One heart, one mind
By GIL HOFFMAN
LAST UPDATED: 04/13/2011 23:38
The Jerusalem Post
Children of terror from around the world recently spent eight days in the Big City and learned to be kids again.
Under normal circumstances, Terry Hardy, 18, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Noy Ilan, 17, of Rishon Lezion would have never met and would have never had anything in common.
But the brutal acts of terrorism that struck both their families changed their lives forever, and recently an organization called One Heart Global brought them together for eight days in New York to learn from each other along with more than a dozen other young victims from seven countries.
Hardy’s grandfather, three uncles, an aunt and three cousins were murdered by paramilitary groups in the conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland that ended in 1998. Eight members of Ilan’s family, including her brother and sister, were killed in March 2002 when a suicide bomber detonated himself in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood where they had celebrated her cousin’s bar mitzva.
Before then, Ilan never knew that there was terrorism in Northern Ireland and Hardy knew nothing about the Arab-Israeli conflict and had never met a Jew. Now they know each other’s stories and consider each other friends.
“I thought there was only terror in Israel,” Ilan said. “I was surprised that there was terror in Ireland.
Hearing the experiences of people from around the world has been comforting.”
Hardy said he still finds it difficult to talk about what his family endured. He said it was hard for him to listen to the stories of other participants in the program, but it was reassuring.
“Hearing Noy left me speechless,” Hardy said. “I find her very brave. It’s been good to meet others going through the same circumstances. It made me more confident. I learned about the people of Israel. I didn’t know anything about them before, and now I think they’re amazing.”
One Heart Global is a nonprofit organization that brings together victims of terror aged 14-18 from Northern Ireland, Spain, France, Liberia, Rwanda, Israel and the US. The Young Ambassadors program is for teens who lost a family member or were wounded in a terrorist attack.
For the program, One Heart Global joined forces with the Association Francaise des Victims du Terrorisme of France, WAVE Trauma Centre of Northern Ireland, Survivors of Terrorism of England, and Associacion Victimas Del Terrorismo of Spain.
“The psychological effects of a terrorist attack are often experienced years after the tragic incident, at which time help may no longer be available,” a One Heart Global spokeswoman said. “Public recollection of the incident has faded, and the victim is often left with a crippling physical or emotional disability. Global assistance toward victims of terror has often been initially swift at the group level, but sustained assistance for the individual is minimal and has diminished with the world’s collective memories of the event. It is in recognition of these shortfalls, and in hopes of providing long-term assistance for those who are without the crucial assistance, that our organization was established.”
ONE HEART GLOBAL was formed in 2007 by New Yorker Sarri Singer.....
Singer, whose father is a New Jersey state senator, was on a No. 14 bus in Jerusalem on June 11, 2003, when a suicide bomber on board blew himself up, murdering 16 people and wounding more than 100. Everyone around her was killed, while she was hurt in the shoulder by shrapnel and suffered from pierced eardrums and seared face and hair......
Singer said at the conclusion of the program that there was a clearly noticeable difference between how the participants were when they arrived and when they left.
“They overcame language barriers and really connected on a higher level,” she said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids. They are wonderful, their stories are real, and they represent many people in their countries. Our hope is that this will not be the end but the beginning. We hope that they will stay in touch and continue to give each other strength.”
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=216548
