As we come to the 10-year anniversary of the height of the 2002 terror war against Israel, IFCJ and SFI staff will be sharing with you their memories of those difficult days.
The second intifada had already started by the time I got to Israel – most people say it began with Sharon going up to the Temple Mount in September of 2000, others say it had been ongoing for some time. I arrived on June 2, 2001 (the day after the bombing at the Dolphinarium) for my first year in seminary. I settled in to my apartment at 5 Lincoln (yes, THAT Lincoln) St. in the neighborhood of Rechavia. One block down the hill was my school. A ten minute walk from the Old City. 15 minutes from the Wall. Still one of the happiest times of my life.
But gradually, over the course of the year, the violence got worse. It’s hard for most people to remember now, but the Israeli army had left the West Bank and Gaza years before as part of the Oslo Accords. The forces of Yasser Arafat were solely responsible for security and police work in the territories.
Around this time, in early 2002, the situation started to come to a head. The violence against civilians escalated severely and there were attacks or thwarted attacks every single day. It was during this time that I developed a policy of emailing my parents as soon as I could after a bombing to let them know that I and my classmates were alright. My father saved many of those emails and sent them to me a few years ago.
And then, in early 2002, in the middle of my year in Jerusalem, things started to get really bad. Ten years ago this afternoon, a suicide bomber blew herself up on Jerusalem’s busy Jaffa Road (Yaffo, in Hebrew). Pinhas Tokatli, 81, of Jerusalem was killed and over 150 people were wounded, four seriously. The female terrorist, identified as a Fatah member, was armed with more than ten kilos of explosives.
Here’s the email I sent to my parents 10 years ago tonight (the person I call “t” is my brother, who lives in Israel):
From: Jonathan Greenberg
Sent: 30 January, 2002 2:08 PM
Subject: all clear
Sorry it took a while to get this message out. There was another bomb here in Jerusalem today ‑ across the street from the Sbarro that was blown up this past summer. I and all my classmates are safe. Almost all of us had class today when the bomb went off (around 12:30). Several of us heard it (Yaffo and King George Streets are only a few blocks away) although I didn’t (we were watching a very interesting movie in Hebrew class…clearly designed for five‑year‑olds).
Reports vary, but two are confirmed dead with at least two dozen wounded. It was a suicide bomber and, strangely, appears to have been a woman ‑ which is kind of unusual. Also unusual is that nobody has taken credit for it yet.
Arafat, in a moment of unsurpassed cynicism (even for him), condemned the bombing less than 20 hours after making a speech in which he claimed he would “gladly become a martyr for Jerusalem.”
Everyone ‑ the IDF and the government on down to the Israelis we talk to on the streets (including t) ‑ is telling us to hang on for a bumpy next few weeks.
Strangely, this bombing hasn’t had any emotional effect on me…nor did I see the usual panic from my classmates today. It seems we’re becoming somewhat numb to it. The bomb outside school a few months ago really scared people to a whole new level, I think, so that Yaffo just isn’t close enough to home anymore. On the one hand, I’m glad to be rid of that fear…on the other, I worry that something so awful is becoming just another thing at which I shrug.
Anyway…all clear. J
What do you think?
12:40 pm
I remember, waiting for a bus out side Tel-Aviv. It was late and arrived with all the windows broken out and here and there some blood that could have belonged to innocent infants, children anyone not a Palestinian. their rock throwing was lethal and the intent murderous. American academics like Noam chomsky have been far to kind in excusing evil.
9:54 am
It is very sad that people can’t live with it’s neighbor in peace. Especially when a small country like Israel tried to give the Arabs almost everything they wanted, but for the Arabs never satisfied. They always want more and more.
4:57 pm
How profoundly sad..for humanity as a whole,that we have digressed so much that this terror is acceptable to so many (people)…how long?
2:49 am
I agree with ALL that Robert has written and long for the day when Israel will at last be at Peace.
10:38 pm
What has happened to this world where something this horrific is not even a mention in the media anymore? We are a world held hostage by islamist and muslims terror without global justice!God help us
5:20 pm
It is a sad thing indeed when another persons suffering becomes nothing more than an inconvenience to our daily lives. It is a survival instinct I suppose, a way of getting through another day, better him than me seems to be the human reaction to suffering these days.
I love the Jewish people I have since I was a young man when I had my first dealing with them. They were always fair, honest, and dignified, qualities which I sometimes found lacking in my owne Christian counterparts.
It breaks my heart to see what the Jewish people have been through, especially since 1967 when I first enlisted in the military and began to pay attention to what was going on in Isrial.
I prey you will find peace and security in your own land soon, for if not I fear that the whole world will find suffering such as mankind has never known.I feel this in my heart. God bless and protect you.
9:37 pm
Robert thank you for your thoughts. I noticed a couple of spelling errors in your post. Israel is mispelled and so is pray. I’m sure you meant pray and not prey. Israel exists against odds because of God’s hand upon His people.