hope in the midst of this tragedy. The only thing that allows us to escapedespair and the chain of sorrow, blame and anger.

Shalom, ma'a salama, au revoir and goodbye,Yoav.

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