Children of Haifa go underground

Mark Potter Correspondent • E-mail

HAIFA, Israel - With warning sirens blaring, and rockets blasting day after day, playgrounds and summer camps are closed.

So the children of Haifa have gone underground. In one neighborhood, we found them three stories below, in a bomb shelter. It is stark and hot, but safe — a semblance of normalcy — very important for families living on edge, for whom even the smallest sound can be frightening.

For Anat Teitelbaum, this bunker filled with playful noise is a welcome sanctuary. The conflict above has taken a toll on her two children.

"They feel the stress," she says. "They feel we are in stress. They're afraid."

Here the children can play, and actually hear joyful sounds like guitar music. They're all encouraged to draw pictures, to perhaps release some of their fears, which they often deny.

"I'm not afraid," says one girl.

"Kids of younger age are not very verbal, so they can do it through the art," says high school principal Sharon Kalugny.

Here they can just be kids, unfettered by war.

The playful din is so loud, the sirens above cannot be heard.

And that is by design.

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