By Pauline von Pezold
They wanted to visit friends and relatives or just go on vacation – but their trip to Israel turned into a nightmare for many tourists. BZ spoke to three travelers who experienced how Hamas’ terror began in Israel.
They are safe at Berlin airport: “We booked three different flights – all of them were canceled. Now it has finally worked,” says Tobias Z. (35). The Berliner wanted to spend two weeks in Tel Aviv – after a week he had to end his trip to Israel.
“In the first week it was normal life there,” he says. “Saturday morning we woke up to a rocket alarm. We had no idea what was happening. Of course we didn’t know that. A friend then told us that this happens often there and that it is completely normal. But at some point you understood that it wasn’t normal, that it was worse,” remembers Tobias Z.
Tobias Z. (35) is a biologist from Berlin. “At the beginning the Israelis seemed even more composed than the tourists. When they realized that Hamas was on Israeli soil and there were kidnappings and so on, you noticed how they became more and more nervous – of course they know all the people who are affected,” he says Photo: Olaf Selchow
He and his friend then moved from the holiday apartment in Tel Aviv to live with a friend’s parents outside Tel Aviv until they could take a flight back to Germany. “Luckily we were in a very privileged situation, knew people there and were so safe“he says.
Jonathan L. (56) and his wife also spent a two-week vacation in Tel Aviv. “We had great weather, sunshine, went to the beach. At seven in the morning I woke up to a loud bang. ‘What the hell was that?’ I asked myself. “It was only when I saw the rockets that I understood what was happening,” reports the scientist.
He and his wife immediately went to the airport, but there were no flights. So they went back to their apartment in the city and waited. “It was like an apocalyptic movie. There was no one to be seen on the streets anywhere.”
Levi M. (29) was visibly shaken by his trip. He works as a consultant in New York, as a devout Jew, he has many acquaintances in Israel and has been there six times with his family. “We are traumatized. This is such terrible news,” he says.
“At seven in the morning we woke up to a noise but we didn’t know what was going on. Only later did we find out that Israel was at war.”
But amid all the fear, the travelers also experienced moments of togetherness. Tobias Z. says: “I was impressed by the solidarity behavior. The next day all Israelis brought food and clothing to bases, the whole country got involved all at once – that was really nice.”