Clockwise from top..

Mickey Levin of
Farmington Hills holds
his daughter Sara as
they watch footage of
the terrorist attacks.

Jodi Weinfeld of
Farmington Hills and
Linda Goodman of West
Bloomfield watch footage
of the terrorist attacks.

Larry Jackier of
Bloomfield Hills speaks to
the Detroit group in the
lobby of the Nazareth
Renaissance Hotel as they
watch TV coverage of the
American terrorist attacks.

MISSION

from page 16

"I'll be damned if we're going to let
this prevent us from doing what we
came here to do," he said.
'As Jews, we choose life. We win when
we don't allow these kinds of murderers
— these terrorists, these insane people
who care nothing about life — to cause
us to change how we are going to act."
After the solidarity march in Migdal
HaEmek, and during the dinner pro-
gram at Kibbutz Givat, the partici-
pants tried hard to live for the
moment and enjoy themselves. But
the rumors wouldn't stop, and the
mood turned somber.
"It's very ironic that when we, from
Detroit, left Jerusalem today, we were
coming up here to our family in the
Central Galilee with the idea of express-
ing to you our solidarity, that you were
not alone, and we were here for you,"
Jackier told the crowd later that night.
"As it turns out, by what's happened,
it's the opposite. You are here for us,

9/14

2001

18

and your being here tonight helps us
all deal with this incredible tragedy."
The Israelis understood what the
mission-goers were feeling.
"We are living with terror for a long
time," said Danny Bitran of Migdal
HaEmek, during dinner.
"Psychologically, we are more ready
for that. We are also ready for the
unexpected. We are used to surprises.
The Americans are not ready for that.
If they don't have the answer, they
might panic, and I'm afraid of that."
Mickey Levin of Farmington Hills
said the rules have changed.
"For the most part, the last couple
of days we've all felt real safe here in
Israel," he said. "After this, we feel
safer than the ones back home. We're
worried about them now. It shows that
terrorism can happen anywhere."
Three days ago, Palestinian Authority
leader Arafat made his weekly speech,
Bitran said. "He [Arafat] said the White
House would be black."
Elinor Rotem of Haifa said she was

speechless when she heard of the
attack. Then she became afraid.
"It's like the Third World War,
except we don't know who did it," she
said. "The question is: What can
America do against ghosts?"
She would like America to take a
hard stance, and do something against
Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden.
"Unfortunately, we see that Islam has
no soft way. It works the hard way, with
no compromising," she said. "They want
to win all the way, so they have to fight
very hard. I've been on the left all these
years, but now everything's changed."
Reality hit the mission participants
once they arrived at the Renaissance
Hotel in Nazareth. People who had
checked in didn't make it past the lobby,
where a large television showed images
that were unthinkable a few hours before.
Luggage was left strewn around the lobby,
and people tried to comfort each other.
One image; however, was all too
familiar.
"I guess just seeing the Arabs sitting

there, cheering about this, makes me
sick to my stomach," said Sheryl
Vachon of Huntington Woods. "How
can they cheer the loss of innocent
lives? It has absolutely nothing to do
with the conflicts going on."
Israelis face this constantly, but not
on such a scale, said Jodi Weinfeld of
Farmington Hills.
"The Israelis deal with uncertainty
every day," she said. "They have to
have some coping mechanism to react
to this, otherwise you turn into a vic-
tim and you're passive to everything
that happens to you.
"How could you live your life? You
couldn't dream, you couldn't say to
your children: 1 want you to be what
you want to be when you grow up.'
What if you say, 'You know what, I'm
not so sure you're gonna grow up.'
"I do feel vulnerable," she said,
"more so than I did coming here."
Menachim Shavitt of Yuvalim had
some brief words of advice. "It's time
to wake up, America."

❑

