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Two terrorists were near Rosh Hanikra on Israel's northern border.
Border Residents:
Life On The Edge
AVA CARMEL
Special to The Jewish News
e took a direct hit in
July of 1981, at the
community center,"
says Marsha Brown of Kiryat
Shmona. "The peace negotia-
tions with Lebanon, the
United States and Israel then
took place in that same
building, and a year and a
half later, the peace treaty
was signed in the very room
that had been shelled."
Brown is activities coor-
dinator of the Kiryat Shmona
Community Center. With a
heavy set of keys jangling
from a belt at her waist, she
shows me around the center.
"I came in 1970 as a volun-
teer on the Sherut Le'Am pro-
gram," she says. "Nobody ,
wanted to stay here because
of the security situation, but
being from New York, I felt
safer here!"
Conflict and tranquility —
the settlers along Israel's nor-
thern border have known
both. Realistic yet optimistic,
they pray for miracles. Ella
Gafeen, originally from Mon-
treal, moved with her famly
to a Kibbutz Kfar Giladi. "We
came to Israel with five
children, so the kibbutz
wanted to give us the biggest
house possible. It was a se-
cond story apartment with a
narrow stairwell. There was
no way to get the piano we
had shipped from Canada up.
I refused to give up, thinking
Israel is the land of miracles,
after all.
In 1979, during one of many
katyusha attacks, one fell on
our new home and blew open
a huge hole in the wall. The
next day the piano was mov-
ed in through the hole and
then the wall was repaired?'
Ella Gafeen is typical of the
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14
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1989
a
stubborn settleri along
Israel's northern border with
Lebanon. These people have
learned to live with constant
tension despite the fact that
there has been a long interval
of relative calm. It has been
seven years since the IDF's
invasion of Lebanon, but the
people of the border set-
tlements live with the cons-
tant fear that the situation
could deteriorate at any time.
Clari Leshansky of Metula
talks about the many securi-
ty problems and the
psychological effects they
have on residents. Before the
war we spent long periods in
the shelters. Once we were
there for twelve consecutive
days. Many katyushas fell
and there was a lot of shell-
ing. It caused problems for the
children so that now we have
12-year-olds who wet their
beds at night. We have to
bring in a psychologist
whenever things get tense.
Although this has been a
relatively quiet year, there
has been a new wave of shell-
ing and katyushas. This past
year alone there have been
about 77 inflitration attempts
by terrorists aing the border."
Although there have been no
civilian casulaties, 49 soldiers
have been killed in this
region in the past four years
alone.
In a recent incident, a
katyusha fell near a house on
the outskirts of Metulla.
Because the lawn had been
watered that evening, the
soggy earth absorbed much of
the shock, but fragments hit
the bedroom window of the
Sorotsky home. Thipi Sorot-
sky, a delicate young woman
with short, blond hair related
her story. On May 29th, 1:15
a.m., a katyusha exploded
near my children's bedroom