Whenever a helicopter flies over, Galit thinks her father is coming home
By Ruth SinaiWhen five-year-old Galit Zelinsky hears a helicopter fly over her home in Nahariya, she thinks her father is inside and is coming home. After all, her mother told her that her father is in heaven.
Andrei Zelinsky was killed by a Katyusha rocket on July 18, 2006, six days into the Second Lebanon War. The entire family had run to the shelter when the siren sounded, but the shelter's brand-new air conditioner, installed just a day earlier, was running, and Galit, who had been napping and was still in her underwear when her father snatched her up, was cold. So Andrei returned to their apartment to get her a blanket. While outside, he saw several children and paused to warn them to get into the shelter. Just then, at 5:40 P.M., the Katyusha hit.
Rada Zelinsky, 30, will never forget the sight that met her eyes when she went out to look for her husband: body parts scattered all over the lawn. She could identify him only by his clothing.
Andrei and Rada met nine years ago in Lvov, Ukraine. In 2001, they moved to Israel, and chose Nahariya as their new home because Rada had an uncle, aunt and cousins there. When she saw the town for the first time, she fell in love. "I never saw anything so beautiful," she said.
A year later, Galit was born. Money was very tight and they ran up a huge overdraft. Nevertheless, she said, Andrei never wanted to return to Ukraine, not even to visit.
Andrei, said Rada, knew that he would die young: "He would show me his palm, how short his lifeline was. The day before he was killed, he told friends and relatives that he had dreamed of his house being destroyed in the war."
At his parents' request, Andrei was buried in Ukraine. Rada and Galit flew to Lvov with the body, and when they returned two months later, Andrei's mother came with them. When her mother-in-law saw Nahariya, Rada related, she said that perhaps he should have been buried in Israel after all. Rada noted sadly that in fact, part of him was: After his body was taken to Ukraine, a neighbor who had been away when Andrei was killed returned to Nahariya and discovered body parts all over his apartment. They had blown in when the blast shattered the window. Those parts were then buried near a local memorial erected by Andrei's co-workers.
For months afterward, Rada saw the horrific sights of that day whenever she closed her eyes. Galit kept asking when her father would return, and began drawing black lines and blots incessantly. But now, her mother said, she draws houses and suns, and a psychologist confirmed that Galit is recovering.
Rada, who went once to a psychologist and then stopped, is grateful for the support she has received from neighbors and friends, as well as the government. As she talked about the people who have helped her, a smile appeared on her face for the first time. She has begun working and will soon move into a new apartment, purchased with her compensation money.
Aside from her grim memories, Rada sometimes has trouble coping with her mother-in-law, who has fits of depression during which she accuses Rada of having caused Andrei's death by her desire to move to Israel.
Rada herself is convinced that Andrei might well have died even if they had not moved here. As proof, she offers her sister who was killed in a car accident in Ukraine shortly before she, too, was supposed to move to Israel.
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1. our enemies for 1000th of years were talking about jewish end and where are they? they are gone. and we are here and have influence as never before. 2. us polise arrests gangsters too and they are much more heavy. i sow myself what pittsburgh police did with farrahan supporters in 1987. if israel will do 10% of it with pals it would bedebated in un for weeks. 3. 1000 lebanese in israeli prisons? where from info? even nasralla talks about 20 or so.
Your story about Galit is very touching. I feel very sad when I read such stories. The sensless killing of innocent people has to stop. As a Palestinian who has lived through decades of killing and counter killing I feel a sense of dispair when I read stories such as Galit's and thousands of Palestinians, Lebanese and others who lost fathers, husbands, sons and daughters. It is time to stop. Let us move to the negotiating table with sencere effort to end it all.
You are a large country with a huge population. If you elect to absorb terrorist attacks... Furthermore, no country is threatening your extinction. There is no parallel to the situation in Israel, no matter how much you try to create one.
