ISRAEL: The accidental terrorist

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An innocent trip to the grocery store Monday night almost developed into an international incident — and a sobering glance at the very real fears lurking just below the surface of daily life in Jerusalem.

I was ravenous and a little light-headed from a hard-fought squash match, so I parked my car on the sidewalk (Israeli style) on Emek Rafaim Street — a strip of stores, restaurants and fast food joints. When I returned to the car, laden with grocery bags, a middle-aged Israeli-American woman started yelling at me for almost giving her a heart attack. She was on the phone to the police and in the process of reporting a suspicious vehicle — mine.

At first it seemed ridiculous, but after hearing her reasoning, I started to feel really embarrassed and clueless. I had left the car unlocked with the windows open and my gym bag sitting on the front seat, across the street from a crowded street cafe.

Even worse, the trunk of my rental car — as I’ve discovered — is apparently prone to popping open.
The open trunk was the last little suspicious detail that seemed to push her over the edge and onto the phone with the police. I don’t like to think how the rest of the night would have gone if I’d stayed another 10 minutes in that store.

The irony of all this: I truly believe the woman’s suspicions had nothing to do with me being Arab-American.

So was she paranoid? Or am I clueless, careless and completely out of step with the psychology of this country? Been pondering this one for three days now, and I think I’m siding with her.

— Ashraf Khalil in Jerusalem