TaylorA US Army veteran, Taylor Force, was murdered yesterday. Taylor was not killed on the battlefield or by a mugger, he was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in Israel. Taylor's wife was severely injured in the attack and remains in critical condition. Please keep her and the 11 other innocents stabbed yesterday in Israel in your prayers.
Taylor was a Lubbock, Texas native, an Eagle Scout, a West Point graduate, and a Field Artillery Officer who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a graduate student at Vanderbilt and was in Israel on a school trip learning how Israeli start-ups are blessing the world through medical and technological advancements.
The attack that killed Taylor was one of three terrorist attacks in Israel yesterday. In Jerusalem, two Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israelis outside the Old City. And in Petach Tikvah, a Palestinian terrorist repeatedly stabbed a man before the victim was able to pull the knife from his own neck and stop his attacker. Since September, 26 Israelis and 2 Americans have been murdered by Palestinian terrorists in what some are calling the "stabbing intifada."
Instead of condemning this murderous rampage, the Palestinian leadership is encouraging more bloodshed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party called Taylor's murderer a "hero" and a "martyr." This should come as no surprise. For the Palestinian Authority, praising murderers and inciting others to violence is business as usual.
For us, and our brothers and sisters in Israel, we know that every life is precious, every person a unique reflection of the Almighty, and every act of violence against the innocent a tragedy. So we will work to protect every innocent life by standing with the nation that shares our reverence of human life: Israel.
May Taylor's memory be a blessing. May God comfort Taylor's family among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
