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Tragedy Strikes Pups for Peace Family

October 24, 2002

Translation of Ma'ariv (Israeli daily) article

On Monday Anat Shimshon from Ra'anana was very proud of her younger sister, Tal. Ma'ariv published an extensive article on Israeli Security Forces who received dogs trained in the United States to detect explosives. The article's main picture was of her sister, who was sent from security services to receive special training with Pups for Peace in the US.

In the morning, Anat stayed with her father, Amos, who lives in the north and the two read the article avidly.  In the afternoon, she boarded bus #841 to return to Ra'anana.  Two minutes before the attack, she was speaking on her cell-phone with her mother, Naomi.  At a certain point, her mother asked to stop the conversation: "I'll call you back in a minute," she promised.  When she tried to call her daughter back, it was already too late.  When the news arrived that their loved one was among the murdered, a heavy wave of grief hit the familiy.  Anat was born in Haifa 33 years ago.  In the Israeli army she served with the paratroopers (literally as a parachute folder), and in this framework passed a paratroopers course.  When she finished her army service, she studied business management at Tel Hai.  In recent years she worked in a furniture company.

"Fate laughs at me; on the same day that an article is published on my activities in the war against terrorism, my sister is killed by terrorists," said her sister Tal when she returned from the US.  "My sister's death urges me to finish my training and continue the fight against terror."  Today at 15:00 Anat was laid to her final rest in the new cemetery in Ra'anana in Kfar Nachman.

On November 7, Tal Shimson returned to complete her training and will soon join the staff of the Pups for Peace facility in Israel upon its completion.

Excerpt from Eulogy at Anat Shimshon  Funeral by Mayor Ze'ev Bielsky
"On that terrible day, you boarded Bus No. 841 for the last journey of your life.  Not to a field of battle, but to Ra'anan you wanted to go--to the security and warmth of this place that was your home and your family.  But,  you couldn't get to your home.  Since, today, the war is in our home and is about our home.  The 'Thread Line'* is not a geographical line or border drawn on a map.  The 'Thread Line' is inside of us, in our hearts.  It accompanies us each hour of every day. In the quaking fear about our children who go out to explore the big city, in the fear of our parents traveling on buses, or of our loved ones who are just going out shopping.  Like you, Anat, we are all but a part of the landscape of our homeland.  Like you, Anat, our world is between Ra'anana and Qiryat Shemona.  Like you, Anat, we are trying to hold on to this land, pray for days of peace, and for personal security.  There will be days when young men and women might fulfill their hopes, but today in this pained country, mothers cry for their children and fathers say "Kaddish" for their sons...Long live your blessed memory."

*The Thread Line is the defensive line separating the Palestinian Authority areas from Israel.

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