"What remains is longing, immense pain and a hole that will never be filled" • 20 years since the attack on bus 37 in Haifa

20 years since the attack on bus 37 - Haifa remembers and hurts

20 years have passed since the terrible attack that rocked Haifa. Today 5/3/2003, exactly 20 years ago, a suicide bomber boarded a bus on route 37 and blew himself up, shortly before entering the Carmelia neighborhood.

17 people were murdered in the attack, of which 9 were children and teenagers. 53 people were injured (people outside the bus were also injured by the force of the explosion).

After the attack, terrorists who helped the suicide bomber to commit the murderous act were caught. All but one were released in a Shalit deal. That terrorist is supposed to be released these days. Just last week, as I recall, after persistent and nerve-wracking struggles waged by the bereaved parents over the years, the Ministry of the Interior finally determined that the terrorist would not be able to live in Haifa again, after 3 and a half years ago the then Minister of the Interior, Aryeh Deri, revoked his blue identity card.

The late Tal Kerman

"I was afraid to forget"

The father of the late Tal Kerman, Ron Kerman, talks about 20 years of longing for his daughter and her commemoration: "I have been working for 20 years, what will I say on the anniversary? Our brain is a very strange thing. Nothing has changed in terms of pain over the years. This year we are really celebrating 20 years, but I believe it will not be different from what it was a year ago and what it will be in a year, in the 21st year. At the time I was afraid that I would forget all kinds of things, and there is nothing to be done, forgetting the little things. I miss Tal's hug, I miss even picking up her hair at home," Kerman says.

"We are trying to continue on the path. This is an event that was forced upon us. I would do everything so that she would not be a victim of this attack. Of course."

"Nothing stopped the sacrifice of our children"

Kerman continues: "In Jaffa there is a statue of the binding of Isaac. I was there a few years ago and there was a group of tourists there. The guide explained to them about the statue. I always walk around with a business card in memory of Tal. I turned to the tourists and told them about the binding of Isaac. The binding of Isaac was In Mount Moriah, we had the attack on Sderot Moriah. But our end was different from that of the biblical Isaac, nothing stopped the sacrifice of our children.

I'm sure that for those tourists our attack took on a different meaning, because when media news takes on a personal aspect, it's different.

Last Friday there was an article by Itai Engel in the Friday Studio, he interviewed some Ukrainian soldier, then you see that 4 days before the article was published this soldier was killed. It takes on a different meaning."

There are tourist groups that come to Israel, we meet with them, we lecture and tell them about our case. I say that there were 17 people killed in the attack and show their photos and tell about those who were murdered.

We've come a long way in the last 20 years. At first there was a war to put a flag next to every terrorist space. Victims of terrorism are not considered victims of Israeli systems. Soldiers murdered on the bus are considered martyrs of the Israeli system, but the students are not considered martyrs of the Israeli system."

"Everything has to be fought for"

"In the IDF Martyrs' Organization, sometimes they write on the tombstone how the soldier was killed. In 2003 was the first Memorial Day, we stood alone at the grave on Memorial Day and couldn't believe there was no ceremony. Today, after 20 years, there is a ceremony at Shaar Hadas in the cemetery on Memorial Day. There was a war over this ceremony on Memorial Day Eve. In general, we discovered that we have to fight for everything that is important to us. We saw that on Memorial Day every soldier has a flag on his grave. In the first years, the three fathers, me, the father of the late Assaf Tzur, Yossi Tzur, and we moved a grave among the victims of the attack and placed a flag. In the end, it was transferred to the National Insurance and Scouts. There was also a war over the monument to the memory of the victims at the site of the attack."

"They were released in the Shalit deal and returned to murder"

"We had another war, regarding the terrorist. 3 terrorists were released in the Shalit deal in 2011 and we resisted. They told us it was because we wanted revenge, I said I lost my daughter and I want there to be no more victims. There is an association called 'One Family' that adopts families from victims Terrorism. The association has been operating since 2003, and a few years ago they started doing trips. This year, there were two families with us on the association's trip who lost their loved ones because of terrorists who were released in the Shalit deal. If there was no Shalit deal, they would not have joined us on the trip.

Active in the struggle

"We are also very active in the fight to prevent the terrorist who is released after 20 years from returning to Haifa. This keeps us busy. We are constantly meeting with children in schools. We fight with the activities of the Israeli-Palestinian bereaved families association. I try every time to go to the school as well and tell the My story. It's very one-sided, when only they come and tell their story."

