| Levant-The Rising: Photographs of Israel-Palestine by Skip Schiel |
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©Skip Schiel, 2004 |
Maxim's Restaurant, bombed by a Palestinian woman in October 2003, some 25 people killed, Haifa Later that evening, we all piled into their ramshackle van for a drive around the hilly coastal city of Haifa. Yoab dropped us off in a neighborhood high in the hills, promising to pick us up later after he'd gone with his sons to a video store to make the evening's selections. An upscale area, we passed restaurants and bars filled with revelers. Iris found a favorite outdoor bar, invited us for a late evening repast. We soon discovered that a blues band was setting up and we could enjoy the concert at no additional cost. To enter the bar we needed to pass thru security. Around a four foot high fence barricade, some five people, men and women, patrolled and examined all entering patrons. They asked me to raise my shirt to inspect my midsection for bombs, and then wanded me for metal. Alternately grateful for the check and alerted that this excursion might be dangerous, I found a drink, sat down, and tried to settle in for the concert. However, I was wary. I noticed each patron as they came thru the barrier, watched how close they sat to me, and inspected at a distance their midsections. Less than one month earlier, a young woman attorney who'd lost her brother and cousin to Israeli security forces, strapped on explosives, entered a popular and crowded seaside restaurant, Maxim's, which catered to both Israelis and Palestinians, and blew up herself and 21 others, including 4 Palestinian employees. Here for the first time on my journey I felt something of the fear Israelis might experience. |
