A huge Israeli flag was unfurled along part of the renovated and refurbished building, while the edge of the car park opposite remained lined with dried wreaths, flowers and hundreds of burned-out memorial candles.
Inside, the place was packed with diners of all ages and the kitchen was a hive of activity as cooks and waiters struggled to cope with the incessant flow of orders.
Maxim's restaurant, alongside the Delek gas station at the southern access to Haifa, was back in business.
<snip>
"We always knew that our restaurant symbolized
coexistence. In my hear-of-hearts I believed that this would continue once we reopened but not in such a way and with such a quantity of people who came here," said Sharbel Mattar, one of the owners.
"This also signifies that all the years we invested in customers, the way we treated them with friendship and respect, is now being repaid to us more than double."
<snip>
"This is what helped support us and gave us the strength to continue - in memory of all of those who were killed in this horrific terror attack. They will always be with us in our hearts and minds."
Three members of his family were killed in the attack, his uncle George Mattar, of Haifa, as well as his namesake Sharbel Mattar, 23, and another relative Hana Francis, 39, both of Fassouta in the Galilee.
<snip>
Nevertheless, Mattar stressed that something good had emerged from the ashes of the deadly bombing - a strengthening of the coexistence between Jews and Arabs.
"Maybe this word did not have much significance beforehand, although for us it was an integral part of our lives and we were always together. Now it is even more pertinent.
"It proves to everyone that such things will never harm coexistence but will do the opposite by strengthening us and bringing us closer together. We are not two nations here, we are one nation. The suffering and the pain are for all of us as is the joy.
"This restaurant was for years a symbol of coexistence and it will continue to be so and nobody will change that ... Blood of Jews and Arabs was spilled and intermingled in this place and so this joint fate will be, for better or for worse."
Mattar noted that he lived in America for several years and had US citizenship, but returned to Israel to build his life here with his wife and children and also return to the family business.
<snip>
"I am an Israel Arab in every respect. This is what is written in my identity card and in my passport. I don't think or feel differently. I also can't ignore all the good things that have happened to me here and there have been many of them.
"Maybe in the past two months everything was turned upside down. That came from God and I can't change it, but I'm Arab and an Israeli citizen and I'm proud of being here.
"I have American citizenship but preferred to return here. I live here and I raise my children here and whoever is unhappy here can get up and leave. That's all I have to say," he said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1070856404384
Updated: to add the rest of the post after pressing the post button too soon.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