"Tal's friends came with the children"

"I also live my life. 4 months before the attack, I remarried. Tal and Dror's mother is Orli. Dror is 32 years old. Mika will be 16 years old in May, she was born after the attack. Last Friday there was a meeting in memory of Tal at Mitzpe Ramon. The meeting was organized by Tal's friends and we held the memorial early, so that we could go down to the south. Tal's friends brought their children with them, it is a very difficult struggle for us to see it."

The ring in her memory

"I was an Olympic swimmer. In 2003, we started the commemorative project "Taharutal", which was held consecutively every year during the holiday of Sukkot on Friday. At the event we hold swimming competitions in memory of Tal. The event gained momentum. In the first years there were also trips with the children. We are the Taharutal We keep going. Every time I meet someone and they ask me when the next tarothar is, it warms my heart."

Tal's smile

"Tal loves camels, we don't know why. A camel is an animal that whether you love it or not, you can't remain indifferent to it. After the attack, they made us a sticker at Latan College that says "Tal's smile does not wither", with a drawing of a camel. We started with this sticker the commemoration. After 5 years, I asked people to paint camels in Tal's memory. I wanted there to be a camel for every day that passed since Tal was murdered, in the end I reached 14,000 camels. There is no doubt that the disaster accompanies us throughout our lives."

The late Samdi Firststater

Esti Firestetter, mother of the late Samadi, rushed to work when the attack happened. "The attack was on Wednesday at 14:10 p.m., it was a spring day. I was on Moriah Street on my way to work at Gordon College. I was at a bus stop in front of the Agadir restaurant, a little after the Carmel center. Suddenly I heard a terrible explosion. I saw birds flying into the sky. Ambulances started arriving and we saw people running. At 15:00 I was supposed to give a lecture at Gordon. When I got to the college, my principal said that I should go to Rambam to look for Samadi. We arrived at the emergency room at Rambam. They started asking me questions and couldn't find the girl. They called Carmel Hospital and there was no one matching her description either.

"It was already clear that this was it"

"Samdi was 17 years old (two months before she was supposed to celebrate her birthday). She studied in Vizzo-Reot, in the XNUMXth grade. She was an excellent painter. Someone told me and my husband that we should go to Abu Kabir to look for her. My brother was in the police and my husband was also a policeman, so the police provided us with a car so we could get to Abu Kabir. The car picked up my son on the way, who was in military service at the time, and we went to Abu Kabir. It was already clear that this was it. It was very difficult."

Seven chased seven

"The next day there was a funeral. We were the first in the chain of funerals, at 12 noon. Nine of the murdered are buried in our section. This is the bloody bus, with many, many children. I see all the attacks and admire the mothers who speak immediately after the murder. I had no strength, I was shocked. At first, lots and lots of people came. The first few days pass, but then you are left alone. 9 days after the attack, my mother died. So I sat for seven days, waited two days, and then sat another seven days for my mother. People came a few days late to comfort me about the girl and found me Sitting on my mother"

"And then a never-ending journey begins. The Ministry of Defense and the State provide financial and mental help. I am a psychologist by profession and I went to self-care after what happened. The psychologist told me that everything I know professionally is stopped at the door. He said that what I learned about other people will not help me in coping My personal one. I also worked at the municipality's educational psychological service at the time, and after the attack on the Matzah restaurant I sat with the people who were involved in dealing with the attack, to help them. The goal is not to create trauma for them. In the attack on Route 37, someone else had already done it."

"a pit that cannot be filled"

"After the attack, we start meeting people who went through what we went through. We start with technical matters, setting up a memorial, so we met some parents. Then there are organizations that offer trips and other events and meet people like us. This loss is a hole that cannot be filled. It's like carrying a sack on your shoulder , and if you want to rest, transfer it to the other shoulder. You can't take the sack off."

"I stayed in touch with many of the parents from the attack. Last week we were at a meeting in Elisha, in a class at the pool. We were 8 mothers from all kinds of attacks. From our attack were Nava Lehem, mother of the late Eli Lehem, and Leah Tzur, mother of the late Assaf. This event It was made possible thanks to the 'One Family' organization, and there will be several such classes. Every year they organize a weekend in one of the hotels in Israel between Holocaust Day and Memorial Day, for 15 years. There are also trips, lectures and activities, which make it a little easier for us."

