Israelis Prove Resilient in Face of Terror Attacks

After two successive weeks of terror attacks that kept them indoors and away from buses, many Israelis are back in circulation.

While people returning to the streets this week were still fearful of random suicide bombings, they seemed less jittery and more defiant.

Unlike the days immediately after the Feb. 25 and March 3 and 4 bombings, when downtown Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were practically empty, the cities once again saw some action.

According to Chana Mann, a psychologist who specialized in stress disorders, “people handle terrorist attacks in very individual ways.”

“Obviously, the nearer one is to any trauma, emotionally and geographically, the more affected they will be,” Mann said. “Those who have lost loved ones are obviously the most traumatized.”

Mann often counsels victims of Katyusha rocket attacks that have been launched by the Islamic fundamentalist Hezbollah movement on the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

“People on the periphery, those who have not lost someone close to them in an attack, are still affected by anxiety,” she added. “There is the feeling that it could have happened to me, and that it can still happen to me. The whole country is in a state of uncertainty, of helplessness.”

Mann said the residents of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ashkelon – the three cities targeted in the four recent suicide bombings – are experiencing the most anxiety.

But she said, “No one in Israel remains unaffected. In Kiryat Shmona, where Katuyshas fall often, some people were at first grateful that we were out of danger – for once.

“But then we learned that someone from Kiryat Shmona was badly injured in the first No. 18 bus bombing [in Jerusalem] and his life is still in danger. He was supposed to get married next week.”

Despite earlier predictions that tens of thousands of tourists would cancel their reservations, and that those already in Israel would hasten their departure, only 2,000 potential visitors actually canceled their plans, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

Many tourists did come, in an evident show of solidarity with the Israeli people.

The presence of tourists as well as locals was an especially welcome sight for downtown shopkeepers, whose businesses suffered for two weeks running.

“There’s no doubt that there are more people about,” said Sharon, a waitress at the Riviera Cafe on Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda Street. “People seem to feel more secure.”

Doron David, a jewelry store manager, agreed: “This week has definitely started off better than the previous two.

“Last week, people were simply afraid to come into town, and business was down about 50 percent. It’s a sunny day and let’s hope it bodes well for the future.”

“We see improvement over last week,” said Yehudit, a shift manager at Jerusalem’s landmark Cafe Atara. “Last week was extremely quiet, even more quiet than wartime.

“I can’t remember people acting so depressed. Still, we have to get on with our lives. We don’t have a choice.”

This view was shared by many of those interviewed in the heart of the capital.

“I’m afraid, but I refuse to let fear stop me from taking a bus in the country that’s my home,” said Asher Zeiger, a student at Bar-Ilan University. “Even so, I admit that I was afraid to turn on the radio this morning because I thought I’d hear about another bombing. When I heard an upbeat-sounding commercial I knew everything was OK.”

“It’s been very stressful,” said Orna Rubinger, an American student spending a semester at the University of Haifa. “But this is our home and nobody can take it away from us.”

Up until a couple of days ago, “I thought it might be better to stay in Haifa,” she said. “When I finally decided to come to Jerusalem, I took the Thursday night bus instead of the one on Friday morning, when there’s more traffic on the roads. Instead of leaving early today, I decided to stay until the afternoon,hoping it will be safer.”

Asked how other American students were coping with the stress, Rubinger said, “In Haifa, no one has gotten scared enough to leave yet.

“I’ve heard about some students in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv who are leaving, but they’re living in cities where buses blew up.”