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CNN Live Today
People of Rishon Letzion Questioning Safety
Aired May 23, 2002 - 14:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Israel's largest fuel depo is the latest apparent target of the ongoing terrorism campaign. Officials say a bomb blew up underneath tanker truck today. There was no secondary explosion, no on there was hurt, the fire put out quite quickly after that.
About 9 miles south of that fuel plant, a suicide bomber killed himself and two Israelis just about this time yesterday.
Today, the town of Rishon Letzion is asking a number of questions about how secure its own people might be.
Martin Savidge is there for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): The transformation of terror.
In Rishon Letzion, crews worked throughout the night and into the day, restoring Israel's latest suicide bombing attack to what it was, a peaceful, beautiful park in the middle of a seaside town.
That's not what it was Wednesday night when a suicide bomber approached those gathered for an evening of cards and conversation and blew himself up, killing two people and wounding dozens more.
The blast, as one person put it, ripping through the city's heart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like they heart us in the heart, not in the head, really in the heart.
SAVIDGE: By daylight, the crowds have returned, but the talk is different, about anger, sadness and what should come next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will react, and they will react. We will kill them, and they will kill us, and maybe after 5,000 people will be dead on both sides, then we sit to the table. Why not now?
SAVIDGE: Many Israelis here say they are frightened, haunted by a suicide bomber who dyed his hair in order to blend, in order to kill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the scariest part, that you can't identify them right now. I mean, they look like anyone, even women and children.
SAVIDGE: This is the second time in two weeks the city has been struck by a suicide bomber. The first attack killed 17 people when an explosion tore through a pool hall.
(on camera): Some people say this latest blast would have been much worse if it had happened inside, but others point out the fact that it happened out in the open only underlines how little can be done -- how do you protect the entire outside?
(voice-over): Workers can erase the scars of terror, but in Rishon Letzion, memories are not so easily healed.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Rishon Letzion, Israel
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