It is a paradox: Although average Americans will never experience the scourge of terrorism firsthand, we never seem to tire of obsessing over the possibility of a terrorist attack. Conversely, most Israelis, having endured terrorism for so long, seem to take terrorist events more or less in stride. To them, terrorism is an inconvenience that comes with being part a tiny minority surrounded by a hostile majority.
Last summer, as a student at Alexander Muss High School in the city of Hod Hasharon, I experienced what it is like to live under the same sword of Damocles that everyday Israelis do. As a visitor to Israel I had, of course, participated in a training session that taught me the procedure I needed to follow in case of a terrorist attack. Honestly, at the time I found it all a bit surreal because as a Hispanic American, I naturally possessed an insular, rather provincial perspective and I could not grasp the reality that Israeli citizens risk their lives every time they step out of their homes.
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