Wednesday’s deadly terror attack claimed its second victim. Hundreds accompanied her on her last journey. Eulogizers conveyed a message of strength mixed with pain.
Karen Yemima Mosquera, who was critically wounded by a Hamas terrorist last Wednesday, succumbed to her wounds and died on Sunday night.
Mosquera is the second victim of an attack in which a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into a crowd of Israelis waiting at a train station. The first victim, Chaya Zissel Braun, a three-month-old-baby, died shortly after the attack.
Hundreds attended Mosquera’s funeral as she was laid to rest at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem.
Karen, 22, a citizen of Ecuador, came to Israel as a new immigrant to continue her studies as part of her journey to convert to Judaism.
Among those in attendance at the funeral were Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat and the Ecuadorian ambassador to Israel.
Mosquera’s parents were flown in from Ecuador by Israel’s Foreign Ministry immediately after she was wounded.
‘My Daughter was Murdered only because she was a Jew’
Cecilia Barrera, Karen’s mother, eulogized her daughter, focusing on her new Jewish identity.
“My daughter died while sanctifying God’s name,” she declared. “I don’t want her death to be for naught. My daughter’s dream was to come to Israel and begin her life here. My heart is broken with pain. No one can cure my sorrow. I wanted to be a grandmother, and she will not be able to provide me with grandchildren anymore.”
“My heart aches that the terrorists are full of hate, and their sole objective is to murder innocent people. My daughter was a good girl who never harmed anyone. My daughter was murdered only because she was a Jew,” said Barrera.
Barkat said at the funeral that Mosquera was “a delicate soul and a guardian of peace who fought to be a Jew,” the NRG news site reports. “Like many before her, she fell in love with Jerusalem. Seven months ago she joined us and tonight, with unbelievable pain, she has parted from us. As mayor of Jerusalem I say that this situation cannot continue. It is unacceptable that those who live their entire lives for peace will fall victim to those who glorify death.”
Barkat vowed to continue the battle to restore peace in Jerusalem. “We will not rest until calm is restored to Jerusalem,” he said. “At this moment I do not have words to console you, but look around and see the many mourners who have come, look around at all those who have come and have heard Karen’s story and are now heartbroken.”
Ecuador Condemns the Attack
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa condemned the attack. “We will reject violence from wherever it comes,” Correa wrote on Twitter, AFP reports.
“Ecuador expresses its strongest rejection and condemnation of the attack. The Barrera Mosquera family and our entire nation are in mourning,” Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Author: Aryeh Savir
Staff Writer, United with Israel