Shia Kramer Coyne has been hiding out with roommates in Tel Aviv – anxiously waiting to be taken back to a bomb shelter.
“For there to be attacks in Tel Aviv, where I am, I thought I was safe, but I feel extremely unsafe right now,” Shia said.
The 18-year-old has been in Israel since August doing community service with the Aardvark Israel study abroad programme.
Her experience turned from enlightening to terrifying when a barrage of Hamas rockets hit four cities – including Tel Aviv – where she was staying. The surprise attack came early Sunday during a major Jewish holiday.
“I loved Israel. I’ve had an incredible last month here. This feels like a completely different country to what I’ve experienced in the last month,” she said.
Back home in Kips Bay, her panic-stricken mother is trying to keep in touch, anxiously awaiting the next phone call.
“Nothing prepares you for waking up to find your child in a bomb shelter, helpless and there’s nothing I can do, but worse, there’s nothing the Israelis can do at the moment – especially for her. They’re doing what they can to save the country,” said Hillary Kramer Coyne.
As the conflict continues, the study abroad programme tells parents that it has been in contact with Masa’s security at the Jewish Agency and is closely monitoring the situation. All the Shiites can do is hope and pray.
“We are all really – between our apartments – talking to each other and holding each other. Everyone has different connections to Israel,” adds Shia.
Governor Hochul spoke to Eyewitness News by phone.
“We’ve been in constant communication with the White House, the embassy, the State Department to make sure that New Yorkers who went over there to be with their families on this beautiful holiday, this holy day, get home safely,” Hochul said.
Airlines have cancelled more than 80 flights to and from Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said a delegation of local police chiefs is currently in Israel for anti-Semitism training.
