Dumb justice
by David Golin
I drove over the weekend to have coffee and cake with a friend who lives just off of Emek Refaim, a trendy Jerusalem street that runs parallel to Bethlehem Road through the city's crowded southern neighborhoods. Since it was the Sabbath, the usually bustling thoroughfare and its recently renovated sidewalks were bathed in a velvet quiet, with most of its popular restaurants and coffee cafes closed for the weekly day of rest.
The lack of shoppers and cafe patrons turned the street into a temporary driver's paradise. Although I didn't have to fight the usual crush of cars, I still slowed down a bit as I drove past the Hillel coffee house. I couldn't help but pause for a second to recall the terrorist explosion that wrecked the establishment less than one year ago. I heard the Sept. 9 blast while sitting in my apartment, as I did the much louder explosion this past Feb. 22 that ripped apart a city bus just one block from my home near the entrance to the Emek Refaim neighborhood.
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