The abuse of grief

http://972mag.com/motty/
Motty Fogel, an Israeli journalist who lost his brother, sister-in-law, nephews and niece in the terror attack on the West Bank settlement of Itamar, spoke on Israel's memorial day for the fallen at a joint Palestinian and Israeli memorial ceremony organized by Combatants for Peace.

We honour the memories of those who died to live here, not as a political statement, but as something that comes out of this simple and profoundly difficult fact.
In Israel, Memorial Days begins a circle that closes on Independence Day. I suppose this kind of closure makes some of the people here uncomfortable; it certainly makes me uncomfortable. Some of those gathered here may wish to achieve a closure to the circle of memory and bereavement in a different way, perhaps a better way. But you cannot close down the pain. We’ll leave that for other days. Today, we won’t be able to go home and feel good about ourselves. Here and now we must contend ourselves with weeping over those who died.