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July 11, 2003/Tamuz 11 5763, Vol. 55, No.46
The sweetness of return
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
You can still get a slice, plain or mushroom, at Apple Pizza. Or coffee at Caf‚ Rimon. Or a chewy sesame bagel at Coffee Time.
The streets of Jerusalem are quiet, but a mix of mostly locals and a few tourists are out enjoying the balmy summer evenings. The bars are packed with kids, and soldiers are roving in droves.
But Mamma Mia, a favorite haunt, is closed for business. The lovely little restaurant at Confederation Square, which has seen its share of owners and monikers, is shuttered.
And while the city buses continue to careen through the streets, spewing out noxious fumes along with a varied assortment of passengers, there is a lone tour bus parked in front of the Inbal Hotel and none adjacent to Zion Gate in the Old City.
Security guards are posted at hotels and restaurants. Body wands and bag searches are standard. At Rosemary, a picturesque garden cafe, a burly guard in reflective vest oversees entry. At La Guta, an upscale eatery on Yoel Salomon Street, a waitress is summoned to unlock the outer door to allow patrons to enter.
So it is in Jerusalem when we arrived on the heels of the latest pact among terrorist groups and Israelis. The cease-fire has aroused an air of cautious - very cautious - optimism. And hope.
We left New York as the deal was being brokered, saying our goodbyes to our children with just a tinge of unease. Each obliquely expressed some nervousness about our impending departure, a surprise from kids who have traveled widely and spent substantial time in Israel, several during other somewhat tenuous times.
We recalled sending them off with the usual parental admonitions; now it was the kids who were issuing the warnings. "Travel safe," "take care," "call us," they murmured. It was an unsettling, albeit touching, farewell.
We arrived with some understandable trepidation, yet an ineffable joy at just being here. There was a reassuring air of normalcy, even as we waited in what seemed to be unusually long lines to go through passport control and then traveled uneventfully to Jerusalem, though surprised by the security checkpoint and the expanse of concrete barriers lining the highway. The lead story on CNN may be about disturbances in Gaza, but here in Jerusalem, it was quiet.
As we walk the streets, there is still a twinge when a bus edges up on us, an uneasiness in crowds, a discomfort with the heightened security. But the message loud and clear is that life goes on, despite the situation. En route from the States, we were struck by the number of families traveling, with three, four, five children in tow. And after arriving, it seemed as if every day we happened upon another wedding, two chuppahs alone in the courtyard of our hotel in a week.
Before we left Phoenix, an Israeli friend asked if we were afraid to travel to Israel now.
No, we replied. And after being here a week, the answer is still no. Not afraid. Just proud.
Contact the writer at vicki_cabot@jewishaz.com.
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