While visiting family in Israel in 2001, I went to Jerusalem to see the old city with my aunt because I hadn't been there in over 25 years. Most of the other non-Israeli's (i.e., Americans and Europeans) in our family who were also visiting were too afraid to go and stayed in the Tel Aviv area. We went there on a public bus. While eating lunch, a car bomb went off about two blocks from where we were eating. My aunt wisely "suggested" that we go in the opposite direction, which we did. It turned out that the small bomb was meant to be bait to lure a crowd of gawkers so that a larger bomb could kill the crowd, but the larger bomb thankfully failed to go off. (mini moral: Don't be a sheep and don't do what the unwashed masses do.)
I wasn't a bit sorry that we went; in fact, I was glad that we did. Nothing happened: Two blocks is two blocks. Even in an area with one of the highest incidences of terrorism in the world, the odds of being in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time are slim and the moral here is to live our lives without succumbing to the fear of the threat of terrorism. I learned that when I lived in Israel in the seventies and that's why I was the only non-local who had no fear of traveling to Jerusalem. And that's why I was the only one of our brood to see the old city -- and I had a wonderful day with my aunt.
Don't ever let the threat of terrorism keep you from living your life. The moment you do, they've won.
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