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Jewish World Review Nov. 21, 2000 / 23 Mar-Cheshvan, 5761

GUSH KATIF DIARIST


A Day in the Life...


By Judy Lash Balint


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- November 20 | How does a regular day begin in the life of a normal family? The kids get ready for school; wave good-bye to their parents; hop on the school bus and arrive at school ready to greet their teachers and start the day, right?

Today, that mundane scenario was so hideously distorted that by 7:30 a.m. two teachers lay dead, five kids were seriously wounded and their school bus was destroyed by a 122 mm. mortar.

Arab terrorists targeted the bus leaving Kfar Darom in Gush Katif carrying 30 school kids and their teachers. The carnage was devastating. The bus was bullet proof, preventing a larger number of casualties, but there's little defense against the kind of shells used to bomb targets in Lebanon.

The forty families who live behind the walls of Kfar Darom live in fear of just the kind of tragedy that occurred today. But the sight of their dead friends and wounded children sent them out to the streets beyond the concrete barriers this morning to protest the conditions which they believe led to today's horror.

Israel radio carries continuous commentary on the tragedy all morning. A rabbi from Gush Katif quietly notes that "Barak needs to know that this attack is not related to Gush Katif or any other place. It's just an attack against Jews," he says. His words echo the thoughts of the father of a critically injured IDF soldier who was interviewed yesterday, just hours before his 21 year old son would die. He was asked if he was upset that his son was serving in Gush Katif. Glaring at the interviewer, the middle aged man replied, "My son was protecting Jews. If it wasn't for Gush Katif, they'd be in Ashkelon."

In reaction to the school bus bombing, dozens of Jerusalemites stop traffic at the entrance to the city this morning. Eventually they are forcibly removed, but many police officers offer sympathetic words to the demonstrators. By 2 p.m. hundreds gather outside Prime Minister Barak's Rehavia residence. Among them are relatives of Sara Leisha the 42 year old teacher from Neve Tzuf murdered just last week.

While Barak convenes an emergency cabinet session, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh addresses a news conference at the press center. Sneh lays the blame for this morning's attack with Yasser Arafat. "It was a strategic terror attack whose purpose was to inflict irreversible damage to future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations or reconciliation," he declares.

I ask about his reaction to the anti-government demonstrations and the accusation of the Gush Katif residents who placed a sign on the burnt out shell of the school bus saying: Barak you have blood on your hands.

Sneh responds that the government's job is to pursue its objectives and not to react to the national mood. Once again he speaks of the Barak administration's fear of being judged by the rest of the world. "Our policy is not to fall into the trap to hit innocent (Arab) civilians and then to be accused by the international community," he says. In other words Israeli strategic policy is dictated by the UN, Bill Clinton, the European Union and CNN.

Despite this morning's violence which he attributes to Arafat, Sneh reiterates the position that the strategic goal of the Barak administration is to sign an agreement. "But we'll have to resume talks to achieve it, and that we can't do while the violence goes on."

Sneh is cagey about mentioning what kind of retaliation might be expected, but by the time darkness falls, we don't have to guess. Without warning, helicopter gunships start firing a barrage of missiles into military targets in Gaza. Electricity goes down, Fatah buildings and security offices close to Arafat's headquarters are destroyed.

The whole event is carried live on the two major Israeli TV channels. Channel One uses the official PA TV footage. It's a little eerie to be sitting in Jerusalem watching the bombing of Gaza with Arabic commentary.

While the attacks go on, a few thousand people gather in front of the Prime Minister's residence. Police and IDF block off Azza Street and the largely national religious crowd face the hastily constructed stage waving Israeli flags and carrying torches dripping wax which illuminate their strained faces. A few young girls sit at the curb, heads in their hands. Other older protesters stand quietly, hands in their pockets, not quite knowing how to express their grief.

Photos of Arafat with "Murderer" printed in large red letters are peppered through the crowd. One huge home made sign reads: Ramat Aviv: Arafat won't forget you!"

Almost half the crowd are teenagers who are happy to provide the many cameramen with active footage. They climb on each other's shoulders and chant: "Ehud Go Back Home.." As speaker after speaker mounts the stage to address the crowd, some get restive. One group of twenty year olds starts to yell: "Instead of talk, let's do something!"

Although there are no English language signs--a fact noted by the roving eyes of several photographers who search in vain for something their readers will understand--one speaker addresses the crowd in English. It's Yehudit Gross, mother of Aharon Gross, an 18 year old yeshiva student murdered by terrorists 18 years ago. Gross becomes increasingly strident as she speaks, and the cameras lap it up. Her closing comment is, "It's all dirty lies!" Her tone has whipped up the demonstrators a bit and a few start to yell, "Barak, Traitor," but they're quickly shouted down by others around them.

By 8:45 p.m things wind down--many have been at the site since 5 p.m. Hatikva (Israel's national anthem), Psalms for the wounded and a quick Maariv (evening) prayer bring a close to this awful day. A day which should have ended with kids in Kfar Darom eating dinner, doing homework and refusing to go to bed. ...

JWR contributor Judy Lash Balint is an American journalist in Israel. Comment on this article by clicking here.


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© 2000, Judy Lash Balint