According to Tonti, Israelis feel hatred towards Hamas, which carried out the attack. At the same time, the locals wonder how the state has failed to take care of their safety.
The feeling is still shocked and pulls to be quiet. I saw the author Jarkko Tontti describes his feelings about Jerusalem on Sunday, i.e. the day after the Hamas attack.
Tontti has lived in Israel for just over a month. She moved to Jerusalem for her husband’s work, and they plan to live there until next summer.
Even though Tontti has followed the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians from the media in Finland all his life, the distant news became very real in an instant.
– It’s something that you don’t understand until you see it this close. It’s even more terrible when you see it here on the news feed, how civilians are being murdered in the streets without any hindrance. And it’s not just a war between soldiers, it’s a terrorist activity.
Escape to the safe room
Plot times Saturday’s events. He was enjoying his morning coffee on the balcony, unaware of the Hamas attack. Suddenly the sirens started ringing and Tontti thought it was just a practice.
Then there was an explosion. People started running in the streets and those on the balconies rushed in. Tontti realized that it’s not just an exercise.
He moved with his spouse to the safe room of the apartment, like many homes in Israel have. The room is reinforced with concrete and has a steel door.
Instructions began to come from the authorities that after the alarm sound, you have to stay in the safe room for a while before you can come out.
Tontti says that there were several alarms on Saturday and a few explosions were heard from further away. Visibly, missiles had hit the smaller population centers around Jerusalem, and sounds were also coming from missiles that were destroyed by the anti-aircraft system.
Reservists went to war from home
The situation in Jerusalem has calmed down since Saturday. According to Tonti, no more alarms or explosions have been heard.
He has discussed the situation with the locals and the general feeling is one of disbelief.
Older people remember the Yom Kippur war exactly 50 years ago, which also started with a completely unexpected attack.
– People have been saying how is it possible that this will happen a second time. How to surprise a developed and prosperous country with a top army and how such a big attack is carried out by a group of terrorists.
– People have hatred towards the attackers, but they also wonder how our state has not taken care of security.
On Saturday, reservists were immediately called up for service.
– This started at a fast pace, close to us too. Men and women have gone to war from different jobs, Tontti says.
Some live a normal everyday life
According to Tonti, Jerusalem is quieter than the usual Sunday. For example, the normally roaring construction site next door is quiet and people stay indoors.
– People are afraid of missile strikes. There have also been rumors of knife attacks in East Jerusalem, where Palestinians live. Israeli soldiers have been attacked with knives there every now and then.
According to Tonti, some of the locals live a completely normal everyday life as if nothing had happened, because they have a long experience of conflict. Tontti reminds us that there are weekly clashes that even require fatalities, which are not covered in the news in Finland.
– There is a state of emergency all the time and now it has been proven. But now the shops are open and the buses are running, so society has not completely stopped.
The plot says that many Israelis believe that the conflict will continue for a long time.
– Many fear for their family members who are in the army. If there will be a ground war in Gaza, which many are dreaming of, it will certainly have its own losses.
Tontti himself plans to leave his home today, as there have been no air raid alerts.
– You can’t live with fear and become paralyzed. Just catch up on everyday life and buy milk from the store. The terrorists’ goal is to paralyze society with fear. They will achieve their goal if people become paralyzed.