From Oppression to Freedom Part 3

For Zion's sake I will take a stand and not be silent.

For Jerusalem's sake my voice will be heard.



For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.

Until her righteousness goes forth like radiance and her salvation like a burning torch.



And again we had a home after two thousand years our hope was renewed.

But we would have to fight for the survival of our infant state.

For our enemies were at our gates and determined to push us into the sea.

And though we walked in the valley of death, we did not fear for god was with us. For the Guardian of Israel does not sleep nor slumber. He will protect us for eternity.
 
And we fought and shed our blood so that others might live and settle the land.

And after a hard fight we had won but we had also lost.

But we had a state and that was more than we could have hoped for.

But to keep that state alive many multitudes of Israel sacrificed their lives.

And our infant state grew always threatened with destruction.



And somehow either through valor, strategy, luck, and Devine providence and miracles we triumphed.

And now every 14^th of May we proudly commemorate the day we realized the hope of 2000 years.


 
But to our enemies, our salvation was their doom.

For they remember the day of our statehood as the start of the great disaster.

For in the midst of an Arab Sea was a Zionist island.
 
And through the decades, our state grew and absorbed an influx of refugees.

But we were surrounded on all sides by enemies who had vowed to destroy us and push us into the sea.

And we were attacked and murdered and victimized.

And we fought back and took our revenge on the aggressors.

But innocent lives on both sides were lost
 
And so until this were day

Innocent lives on both sides have been lost

For the leaders have not come to an agreement

They have let the cycle of violence and retribution continue



But we pray that one day Arab and Jew will settle their differences

Not by violence but by compromise and mutual respect



For Zion's sake I will take a stand and not be silent.

For Jerusalem's sake my voice will be heard.



For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.

Until her righteousness goes forth like radiance and her salvation like a burning torch.