Terrorism in my life 

Growing up in Israel meant feeling constant fear. The fear of being killed, the fear of being held hostage, the fear of your children being traumatized. Ever since I could remember, war has been a big part of my worst fears along with clowns and snakes; people being burned down in buses, children being killed by a man with a gun much like what has happened recently in Las Vegas.

There was a discovery two years ago in Israel before Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish new year, that Palestinians have dug tunnels underground planning to murder the Israeli people. When I turned 6 and went to first grade a bomb landed right inside my childhood best friend’s house, which was right next to my grandparents’ house.

The moment the Israeli army recognizes a bomb heading towards an area in the country it signals an alarm which lets the citizens to get to the nearest shelter in the neighborhood. At that time, I lived with my grandparents because my mother moved to New York for work. So my grandfather and I ran to the shelter while my grandmother stayed in the house because she was cooking and wasn’t able to close it. So I ran back to my grandmother and I dragged her with me to the shelter. My friend and her family were out-of-town that week so they didn’t get injured.

Ever since then, Israel has fought two wars and every time I hear an alarm I get paranoid, remembering all of those frightening memories. But those memories are a part of who I am and I wouldn’t change that because along with them I have amazing memories of my childhood. And in the future I want every child to be able to play outside with their friends without living with the fear of death.