'Travel warning brings it all back’

Mother of Taba Hilton bombing victim brings back painful memories for at least one Israeli mother.

By BEN HARTMAN
taba bombing 298 (photo credit: AP)
taba bombing 298
(photo credit: AP)
A warning issued by the Counter-Terrorism Bureau on Tuesday imploring Israelis to leave Sinai immediately brought back painful memories for at least one Israeli mother.
Larissa Faizakov’s son Oleg and his wife Ludmilla were among 31 people killed when a terrorist drove a truck bomb into the lobby of the Taba Hilton in October 2004. The young couple had left their children Danny, then 9, and Alon, then 3, back home with Larissa and her husband Yuri when they went to Taba, their first vacation in 10 years of marriage.
Larissa said Wednesday that when she heard about the travel warning the day before, “it brought it all back, and reminded me of how I let them go [on the trip], even though I shouldn’t have.”
Larissa called those who are traveling to Sinai in spite of the frequent warnings “crazy and stubborn” adding “what, the last tragedy wasn’t enough? What happened the last time wasn’t enough?”
Larissa receives support from a program operated by an organizationcalled Selah, that helps immigrant grandparents who have lost a childand now find themselves raising their grandchildren alone.
She implored those who ignored the warnings to think of the people they could potentially leave behind.
“If something happens to somebody down there [in Sinai], a kidnappinglike happened to Gilad Schalit, what will these peoples’ parents do? Whydon’t they think about what could happen to them?”