A Frontline View of the Recent Terror in Israel
by Ronn Torossian
Over the weekend, I spent the day with my sister, Karin. She is staying with her husband Yakov in Lod for the summer with their four kids (my nieces and nephews) in his parents’ home. Lod is a city 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv, where Jews and Arabs reside.
After we left, I had a long and meaningful talk with my sister by phone. After we spoke, she told me she was going to take a nap. She called me back a few minutes later, and said, “go find a bomb shelter.” I didn’t pay attention and thought she was joking. I Googled, and found no news.
Then, a few minutes later, a friend sent me a voice note: “Ronn, be careful. Tel Aviv is going to get hit with rockets tonight. It’s OK. Stay strong. It’s normal. We go on. Everything is OK.”
Speaking to friends, they told me this was real and to be careful. Many stayed home. But I still kept my dinner plans with my daughters and some friends.
When you realize that Israelis live under this kind of threat daily, you realize the beauty of Israel. It’s a fact of life that the people here live under the constant threat of annihilation. And they are so smart and resilient. Never again will Jews be killed without a defense system. Never again will Jews be helpless.
Because Israel took out a terrorist murderer of civilians, the Palestinians respond by targeting more Israeli civilians. Shame on them. People dare to proclaim “Free Palestine” — which is codeword for “kill the Jews.”
My daughters were brave. I’m proud of them for eating outdoors, even as we were told bombs were coming. They couldn’t go to the bathroom by themselves, for fear that something could happen at any minute. We reviewed where the bomb shelters were when we sat down at the restaurant.
We won’t ever give in. We can never surrender. We won’t let our fear control us. Am Israel Chai. The Jewish people live.
When I sat down to write this, over 100 rockets had been fired at cities throughout Israel. Major Israeli cities were targeted. My grandparents survived the Holocaust; many of my cousins didn’t. Six million Jews were killed, and the State of Israel today is condemned by the world. Shame on them. We won’t be victims again.
Ronn Torossian is a public relations executive.