Congratulations on your wonderful series of Victims of the War. The only reminder we have of the war on the media these days are our 3 captives Shalit' Goldwasser and Regev-but the intense media focus on only these 3 soldiers has been accompanied by a complete disregard and lack of focus on those killed and wounded in the war. Thank you for rectifying that situation George
going by your argument india should attack pakistani civilians in muzararabad, for instance, because jehadis come to india from there? thank god we dont do that... despite calls to do so from the largely ignored looney indian right wing, which holds up israel as an example. such actions are counter productive. terrorism is fought with finesse, wisdom and calm. we in india finally seem to have realised this.... when will israel and the "with us or against us" loudmouth?
poor jake, he still clings to isrraels only argument. not trying to defend israel's actions, but instead points to other countries as doing the same. well,unfortunately, that's not how it works in international law. just because war crimes and human rights violations exist in darfur, pakistan, etc, does NOT give israel the green light to do the same. most illogical myopic argument of the day.
just because you and israel dont recognize UN resolutons (with more than 70 pendibng against isfail), doesn't negate them. in fact, lebanon has several petitons still pending with the UN regarding israeli seized territory. and if you read corectly, you would know the UN does consider Shebba area lebanese but said it was not calling on a withdrawl by israel.furthermore, you conveinently ignored isfail's daily incursions into lebanese airspace as provacative. i assume you consider the golan heights, gaza and the west bank part of israel too. go sell your lies elsewhere- this forum is already full.
Yes, they count. But it is responsibility of each country to remove terrorists from amongst themselves and maintain their sovereignty. You cannot allow rockets to be launched from your house toward another country and not expect that other country to retaliate. You cannot allow a terrorist group to exist in your country - cross your border into a neighboring country, kidnap soldiers from that neighboring country - and have no response.
or in Chad, or the thousands murdered in Iraq by Islamists. What about in Iran, where only yesterday an 'adulterer' was stoned to death after an official trial? Or in Lebanon and Pakistan as we speak. Oh I forgot, these are lives that were snuffed out in the name of 'the religion of peace'. They had to go, in the name of loftier goals. And those 'Palestinian militants' that Israel kills in self-defense, who receive astronomical amounts of media coverage? They are 'martyrs' who were 'murdered by the Zionists'. Well, get this, unlike our enemies, we don't cry crocodile tears when our enemies get killed. Sorry.
Since Tanakh praises converts to Judaism, Ruth and Tsipporah among them, it's hard to figure how Judaism could be accused of racism. The idea of a "model community," as Rav S.R. Hirsch phrased it, is familiar enough to Americans. Oneida, Deseret, Bolinas, and many others. In the ME, an example was the Essenes. But a full-fledged society needs to be armed. The pacifistic Amish community lives safe because it's protected by non-Amish state troopers with loaded guns. A murderer went on a rampage in an Amish town last year. He was stopped by the state police. Israel does not have the divided nature of the Amish.
the 100 odd israeli civilians who died because they came in the way of a hizbollah rocket is sad. is the killing of 1000 plus lebanese civilians by the idf/iaf because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time... 10 times sadder?..or dont they count?
Tesla has issues - that's one thing. We ARE the Chosen People - that's another thing.
live in the israel bubble,the choosen ones, ha ha
Very sad and emotional. I really feel sad for this. But, we have palestenians get killed everyday, yes everyday. No one in the world cares about the details how they were killed. Hundred of thousands sad stories about how unjustly they get killed. Do you ever read a detailed story about that. No, palestenians lives dont count. They are not humans in the israeli scale. You can make thousands of movies about how the burtal israeli army kill innocent people everday, yes everyday. When is that going to stop. Justice is the key word, not peace. End the israeli-america agression and give a chance to justice.
because there is no diverence between fundamentalistic neocons, fundamentalistic islamists or racist and brainwashed fundamentalistic zionists, the all have a racist and fascistic viev on the world - war is there only answere - all choosen people - like germans in the last century
I think one too many lattes in Sheinkin has rendered you incapable of full clarity with regard to the matsav. You are really just too, too far left and have slipped off your wedgies into the abyss of kumbaya oblivion. When they finally come to TA and mess with your shopping and sushi, you will finally - perhaps - understand where you live.
