Battered Israeli town faces postwar struggle

[bemildred]

KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel (Reuters) - Shattered glass still litters much of Vilen Gizunterman's dark apartment weeks after a Hizbollah rocket blew out his windows and destroyed two of his neighbors' homes.

Like many others in this Israeli border town, the 78-year-old immigrant from Ukraine is still waiting for repairs to be carried out. Kiryat Shmona bore the brunt of rocket attacks during the month-long war between Israel and Hizbollah.

"I thought the tragedy of my life was when my father died in World War II," the Nazi Holocaust survivor said. "Imagine if I had been here, I would have been cut to shreds. When a rocket strikes your house, that's trouble."

Hizbollah fired nearly 1,000 rockets into Kiryat Shmona, wrecking or damaging some 2,500 homes, schools and businesses in the low-income town. In all, the guerrillas fired 4,000 missiles across northern Israel before a truce took effect on August 14.

Reuters

[Lerkfish]

1. very apt analysis from your own link:

His comments reflect a deeper anger, that Olmert's government, sidetracked by scandals and now by the war, has failed to fulfill promises to fight poverty in deprived peripheral towns, like Kiryat Shmona.

Olmert, who came under fire for his handling of the war, may keep his job but some Israelis worry that any cracks in national solidarity could weaken the Jewish state's ability to cope with any future conflicts with Muslim enemies.

[bemildred]

2. "Bushlike" you could say. nt

[Lerkfish]

3. yeah, I think Olmert and Bush are falling all over themselves to be like

each other. They both need better role models.

:)