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Source: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/flydubai-flight-fz1073-and-the-indomitability-of-the-jews/
The Flydubai Flight and the Indomitability of the Jews
(Times of Israel) Amb. Michael Oren - The saving of Flydubai Flight 1073 from fiery destruction and 174 passengers, most of them Israelis, from certain death, stands as a metaphor for the past three years of war. After Oct. 7, hundreds of thousands of Israelis rallied to their nation's defense, put on uniforms, picked up guns, and risked their lives, often in hundreds of days of relentless urban combat. Others volunteered to support the soldiers, the wounded, bereaved, and the displaced, or worked the fields of abandoned farms. They performed all this while the country was under massive international pressure to cease defending itself. They persevered in the face of near-global condemnations and false accusations. Some 924 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war and thousands physically and emotionally wounded. Yet, we keep fighting. We defend ourselves in the court of international law; we stand up for truth in the media. We will battle Hamas and Hizbullah again as the need arises. The world will continue condemning us for doing what so much of it no longer has the will to do - defending our homes and families. We will do all of this not because we have nowhere else to go, but because of who we are. We, the Jewish people, are indomitable. When their airliner plunged nearly 20,000 feet in under two minutes, ordinary Israelis rushed to the front of the plane. There, regular citizens with their bare hands disarmed and subdued the co-pilot who tried to kill everyone on board precisely because most of them were Israelis. And once the danger passed, the Jews broke into song. The Flydubai flight stands as an example of what a proud, strong, and self-respecting people can still accomplish. It reminds us of who we are, what we stand for, and what we are willing to do to remain Israelis. The sheer heroism displayed by the Israeli passengers shows why nothing can ever defeat us. The writer was Israel's ambassador to the U.S., 2009-13.