Stop it! Never heard "bli ein hora"?
Haaretz give a forum to Israel enemies, people who are determined to kill, proponets of genocide of Jewish people.
Tesla, from Tel Aviv, is behaving like those protestors in Tel Aviv during the war who were protesting against Israel while Haifa and the Galilee were burning. The beaches at Tel Aviv were chock-a-block with sun bathers who coudln't give a damn about what was going on on, while people in Haifa and Nahariya were cowering in bomb shelters? What is it with that city?
for being duped by these peddlers of falsehoods. I truely pity you for alowing yourself to be exploited a 'useful idiot'. The Fascists of today are the terrorist Islamists and Jihadists and their coalition of far-Leftist allies in the West. They shall never succeed.
There are no more than a handful of Lebanese prisoners in Israel, including a convicted serial killer and Hizbullah terrorists that were captured in 2006. The only agents you have to fear for in Lebanon are 'your own'. Israel does not occupy an inch of Lebanese land; this was certified by the UN in 2000, and Ban Ki Moon confirmed yesterday that the UN is not asking Israel to withdraw from the Shebaa farms,and that Lebanese sovereignty is not recognized there at the present time. It doesn't matter if you consider it Lebanese; these are the facts. Besides, Hizbullah last year struck inside uncontested Israeli sovereign territory in an unprovoked murderous attack on soldiers and civilians. Having said that, I hold Haaretz responsible for even opening a discussion forum on this article, and exploiting the grief of this family. Haaretz knows the type of anti-Israel responders it attracts; so it is responsible for their remarks. Haaretz is guilty of its false story yesterday RE Shebaa.
The last few Jewish people who dream of the pure Jewish race are a disgrace to our civilization. It is an immoral past, and it must be changed. My best wishes to the suffering widow and orphan of Andrei Zelinsky. He was a victim of the worldwide criminals who come in many colors.
the kiddnapping of the 2 IDF occupation soldiers did not start the war. israel holds more than 1000 lebanese prisoners, continues to occupy lebanese soil, continues to use mossad agents in beirut, and continues to violate lebanese sovereignty. israel is the cause of this family's grief. period.
any victim of war is a a viactim. it's unfortunate for this family as it is for the more than 1000 lebanese civilian deaths. it is utterly ridiculous for someone to try and distinguish kiddnapping from arrests, especially when israel holds palestinians without charge, without cause and without right. it's 6 or 1/2 dozen. the end of israeli is near anyway.
arrest is a soft word to legalize the kidnapping. Both same. How sure you are the 2 idf soldier do not have proper meals and healthcare....if not why they still alive. dont too stupid fren...
Can you not distinguish between kidnapping and arrests? Those arrested by Israel are in prison. Their families know where they are and how they are and are allowed to maintain contact with them. They are not being held hostage for anything and are visited by teh RC regularly, so I presume are getting proper meals and healthcare This is not the case with the 2 IDF soldiers.
Nassrallah and the HizbollaH terrorist organization. If I remember correctly they had something to do with starting that war. Keep your crocodile tears to yourself.
Kidnapping soldiers who were there to do their duty was a horrible crime, so I accuse the Islamic radicals to resort to this horrible tactic. But then agan, Israel also kidnaps people, the amount of arabs kidnapped by idf and are now detained in Israel far exceeds the other side's kidnappings. Kidnapping and assasination are two tactics that Israelis excell at, right from the beginning. Two wrongs do not make a right but it is an undeniable fact that Israel is a ganster-style state even though it makes every effort for not kooking like one.
....on both sides, but suffering and crying can only be one reaction, we need to stop the fascist-neocon-lobby, people like olmert, sharon, bush, wolfowitz, cheyny..... are responsible! https://israel.indymedia.org/media/all/display/3265/index.php