Posted on 05/19/2003 8:50:17 AM PDT by richardtavor
ICEJ NEWS SERVICE FROM JERUSALEM ================================= ICEJ SPECIAL REPORT
Please view the poem written by Tina Maia and the photos along with this article on our web site at: http://www.icej.org/news/specials/special24.html.
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ORANGE FLASH AND THEN CARNAGE, TERROR VICTIM RECALLS by Nicole Schiavi
TEL AVIV - Tina Maia was saying good-bye to friends at Mike's Place, a pub opposite the Mediterranean Sea, when a bright, orange flash and a deafening bang altered the seaside scene instantaneously.
"When the orange light went away," Tina said, "we were faced with carnage."
A suicide bomber, about 1 meter away, detonated his explosives-laden belt, spraying lethal fire and shrapnel all over the scene and ending the lives of three people on April 30.
"I was literally covered with flesh and blood," she said. "At first I didn't notice. You see everything, but you don't register. There was a particular smell, a burning smell that doesn't go away. It's something you can't forget."
Flesh and body parts, "some recognizable, some unrecognizable," were strewn along the sidewalk toward the nearby American Embassy, Tina noticed as she ran from the scene.
Tina, 27, knows both the injured and the dead. She described a tight-knit crowd of regular patrons at Mike's Place, a pub that attracted many Westerners as well as Israelis.
The strike at Mike's Place came after a brief respite from Palestinian terror attacks in Israel. Since the Mike's Place attack and one in Kfar Saba a few days prior to that, a spate of attacks has unraveled the fragile calm, worsening this weekend when three suicide attacks killed 9 Israelis and wounded scores more.
Tina recalled for ICEJ News the last few moments before the April 30 attack.
"We were saying good-bye and everything was normal and great," she said. "They were singing, playing music - the place was full. We were sitting outside."
She had just come from inside the bar. She remembers looking outside and seeing three girls at the door where security guard Avi Tabib stood. She saw friend and Mike's Place regular musician Ran Baron and exchanged smiles from across the room. Another friend, Dominique Hess, a waitress from France, had just cleared their table.
As Tina stood at her table, the explosion occurred, killing Baron, Hess and guitarist Yanay Weiss, father of two. Tabib was severely injured and was released from the hospital almost three weeks later.
"We're lucky to be alive, but it is with the awful knowledge that your friends are dead because they took the force of the blow," Tina said.
Tabib prevented a much more devastating attack by identifying the bomber, police said. Tina was injured as well.
"It was such a strong force, my leg was hit by a fireball, not shrapnel," she said. "If that hits your stomach, it will cause internal injuries."
The attack altered Tina's political views as instantly as it altered the scene.
"I was always very liberal and really believed there was a chance for peace," she said, but "these guys were not uneducated, poor people - they were educated, wealthy, British citizens."
"The intifada is about blood, it's about hate, and about revenge. The people who perpetuate it teach that. It's not about justice," she said. "The majority of Israelis want peace. We voted for peace - and they threw it in our faces," she said.
Tina emigrated from England alone five years ago. Her mother has moved here since then.
Ironically, Tina had just started a project to raise money for victims of terror. Art Beat is Tina's organization that is designed to promote emerging artists and raise money for Israeli charities through a series of high profile charity auctions hosted by Sotheby's. The auctions will feature original works of art from talented Israeli artists, and will give them the opportunity to showcase their work in a prestigious venue that will be attended by critics, collectors, the press and other important guests.
"Since the pigua (attack), it's added so much motivation and feeling that it needs to be done," she said. "And now, these people (who need the money) are my friends."
Tina has returned to Mike's Place everyday since the attack - even before it reopened. She meets friends there and they all try to find solace and regain normalcy. A week after the attack, the pub was reopened and the band was playing.
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For information on Art Beat, contact Tina Maia at: tinamaia@netvision.net.il
For information on supporting victims of the Mike's Place attack, log onto this web site: http://www.mikesplacebars.com/fund.html
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ICEJ NEWS SERVICE provides news and comment on Middle East affairs, compiled by journalists at the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. Feel free to publish/broadcast, with attribution.
Editor: David Parsons
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EMBASSY JERUSALEM PO Box 1192, Jerusalem, 91010, Israel - www.icej.org Tel: (+972)-2-5399771; Fax: (+972)-2-5669970 ========================================
How much more innocent blood will have to be spilled before the liberals "get it"? It seems obvious, to clear-thinking people anyway, that it is pretty hard to negotiate and be reasonable with people who are intent on murdering you. You must defend yourself first and make it clear to your barbaric opponent that you are willing to kill him before he kills you or your loved ones. Only when the barbarian realizes this could there be even the slightest chance for a negotiated settlement, but maybe not even then. Eternal vigilance, and all that.
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