"Children were murdered in cold blood"

"What is important is not to forget that children were murdered, simply in cold blood. How can you get on a bus at 14:00 p.m., 9 children were on their way back from school and they were murdered. 20 years have passed and it's like nothing. There is a very heavy sense of missing. Who are these children? Could there have been? Could I already have grandchildren from my daughter? She was supposed to be 36 years old."

"My husband, Binyamin, who was a lawyer and prosecutor in the Israel Police, died two weeks before the ninth memorial. We went down to the cemetery to tidy up the plot for the memorial, and then he died. I think he died of a broken heart. At 12 at night I went to the bedroom, there was a light in the bathroom, I knocked at the door and there was no answer. Losses are a never-ending journey."

"I have another son, Avishi, who is 40 years old today. He was a soldier when it happened. I continue to work, I left the psychological service 10 years ago. I am the head of the integrated education department in the master's degree at Gordon College. This program deals with training teachers in integrating children with needs special. I really like teaching and the students."

"There remains longing and great sadness"

"My daughter was born on Pesach and her name came from the verse: "Behold, the fall has passed, the rain has passed, it has passed. She was born on Pesach in Carmel Hospital. She studied at Ben Gurion School, we lived in the old Rommah. To this day, I go to the Memorial Day ceremonies there. She moved on to study in Reot, was very talented in painting. to the central station in Bat Galim, and that's when it happened. Samadi really liked to fly abroad. It boggles the mind how little she has lived and how little she has had. She is such a cute girl... In the end, great pain, great longing and sorrow remained."

"We do the memorial service the night before everyone else. This year it turns out that everyone does the memorial service on Friday morning and we do it on Thursday evening."

The late Moti and Tom Hershko

Ofra Arieli, who was Moti Hershko's partner, says: "It has been 20 years since the abominable attack, in which Moti and his son Tom were murdered. 20 years with deep pain and longing from the day of the damned attack, which only get stronger with the years. Moti, who was an alternative therapist in Reiki and Healing traveled with his son to take the train to a meeting with a facilitator for anti-violence workshops. Muti's goal was to conduct workshops in the schools against violence. After the meeting ended, on the way back home from the train, they called me to say that it was a fascinating meeting, that Tom took all the focus of the meeting (and told what was happening at home the book) and they are waiting to return home to tell us. It's just that they didn't have time to tell."

in their lives and in their deaths

"Motti and Tom used to do a lot of activities together, things that were just theirs. They were in the karate class twice a week, they persisted in this activity and it strengthened their bond. They would come from the class and continue training as if they were in the class. They had a special bond and that's how their lives ended, together".

"Moti was a special person with giving and love. He always had a huge smile. His vocation was to take care of people. He opened a clinic at home and treated me with Reiki, and of course he also treated me and recorded every treatment in a notebook. I admire him for his uniqueness. Moti was 41 years old when he died and Tom was 15 years old when he died."

"My daughter almost got on the bus too"

"Tom studied at the Hana Sanesh school together with Shani, my daughter, who studied a year above him. On this cursed day, my daughter was on her way to the bus stop with her friends after finishing school around 14:00 p.m. Muti and Tom were on the bus that arrived at Shani's stop, but Shani and her friends which were very close there, did not have time to climb it, as if "from the sky".

"A friend called me a little after the attack and was interested in the second. She said there was an attack in Haifa and the bus left from the heart of the bay, so there is no chance that there was another on the bus. I calmed down and continued working. After an hour, another friend called and asked where Moti and Tom were, because there was an attack in Haifa and the bus left from the central station in Haifa. I told her there was no chance, because Muti and Tom talked to me an hour ago and they were still on the train on the way home and I continued working. Then the calls started from his parents and everyone called and called Muti and Tom's phone and there was no answer."

"We started calling and going around the hospitals"

"I called my daughter who was at home. She said that she heard the explosion of the bus and that they got off one stop before, because there was no crossing. She saw the bus explode in front of her eyes. We started calling hospitals and going around all the hospitals, asking and looking if they were there. We knew nothing Regarding them until 20:00, when they arrived at Moti's parents and told us the bitter news that they were in Abu Kabir.

After the attack, the relationship with Muti's parents and his sister was intense and close. A warm and supportive relationship that lasted 10 years, until the parents passed away. Deborah his sister died 4 years ago from an illness. She was an amazing and special woman. We would talk for hours on the phone. She was always interested and advised, she was always there for me.

Today, over the years, I am trying to recover. I work in insurance, face life alone. The good thing that brightens my face are my granddaughters who fill me with love, and my family, that's my comfort."