The Woman's Word

These circumstances in which we find ourselves today cannot be valued in gold, for life has this time given us the chance to stand face to face before a harsh trial which, for all its harshness and ferocity, will be — and must be — nothing but an abundant good for our people and our nation.

This war we are waging against the most hateful of God's creatures must be a new door through which to enter a new world, in which we shall live a new life — we, our children, and our grandchildren. It is an opportunity that will not always be given us, so let us profit by it.

Let us teach our children that this war is a war against falsehood, against the forces of evil massed against us on every side. Let us teach them that it does not conflict with the moral principles they receive in school, about love and the beauty of goodness. Let us teach them that we are waging this battle to preserve our existence and human civilization, for civilization itself is threatened, should the Jewish people be destined to establish in our land some state that would spread terror, chaos, and corruption everywhere.

Let us teach them the lives of the heroes who died in the way of sacred duty, nourishing their childhood with tales of Arab heroism... and recounting them as engaging tales to her children, showing the importance of courage and self-sacrifice.

And let us begin from this moment to create heroes, for we have taken our step, and it was a mighty one that drew the eyes of the world, and we must not fall back.

We are in the midst of building a nation; let our children be the first of these stones prepared for the great Arab edifice.

And let us teach them — there is no harm in this — to hate their enemy, so long as their enemy is a coward, wicked and treacherous, who respects neither sanctity nor honor.

And let the memory of the atrocities of Deir Yassin and Haifa, and the violation of the sanctity of the houses of worship, remain in their imagination.

And we have a request of the government — and this is a woman's request, which the government will not deny her — let us ask it to train our children in military service, so that manliness may grow strong in them and they may be diverted from what corrupts the morals of the young.

I shall never forget the time I asked our French teacher about her only son, whether she would send him for service, and she answered with pride: "Of course; I hope that André will live to perform this service."