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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am sure that you all have heard by now about the
suicide bombing this evening in Rishon L'tsion. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>On a personal note, it was a bit of a shock, as I
live on the outskirts of Rishon, a five minute drive from the bomb site. I
was sitting on my couch reading when I heard first one ambulance, then
two, then fire-engines, then I lost count of how many drove by.
So I knew something was going on...in this region, when you hear so many sirens
drive by, it usually only can mean one thing. I turned on the television to
Channel 1...and sure enough, it was as I thought.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But hitting Rishon was more important on a symbolic
level. The towns of Rishon L'Tsion, Nes-Tsiona and Rehovot are about 15
minutes south of Tel-Aviv, but a completely different world regarding personal
sense of security. There has NEVER been any terrorist attack, before
this, in the Rishon-Rehovot area. The people who live in the area, up
till now, could psychologically distance themselves from the fear of terrorist
attack. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When I am in Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem, (or Kfar Saba,
Netanya, Hadera, Haifa, etc. for that matter), my radar is constantly on,
even if only in the back of my mind. I try to ride public transport as
little as possible, stay out of cafes, shopping centers and such,
etc. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>However, when I am near home, I feel as if I may as
well be in some regular American suburb. I take local busses, go with
friends to cafes, go shopping in the local shopping center, almost totally
removing my defensive sensors. This attitude could be generalized to the
local population as a whole. Just a couple of days ago, I went with a
couple of friends to a cafe near here on a weekday, and it was packed full of
people. You would not usually find the same thing in Tel-Aviv...and
especially not in Jerusalem. L</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>ast week I went
with my girlfriend to go eat some dinner near her work in Tel-Aviv, and though
it was only 9:00 P.M. or so, many of the restraunts were already closed.
After walking around 10 minutes we finally found an noodle-bar.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The shock of the attack taking place in Rishon was
definitely noticable in the initial newscasts about the incident. They
kept repeating how there has never been an attack in the Rishon-Rehovot area,
and that there had been no intelligence reports whatsoever about an attack
taking place near here. It was in fact, approx. 40 minutes after the
attack that they even began really stating that it was likely to have been a
suicide bombing and not just some sort of terrible accident, floor collapse,
etc. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, the fact that this bombing took place during
Sharon's 'victory' meeting with Bush, after Sharon's government has been
boasting how they have taken a big bite out of the 'Palestinian terrorist
infrastructure', and in a location that was symbolically considered one of the
last vestiges of a secure haven in Israel (not to mention that Rishon L'tsion
means 'First to Zion' and is one of the first Zionist yishuvim, established
in 1882, I think), this attack definitely makes the point that
Israeli military actions against the Palestinian people has done nothing to make
the Israeli people more secure -- the opposite is true, Sharon has
made it so no Israeli can feel any security at all. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyway, it's 1:30 A.M. and I gonna try to get some
sleep.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bryan</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>