Julian Ohayon, a Miami teen studying abroad in Israel, shares his personal story on the Wednesday terror attacks in Jerusalem:

“As I’m sitting in class at 12:30pm studying the Talmud (Jewish code of law), I heard the awful sound of siren’s wailing. Sirens are a normal occurrence here in Jerusalem, but this time they wouldn’t stop. I knew these sirens were in close vicinity judging by the magnitude of volume diffusing through the classrooms of my school. The head of yeshiva quickly brought us all together and explained that a Palestinian terrorist had rammed his car into a crowd of people at the Shimon Hatzadik train stop. That train stop in particular is our main hub of transportation and most of us spend time there at least once a day. Consequently, we were all a little shaken up. We decided to each take one deed upon ourselves in honor of those injured, and we also recited Tehillim (book of psalms). As we were praying, I decided to stray off into one of the side class rooms that I knew had a view of the train stop where the atrocity took place. I looked and saw, a mere 100 feet away from me, a wave of orange. Hundreds of paramedics with their brightly-colored vests were working the scene. Empty stretchers were being taken out of ambulances to return with bodies. Hearing my friends and rabbis saying their prayers in the background while looking at this gruesome site brought tears to my face. There was a palpable feeling of shock, consternation, and grief in the air.
As soon as our rabbi finished speaking about the importance of our school’s security, I walked the 20 yards from the entrance of my yeshiva to the scene of terror. By the time I got there, the paramedics had finished transferring the wounded to nearby hospitals. I was still able to see the wreckage and blood stains that remained. Reporters flooded the scene. One reporter, from a very biased station used phrases like “suspected terror attack in East Jerusalem” and “Palestinian man shot by Israeli Police.” I was shocked and angry hearing this. To think there’s a possibility that this wasn’t a terrorist attack, when the terrorist exited his vehicle after hitting and killing people and attempted to further attack others with a crow bar, is ludicrous. After hearing this reporter, another scene shocked me. As they reopened the main road around the train station, there was a school bus filled with cheering Palestinian children passing by. These were young children cheering about the injuries of Jews and more importantly, people. It’s sad to see the hatred being engrained in the Palestinians at such a young age.
Today, we pray that the terror stops immediately. We want peace, not war. I know that the brave soldiers of the IDF, including one of my best friends, will not let the terror persist and will fight with blood and tears until all of the Jews can live in the state of Israel peacefully.
The outlook of my yeshiva on the incident that took place is based on a strong belief that God controls every aspect of our life. They explained to us that, through the atrocity, God is telling us that it’s time to wake up. We can’t run away from ourselves or our surroundings, and we have to continue to work on ourselves to become better people.
Studying abroad for a year is an incredible journey that everyone should be fortunate enough to experience in their life. I came to yeshiva in Israel to strengthen my roots to the Jewish culture and religion that I connect so strongly with. I feel privileged to be here at a time like this. This is the time when we must speak up for our homeland. A time to speak up for peace. We want an Israel where no one fears the mundane action of waiting at a bus or train stop. An Israel where people aren’t woken up in the middle of the night from a bomb siren. This is the time for all of us to unite and speak out for the importance and necessity of peace in the Jewish homeland. SPEAK UP. Am Yisrael Chai.”

Julian’s story is one out of the many that are affected by these violent crimes but he still prays and wishes for a resolve, a peaceful resolve. It is our responsibility to unite and speak up against these acts of terror and find peace. Together we can change the brand and move forward from these tragic acts, face the truth and form a stronger tomorrow.