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| Survivor: An Israeli missile left Abbas Shaito injured as he and his family fled southern Lebanon in a minivan during last summer's
war. Abbas still gets scared when planes fly overhead. Jiro Ose |
One year later, two families look back at war
The war between Hizbullah and Israel, which began last year, killed thousands.
from the July 13, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Weinberger has overseen the cleanup and replanting effort as director of forest management in northern Israel for the Jewish National Fund. Flying past pistachio and carob trees in his four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi, he estimates that it will take another year before all of the damaged areas are tended to.
But he finds the work helpful. "I'm not planting for myself, but for my kids and grandkids,'' he says. "There is nothing like reforesting to heal the wounds of war.''
Making sense of the war is a different issue. Like most Israelis, Weinberger says he can't point to any gains from a war that Israelis were promised would eliminate the threat of Hizbullah. From some points near the border, Hizbullah's yellow banners are visible again. Some neighbors have moved farther south.
For now, the Weinbergers are staying put."I don't know what will be here in 10 years," Weinberger says. "As long as it is good, we'll stay. Who knows, maybe there will be missiles on Tel Aviv?"
In Lebanon, many people believe it is only a matter of time before there is another war between Hizbullah and Israel. Hizbullah has rearmed and built a new line of defense further north. But the Shaito family are unfazed by the thought of more conflict.
"After what happened to us, we will never leave our homes again," says Anis Shaito, now a widower.
Asked if she thinks she is fortunate to be alive, Ibtisam Shaito shrugs.
"God wanted to me to live. I don't know why. Perhaps it was so that I could look after my father, now my mother is gone," she says, tears trickling down her cheeks.
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