Last night, when the clock struck midnight, Israel celebrated the New Year. Not like the rest of the world - because after all, it’s the Christian new year - but we did celebrated. Parties, families getting together, friends, alcohol and of course - the midnight kisses.
We celebrated 2016.
A new year, a blank page - an opportunity to start a new chapter in our lives and most of all - that feeling of hope, that maybe now, in 2016, everything will be different. Maybe the reality here in the middle east will change. Maybe terror will stop, maybe I’ll wake up to a morning without notifications on my phone about a terrorist who stabbed a citizen on the street. Just maybe, of course, because 2016 is just a number, right?
We woke up to a happy morning, it was raining for over 10 hours, it was snowing in the north and hey, if there is something Isralies are excited about is a strong winter.
And then it happened.
I was at a theatre rehearsal at the time, I didn’t know. Only an hour later, when I opened my phone to text my friend, I saw all the notifications.
“Terror attack on Dizengof street in Tel Aviv. 2 dead, 10 injured, 4 critically, 3 moderately. “
I stood there, in the theatre room. It was storming outside but I felt like I’m burning. They did it. They actually did it. Now, 2016 will be remembred as the year who started with a blood stain.
On the news, they kept showing security camera clips of the terrorist who was shooting aimlessly everywhere. They talked about the victims, they talked about how all of Tel Aviv’s citizens are locked in their houses because they are terrefied and how the the police is still chasing him.
No one talked about 2016 anymore, no one talked about the winter.
I was right, it is just a number.
As for December 27, here are the terror attacks by numbers (Starting from September, 4 months range only):
• 99 stabbings
• 35 shootings
• 21 car rammings
And today, no one outside Israel changed his profile picture to the star of david. No one. Just like they didn’t do it any other day of terror here. And I started to accept it, that the world is acting blind. That if it happens in Israel - it’s okay. It’s not like Europe, god forbid, the place where every single person’s life matters. No, here in Israel, it’s fine.
And now I think you understand why we got the name of the ‘murderer country’. Because when terror happens or when the countries around us are sending rockets just because no one wants us to exist, no one hears about it. But when we respond, everyone does.
We’ve been through a lot. People have chased us for the past 2000 years, it’s not new to us. Terror is not new, antisemitism is not new, losing lives is not new, it’s really not.
But it’s getting more and more painful.
So Happy New Year, and please;
*On the left, Shimon Rawimi, a 30 year old who was murdered today by a terrorist in Tel aviv. RIP
*On the right, Alon Bakal, a 26 year old who was murdered today by a terrorist in Tel aviv. RIP
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