On May 15, in the wake of the funerals of two more victims of the April 17th Palestinian terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, the New York Times published a powerful and moving human interest story by bureau chief Steve Erlanger entitled, “A Promising Young Life Prematurely Committed to Sand.”
The piece focused on Lior Anidzar, who had married just two weeks before his life was cut short by a suicide bomber, vividly demonstrating the suffering Israelis experience as a result of Palestinian terrorism. With keenly observed details, Erlanger evokes identification and empathy with the families of Israeli victims.
About Lior’s widow, Erlanger observes:
For Maya, ‘it was love at first sight,’ said Drora Shimony, a friend of Maya’s family, the Halfons. Lior Anidzar and Maya Halfon dated for eight months, then decided to marry. At the traditional ‘henna’ engagement ceremony, the couple, two Israelis of North African descent, were rapturous, Ms. Shimony said…
…Maya has not picked up the wedding pictures yet, the family said, and she has stopped eating. In a black shirt and trousers, she looked terribly thin and lost, as her family hovered around her.
About his sister:
Lior Anidzar’s sister, Dalia Amar, is six months pregnant. She said she had been depressed about the pregnancy. “It was unplanned, I was unhappy,” she said. “Lior said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re depressed? You should be delighted!'”
She will name the baby Lior, she said. The name, common for either sex, means light. Asked what she hoped for the child, she said, “That he will be born in peace and security, and not be afraid all the time”…
…His sister, Dalia, leaned down, rubbing her belly, then kissed a small stone and put it among the wreaths of flowers from the state and the city and the garage where he worked.
And about his friends:
“I never knew he had so many friends,” David Anidzar said Sunday. “He was a naughty guy, and loved to party. I didn’t know how he was going to pay for so many people.”
They were all here again on Sunday, at the cemetery — fit young men, some in military uniform, most in T-shirts and jeans, some carrying motorcycle helmets, their hair slicked back, under their skullcaps, eyes hidden by sunglasses….
…Then those fit young men in stylish T-shirts took turns shoveling sand into the grave of their friend, while tears ran beneath their sunglasses.
The article also mentions the last victim to die in the Tel Aviv bombing — David Wultz, a teenager from Florida who had come to Israel for the Passover holiday. Erlanger writes:
Daniel’s father, Yekutiel, called Tuly, was lightly wounded, but Daniel had severe internal injuries, and his aorta was torn. More than 40 of his classmates at the David Posnack Hebrew Day School recently came to Israel on a class trip and visited the hospital where he lay to pray for his recovery. His body will be flown home to Weston, Fla., for burial on Monday.
CAMERA criticized the New York Times on May 2nd for its disproportionate emphasis on human interest stories depicting Palestinian suffering with little focus on the human dimension of terrrorism’s impact on Israeli lives. With this moving and evocative article, the newspaper has helped offset the imbalance.
Read the entire article by clicking here.