You know, when one reads the news, it is truly very difficult to understand what is going on when the stories contain names of little towns and villages that the reader is not familiar with. Case in point - El Khader. The suicide scum who blew up a Jerusalem bus last week is reported to have come from El Khader. If you are sitting in Toronto or New York, that means nothing to you.
Let me bring the point home:
Every morning I travel on buses to Jerusalem. Our bus leaves Betar, turns right, passes Husan on the left. At the first intersection, we turn left, that is El Khader. A few minutes later, after passing the security checkpoint and driving over the tunnel roads, we turn right and watch Bethlehem and the Tomb of Rachel from our windows as we head into downtown Jerusalem. That means that the bomber could very well be someone I have seen in a passing moment. That means that the Israel military is now in full operation minutes from my home, turning over every stone possible to eradicate other suicidal maniacs before they kill children on their way to school.
I know, you still cannot relate, right?
Try this:
If you live in Toronto, it is like someone from Thornhill hearing about a terrorist from Finch and Bathurst. That is close.
If you live in Flatbush, at Ocean Parkway and J, then it would be hearing about a terrorist from Avenue R and Ocean Avenue. That is close.
If you live in Los Angeles, it is like finding out that the terror cell that attacked your local town actually operated from a mosque five minutes away from your local Young Israel.
I only tell you this, because when CNN and FOX news report stories of bombings, most readers see Israel as a far away place that doesn?t really affect them. They read the story in a way that doesn?t hit home. Read the story differently my friends. When these bombs go off, it does indeed hit home. Too close to home. I thought most New Yorkers learned that lesson the hard way from 9-11. I guess I was wrong.
Tachlis (Hebrew for brass tacks):
The bombing last week in Jerusalem took place a five minute drive from the Jerusalem hospital where my son was born just weeks ago, Shaarei Zedek. The ongoing marathon of funerals took place as I wrote this article, a five-minute drive from my office in Jerusalem. Israeli soldiers are fighting to keep us all safe and sound a five-minute bus ride from where I hoped to try to catch some shut-eye. Yeah, Bethlehem and El Khader are places I pass on my way to work each and every day. And you think you have a problem understanding what is going on here?
Don?t feel so bad, my friend. I think we are in this bloody mess, because many of the politicos making life and death decisions for this country have forgotten that terror is just a five-minute ride from home, anywhere.
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Chezi Goldberg is a Jerusalem-based counselor specializing in adolescents and families in crisis, and a regular columnist for the Jewish Press online edition.
Let me bring the point home:
Every morning I travel on buses to Jerusalem. Our bus leaves Betar, turns right, passes Husan on the left. At the first intersection, we turn left, that is El Khader. A few minutes later, after passing the security checkpoint and driving over the tunnel roads, we turn right and watch Bethlehem and the Tomb of Rachel from our windows as we head into downtown Jerusalem. That means that the bomber could very well be someone I have seen in a passing moment. That means that the Israel military is now in full operation minutes from my home, turning over every stone possible to eradicate other suicidal maniacs before they kill children on their way to school.
I know, you still cannot relate, right?
Try this:
If you live in Toronto, it is like someone from Thornhill hearing about a terrorist from Finch and Bathurst. That is close.
If you live in Flatbush, at Ocean Parkway and J, then it would be hearing about a terrorist from Avenue R and Ocean Avenue. That is close.
If you live in Los Angeles, it is like finding out that the terror cell that attacked your local town actually operated from a mosque five minutes away from your local Young Israel.
I only tell you this, because when CNN and FOX news report stories of bombings, most readers see Israel as a far away place that doesn?t really affect them. They read the story in a way that doesn?t hit home. Read the story differently my friends. When these bombs go off, it does indeed hit home. Too close to home. I thought most New Yorkers learned that lesson the hard way from 9-11. I guess I was wrong.
Tachlis (Hebrew for brass tacks):
The bombing last week in Jerusalem took place a five minute drive from the Jerusalem hospital where my son was born just weeks ago, Shaarei Zedek. The ongoing marathon of funerals took place as I wrote this article, a five-minute drive from my office in Jerusalem. Israeli soldiers are fighting to keep us all safe and sound a five-minute bus ride from where I hoped to try to catch some shut-eye. Yeah, Bethlehem and El Khader are places I pass on my way to work each and every day. And you think you have a problem understanding what is going on here?
Don?t feel so bad, my friend. I think we are in this bloody mess, because many of the politicos making life and death decisions for this country have forgotten that terror is just a five-minute ride from home, anywhere.
--------------------------------------------------------
Chezi Goldberg is a Jerusalem-based counselor specializing in adolescents and families in crisis, and a regular columnist for the Jewish Press online edition.