Escape from Tel Aviv!
(Part 1)
In the early morning of June 17, Tuesday, when the sun was gentle, and the rockets and missiles were momentarily silent, journalist Alex Vergara was in a van headed for Amman, Jordan from Tel Aviv, Israel — then on its fifth day of a devastating war with Iran. Just a few hours before sunrise, he was hunkered in a bunker.
He was on his way home to the Philippines after four nights of mad dashes to bomb shelters, countless alarms and little sleep. He was on his way home after being at the epicenter of “Operation Rising Lion.” He was in the Israeli capital, Tel Aviv.
But would he even make it to the border of Israel and Jordan?
Dream fulfilled in Jerusalem
Alex, PeopleAsia’s features editor, was invited by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its embassy in Manila to cover the “Israel Pride,” which included a visit to historic Jerusalem, meetings with the LGBT+ community and the Pride parade on June 13, Friday.
On June 10, Alex was on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem, a rocket of joy because it was, to him, a fulfillment of his late father’s dream.
“I sort of fulfilled it for him, as I’m the only one so far in our family who has been privileged enough to go there,” recalls Alex.
“Stepping foot on Israel, the Holy Land for most of us, where three of the world’s major religions now intersect, was beyond my wildest dreams,” Alex wrote in a Facebook post, concluding it with these words, “I’m making this trip for you, Dad!”
It was also in Jerusalem that Alex had a foretaste of going to a “safe” or “Protected Area,” Israel’s euphemism for a bomb shelter.
“We were having dinner on Tuesday, our second night in Israel, when we were politely asked by our hosts from MFA to stop what we were doing and go to a protected area, a stairwell of another building across a small garden. Back then, I didn’t recall hearing any warning in the form of blaring sirens that would become an almost a nightly staple of our group when we were in Tel Aviv later that week.
“When we stepped outside the garden some 10 minutes or so later, we saw a plume of smoke up in the sky — proof that the Iron Dome, Israel’s much-vaunted anti-missile defense system, had done its job again, neutralizing a missile sent Israel’s way by any of the three groups seeking to destroy it. I don’t even recall hearing a faint explosion.
“Since it was all new to us, I guess there was more a sense of excitement than fear in the air among our group composed of gay and trans rights activists, artists, influencers and journalists from such countries as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Thailand, and the Philippines, among others,” he remembers.
By Wednesday morning, the group left Jerusalem for Tel Aviv, a 90-minute drive away, to continue with the program, which would have officially ended Saturday.
“Still, there was nothing to be really concerned about,” notes Alex. His journey to Israel proceeded smoothly, he made new friends, he took in the sights in Tel Aviv, where his group was billeted in a five-star beachfront hotel. Tel Aviv’s Pride parade on June 13 was supposed to be the biggest and “gayest” in all of Israel. “Our host saved it for last, the perfect culmination of almost a week-long stay there consisting of meetings with various LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals from various cities in Israel.”
Friday the 13th
June 12, Thursday, was just like any ordinary day. But when June 13 dawned, it had become extraordinary.
“That feeling of excitement we first felt in Jerusalem soon turned to dread during the wee hours of Friday while we were all safely tucked in bed in our hotel in Tel Aviv after a packed day of meetings with various LGBTQ+ organizations. Like the text-alarm our own NDRRMC sends to every smartphone in a particular part of the Philippines every time a natural disaster looms, Israel has its own version, albeit a more high-tech one designed to circumvent any smartphone’s setting. Thus, even when my phone was on mute, I heard the alarm loud and clear for the first time at around 3 a.m., Friday.
“We were instructed beforehand that once we receive such an alarm that we head immediately to the nearest ‘Protected Area’ on our floor, which I did,” he says. “After about 15 minutes, we were told that it was safe to go back to our rooms. So, we did. Even then, I thought nothing much of it, thinking it was just one of the many routine missiles sent to Israel by either Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis.”
Alex had barely warmed his pillow when his phone alarm went off again.
“Sometime before 5 a.m., Friday, my phone alarm again went off. This time, I walked briskly to the main lobby at the fourth floor and to the interconnected series of stairwells that led to the underground bunker.”
After being given the all-clear to head back to his hotel room, Alex received a message from one of his MFA hosts that finally confirmed his worst fears.
“Israel had decided to neutralize key nuclear and military targets in Iran, and the first two alarms we got were mere precautionary measures the government sent to its citizens and visitors to be vigilant. It was almost 5:30 a.m., Friday, too early to get out of bed and prepare for the Pride parade, which was scheduled after lunch. As I lay in bed trying my best to fall asleep, I finally realized the gravity of the situation we were in.
“And true enough, sleepless little me learned soon after that Tel Aviv’s Pride parade and any other large public gatherings, for that matter, had now been cancelled. Later during breakfast, I also learned that Ben Gurion Airport had been closed indefinitely. By then, our Sunday flights back to our respective home countries had become iffy.
“This was serious!”
(To be concluded on Friday)
You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.
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