A veneer of normalcy

Defiant in the face of terror, Israelis and tourists continue to traverse the city.

By JORDYN SCHWERSKY
Linda and Bill Girard from Edmonton, Alberta. ‘It’s kind of a finale, I guess, of what’s been happening since we arrived,’ says Linda. (photo credit: JORDYN SCHWERSKY)
Linda and Bill Girard from Edmonton, Alberta. ‘It’s kind of a finale, I guess, of what’s been happening since we arrived,’ says Linda.
(photo credit: JORDYN SCHWERSKY)
It’s five hours after two Arab terrorists murdered four Jews and a Druse policeman in a rampage at the Bnei Torah Synagogue in Har Nof, but near the Mamilla Mall, Israelis and tourists are shaken but determined to continue with their normal lives.
Rebecca Sprung, her daughter Nina and their friend Helene Mishkoff sat outside at Café Kadosh and enjoyed coffee and salads.
“As a resident of Jerusalem,” Sprung says, “I am horrified and nauseated but not terrified. I refuse to be terrified.”
Originally from New York, Sprung has lived in Israel for 25 years, and the only thing she feels she can do in the face of this and other terror attacks is to continue to live her life.
“I’m here in the city having coffee,” she says, “sitting out in the streets of Jerusalem, facing everyone with looks of despair, but we, despite everything, are going to go on with our lives.”
Mishkoff, from Queens, was in town visiting Sprung. She says being here during an attack, rather than just seeing one on TV, gave her a new understanding of what people who live here go through on a regular basis.
“We see this in New York on TV,” Mishkoff says, “but it’s really not the same as hearing it, and you just have chills. It’s just horrifying, but life goes on. It can happen anywhere. It can happen in New York, and it does happen in New York, and it does happen all over the world. We just have to keep going on.”
Aharon Mayne, a former Canadian diplomat who has lived in Israel for the past six years, has continued to live his life as well, but he’s done so with a different perspective.
“You watch more,” Mayne says. “You watch, and you get more cautious. Unfortunately now, as of a few months, I would not step into an Arab neighborhood.”
He’s also frustrated with the international response to terrorist attacks like this in Israel. He doesn’t see an effective media response or even an effective conversation among those outside the media about the conflict Israel faces.
“We’re always talking among ourselves,” he says. “We never seem to reach anyone outside in the rest of the world. I don’t know how anyone can complain about this when they see what they did there.”
Mayne is not the only one struggling with the effects of terrorism. Kobi Dahan, who works at Ne’eman Bakery on Jaffa Road, has seen a significant decrease in business over the past few weeks. The rise in Jerusalem terrorist attacks has driven tourists from the bakery.
“Fewer tourists come to visit in Jerusalem, in the shop,” Dahan says. “Business is falling. It’s very bad, this situation.
The shop is empty, and at this time of the day it’s usually full.
It has to be full. I hope it will be better.”
There are still those, though, who haven’t let the attacks keep them from visiting Israel. Linda and Bill Girard from Edmonton, Alberta, are in Israel for the first time. They arrived two weeks ago, when the violence was beginning to escalate.
Tuesday was their last day here.
“It’s kind of a finale, I guess, of what’s been happening since we arrived,” Linda says. “It’s very complicated here, very complicated. It’s just so sad. I don’t know how else to phrase it.”
The Girards were sipping two large Americano coffees when they heard the sirens. It wasn’t until later in the morning that they figured out what had happened.
“We knew something big had happened,” Bill says, “just because of the number of sirens that we heard. It’s not totally unsurprising at this point. Over the last two weeks we’ve sort of begun seeing this escalation.”
Even after spending two weeks witnessing this escalation of violence and terror, the Girards won’t let this keep them from returning to Israel in the future.
“It’s complicated,” Linda says, “but it would not prevent me from coming back to the Holy Land. It is a beautiful, beautiful country.”
It is a complicated country, but Sprung believes the best way to live here is just to keep living as she usually would.
“We can’t control people that are out of control and that want to kill us,” Sprung said, “but we must have a very strong constitution. I’ve been here 25 years, and I think my constitution has gotten stronger, and I’m amazed at what I can do. It didn’t seem possible this morning, looking at all the pictures and taking it all in, that I could do this. But my husband’s taking care of the wounded in Hadassah, and I’m giving business to the coffee shops and taking my tourists shopping to the stores where they’re greeting us with ‘Thank you for coming in this morning.’ It’s the only thing I can do.”