By Hector Flores
"'Everything is OK -- I'm on my way to the safe room,'" Gary said, recounting his daughter's message. "She told me that the cell phones wouldn't be working inside [the bomb shelter], but that she would call us as soon as it was safe to come out. That is a little scary for a parent to hear and a call you don't want to get."
A day earlier, Hezbollah had attacked Haifa, in northern Israel, with rockets, killing eight Israelis. The attack marked the escalation of military actions between Israel and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization working out of southern Lebanon. On the night of the attack, Haifa University officials directed students to seek the protection of bomb shelters located in each of the university¹s dormitories.
Jeanie Corn, Tara's mother, said, "Everything was peaceful the first few days, but when she called to say that the rockets had hit, we were scared. There¹s always a level of nervousness for anyone who has a child in Israel, but Haifa had never been attacked as far as I know. For those days when Haifa was getting hit we were just so scared. My stomach was in knots."
To Jeanie's relief, on July 16 Haifa officials moved the students out of Haifa University and into Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where it was safer.
In a telephone interview with the Herald, Tara called the attack on Haifa "surreal." "We heard the announcement that we had to go into the bomb shelter," she said. "We couldn't see the bombing, but as they got closer they hit the market we were going to buy food from. We had to leave Haifa, and we are now in Jerusalem and we are coping very well."
Tara said that she is a senior at SUNY-Albany majoring in Judaic studies. She is close to finishing an intensive one-month Hebrew course at Haifa University, which began July 5.
After the attack, Tara said, many of the students decided to return home, but she chose to complete the program. According to Jeanie, of the 250 students that started the program, only 130 remained. "We have now been given an extended schedule to the complete the course," Tara said. "And the final is this Wednesday.²
Despite her experience, Tara does not regret her decision to study in Israel or to complete the course. "Israel is my second home," she said. "It's weird, but I feel more comfortable here than in the states. I love the language and I love everything about this place, and a few little scares from Hezbollah will not make me leave."
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
