Gas Masks in Hand, Israelis Are Returning to Normal Lives

Israelis are still carrying gas masks wherever they go, nonchalantly slung over their shoulders. But life here is starting to return to normal.

Authorities said everyone could return to their jobs Tuesday, including those who work in Tel Aviv and Haifa, the two cities hit by Iraqi SCUD missiles last Friday and Saturday.

The arrival of Patriot anti-missile defenses from the United States has been a tremendous boost to morale. Nevertheless, Israelis know they can still be attacked, even with chemical weapons.

Saddam Hussein’s attacks on Israel’s civilian population in Tel Aviv and Haifa have done wonders for tourism in Jerusalem and Eilat, though it is domestic rather than foreign.

Jerusalem hotels, long shunned because of intifada turmoil, are enjoying a 75 percent occupancy rate, thanks mainly to “refugees” from Tel Aviv. Hotels in warm, sunny Eilat are 100 percent full, even though the resort town is just a stone’s throw from Jordan, which has tacitly backed Saddam Hussein.

The majority of Israelis who cannot afford a mid-winter vacation are staying home. Considering that the civilian population has not been under siege for more than 23 years, it has adjusted to the present danger very well.

It has had to cope with the terrifying experience of being awakened by air raid sirens and the thud of missiles falling not far away.

As soon as the sirens sound, Israel Radio broadcasts information in Hebrew, English, Russian, Yiddish and Amharic, the language spoken by Ethiopian Jews.

‘WE’LL SURVIVE THIS ONE, TOO’

The authorities hope to avoid a recurrence of what happened when an air raid alert sounded Saturday morning in Ashdod. Some recent immigrants from Ethiopia wore their stifling gas masks for eight hours, because they did not understand the all-clear announcement on the radio.

Most of the sirens thankfully have been false alarms. Nevertheless, being huddled for hours in a room sealed against gas attack and listening to one’s own breathing through a gas mask is not exactly an enjoyable experience.

It changes the ordinary pace of life. For example, one does not put off going to the bathroom, in case one suddenly has to go just as an air raid warning sounds. It is not possible to enjoy a hot shower worrying that the alert might sound while you are in the shower stall.

You get in the habit of keeping the phone numbers of loved ones handy. The first thing to do when the all-clear sounds is call them.

The sirens have had an eerie effect on people, who have begun mistaking everyday sounds for the alerts. The whine of hydraulic forklifts used in supermarkets or the wail of diesel-motored trucks on the highways has sent some people scrambling for their gas masks.

The authorities have asked car owners to disconnect their alarm systems. The sound can send people scurrying to bomb shelters.

Despite jitters, morale is high and the citizenry is regaining confidence. The general feeling is that “as long as ‘the devil’ in Baghdad doesn’t use chemical weapons against ###, we’ll survive this one, too.”