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| Israel-Palestine |
| Fighting Terrorism, One Brew at a Time |
| 2005-05-11 |
| Excerpted Within seven days, Mike's Place reopened—on Israeli Independence Day, fittingly enough. It had taken nearly seven weeks for it to be built the first time around. Like many Israeli victims of terror, the goal is to return to life as usual as quickly as possible. Not to pretend that a trauma hasn't occurred, but rather to show that it hasn't achieved its intended goals of devastation and debilitation. The intervening week was largely a blur for the Mike's Place family, with nowhere near the necessary time to process emotions and genuinely grieve. When told by his brother that he was a "hero," Avi—who had just regained consciousness in his hospital bed—slowly raised his middle finger. The hero believed he was just doing his job. After completing a lengthy stint in the hospital and then in outpatient rehab, Avi returned to work at Mike's Place—standing in the exact same place as he was on April 30, 2003. His life has evolved as it should; he's now moved on from his youthful job, and he's getting married next month. Brave folks. |
| Posted by:badanov |