Daily Alert Archives

Studying Abroad in a War Zone, Americans in Israel Are Shaken But Undeterred

(JTA) Ben Sales - 15 air-raid sirens in total rang out in Beersheba on Nov. 14, on the first night of Israel's operation aimed at ending Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. The sirens repeatedly woke Shoshana Leshaw, a junior at Queens College in New York, and the 25 other study-abroad students at Ben-Gurion University, who were among the thousands of young Americans who come to Israel each year to study or work. Students said they never feared for their physical safety; they had been trained on how to react in the event of a missile strike. But many said that living in cities targeted by missiles gave them a new appreciation of the realities of life in Israel, and some found themselves quickly copying the casual approach to war that Israelis have cultivated over decades of living under military threat from their neighbors.
2012-11-30 00:00:00
Full Article