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Wolf Blitzer
CNN
October 31, 2001
I hate to be repetitive but the social problem presented is again, terrorism. Today is Halloween. We have been warned that further terrorist attacks may be imminent. It’s not something we are going to be allowed to forget about. We must get used to thinking of terrorism as a potential reality in our country. On this program, Wolf Blitzer interviewed a news correspondent who had been reporting out of Israel for many years. She was discussing how Israeli’s deal with thoughts of terrorism on a daily basis. We’ve had a few incidents-the Unibomber and Oklahoma City, but we are not accustomed to having terrorism in the back of our minds all the time. The Israeli’s are used to it with their long history of terrorist attacks. We don’t know if we are safe, if we should go to large public gatherings, if we should allow our children to go out trick or treating tonight or even if we should open our mail. We are consciously thinking about these things now and our reaction depends on our temperaments and personal beliefs. We can’t eliminate terrorism. That would be like eliminating mental illness or drug abuse. Maybe we could end poverty, poor quality health care and improve education to an acceptable level, but terrorism will continue to exist in the world as long as extremists exist.
There is no solution to end this problem so we must learn how to best cope with it. I think we can learn a lesson from the Israeli’s on this. According to the correspondent, Israeli’s use more cell phones than any other culture she has ever seen. They are constantly calling loved ones to let them know where they are and where they are going and how long they expect to be there. This way, if terror attacks, people know who in their kinship unit is at risk. She says there is no such thing as an unattended package in Israel. If a suitcase, bookbag, etc. is sitting by itself, someone will alert the authorities and they will have a robot retrieve it. I get the feeling that these precautions are second nature to the Israeli’s, not paranoia like we are experiencing now, but just force of habit; unconscious caution. She reports that even in recreation areas like parks and even if no one is wearing a watch, they seem to instinctively know when the hour changes and they go to a radio or TV once an hour to check and see if the world is still in one piece. So they are cautious, they keep in touch with those close to them often, they check the news every hour and they go about their business. It’s no solution to terror attacks but it is a rational way of coping with it as a fact of life.
The Israeli’s have experienced this frightening social problem for years and I think we should look to them for coping skills. Calling our loved ones often to check in is reassuring and shows love and concern, which we all need a lot of these days because our hearts are heavy. Reporting suspicious packages should be done as a matter of routine. Maybe it’s just someone’s lunch, but maybe it’s a bomb. So to be on the safe side we need to be in tune with these kinds of things and report anything that seems out of place. We should check the news often to get updates on the state of our country and to reassure ourselves that all is well or to be aware if something has happened. The anthrax situation is getting to be a worry so we should examine our mail before opening it and wash our hands after handling mail. We as regular citizens may be able to prevent further terrorist attacks if we keep our eyes open to anything unusual. We don’t have to become obsessed or fearful, just adopt these as unconscious habits. We’re used to hurricane preparedness here in Florida and preparation for terror isn’t much different. Maybe we should keep bottled water on hand as well as flashlights, batteries and a transistor radio. Once we’ve integrated these anti-terror activities into our lives, we can go about our lives aware of the possible danger around us and knowing that we are prepared to keep that danger to a minimum; knowing that our government is doing their part to avert danger as well. I think we should be confident that we can deal with this and let go of our fear.
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