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September 28, 2001/Tishri 11, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 3
Terror hits home on Israel mission
BARRY COHEN
Editor
In the days leading up to the United Jewish Communities' September solidarity mission to Israel, debate centered on whether participants would be safe amid deadly violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
Just hours after the mission contingent arrived at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv, its members learned that deadly terrorist violence had reached America's shores.
"It was surreal," said Gary Grove, one of the nine Valley residents on the 500-person national mission. He learned of the tragedy while on a bus ride from Jerusalem to Kiryat Malachi, sister city of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.
Israeli guides translated radio reports of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings from Hebrew to English, recalled Grove. "We reacted, saying, 'What are you talking about?' "
"There was a feeling of shock," said Neil Hiller, the Phoenix federation's past president. "The Israelis were as surprised as we were."
Grove concurred. "The scale was unbelievable, even for them," he said.
Israelis immediately reached out to the mission members, offering support, compassion and solidarity.
"We've been living with this for a long time. We know this is not easy," one Israeli told Hiller.
Norman Dreyfuss, a Valley resident whose son, Rabbi Howard Markose, daughter-in-law, Judy, and four grandchildren live in Israel, said many Israelis expressed dismay that U.S. citizens now have to live through what the Israelis feel every day.
"They were extremely empathetic, like it happened to them," said Randi Sherman, member of the national UJC Young Leadership Cabinet and a mission participant.
"We went there to support them, and they ended up supporting us," said Grove.
"We were traumatized in recognizing we were not at home," Dreyfuss added. "The rest of the trip was incidental compared to what was happening in the U.S."
Still, participants were able to point to a number of highlights during the five-day mission, Sept. 9-14. Hiller enjoyed a discussion with high school students about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and unrest in the world at large. "It was an opportunity to find out what they are thinking, whether they are optimistic or pessimistic. ... We heard the whole range."
Sherman described a meal with a Modern Orthodox family in Kiryat Malachi. "I felt like I was truly with family. They were the nicest and warmest." The evening was filled with camaraderie, Sherman remarked.
Grove will remember eating lunch at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzeria, where on Aug.9 a Palestinian detonated a suicide bomb, killing 15 people and injuring 130.
After finishing his meal, Grove stepped into a gift shop and struck up a conversation with the owner, who told Grove his wife and 5-year-old son had been in the pizzeria when the bomb exploded; they survived because they were dining upstairs.
That evening, Grove spent time with the family, and discovered that the wife suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Valley participants said attending the 50th anniversary of Kiryat Malachi was also significant. Hiller enjoyed putting faces to names he had heard and visiting with Kiryat Malachi residents.
"It was an uplifting experience," Grove affirmed. "I learned from the Israelis that in the face of terror and attacks, you need to go on living."
For some Valley participants, the mission was cut short. Those traveling through New York missed the mission's closing event to catch a 9 p.m. return flight, Thursday Sept. 13, said Sherman. However, the flight was delayed and did not depart until 8:30 the next morning. Sherman said she will not soon forget the experience of sleeping on a bench at Ben Gurion Airport.
Valley participants traveling on Israel's El Al Airlines through Los Angeles had their trip extended to Saturday night, Sept. 15, to avoid flying during the Sabbath, said Grove.
While the return flight itself was "relatively uneventful," Grove said, they arrived at Los Angeles Airport only to learn their terminal had been shut down "because of a bomb scare."
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