A Passover surprise

Last night, missiles were fired from somewhere near Sinai to Eilat. I checked yesterday’s news and saw nothing of an IDF mission or of a wanted terrorist being mysteriously killed. Nothing could have been the trigger for this attack. It just happened.

It is pretty ironic to read about an attack from the south, just a day before reading the Haggadah. It seems like we live in some vicious circle, where we are constantly being chased after. No organization is yet to take responsibility for the attack, but for now, it appears to have come from Sinai and was probably done by a terror link operating there.

The mayor of Eilat was interviewed, saying this event, where luckily no one got hurt, didn’t cause any cancellations of hotel reservations in the most tourist-friendly city in Israel. Of course no one cancelled; missiles became a part of the South’s daily routine in the past couple of months. I said it before and I’ll say it again – we will never let anything ruin our Israeli joy. Some missiles won’t stop my friends and me from vacationing in Eilat during the Passover holiday.

The one thing that gets in my way to not letting this event ruin my holiday is the fact it reminds me of the second Intifada, a low point, maybe the lowest point of the Israeli-Palestinian argument. The similarity to the current event has nothing to do with the characteristics or the causes of the two, but to the atmosphere amongst the people. I was barely a teenager when buses and restaurants exploded. I remember the fear to go outside and have a proper meal. I remember my parents forbade me to take the bus. No one could predict when and where the next hit will come, and the newspapers were covered in black.

At some point people stopped being afraid. They took the buses, and hung out in public places. We didn’t let anybody bring us down and stop us from living a normal life. Luckily, this missile-mania didn’t take any lives, but the danger is always out there.

Nowadays, it is easier to predict the fall, or at least give two minutes warning, but since we are not fighting against a country, it is much harder to stop the attack or to complain to the UN about undiplomatic behavior. But with that being said, once again, we don’t let threats take over our lives. We have spirit like no one else, and with that, we will win. After all, we spent 40 years wondering in the desert just so we can enjoy our freedom…