Eliad Moreh and Dianne Albert, both of whom were intimately impacted by the July 31 Hebrew University (HU) bombing, were invited to recount their experience and personalize the reality of terrorism. Held on Feb. 25 in the Shapiro Campus Center, the event was sponsored by Zionists for Historical Veracity (ZaHaV), Brandeis Zionist Association (BZA), and Brandeis Israel Policy Action Center (BIPAC).Taking turns at the podium, Moreh, a survivor of the bombing, and Albert, the sister of a victim, spoke of their personal experiences before, during and after the bombing, as well as of terrorism and war.

Moreh was the first to recount the day of the bombing. She had gone to lunch with her good friend David Ladowski, who was leaving on his first diplomatic mission to Peru. The two were sitting in the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria a little after 1:30 p.m. when it happened. "I couldn't tell what happened, I don't remember details and I don't remember the sound. All I remember is visual," Moreh said. "Forks, knives, dishes flew in all directions. Immediately after, I found myself standing, feeling a bullet of fire in the back of my neck and at that moment, I understood it was a terrorist attack."

Elaborating on the atmosphere, Moreh said the darkness felt final and the silence was more than a sane person could stand. All she wanted to do was escape the "silence, terrible silence. Probably the silence of death."

Later that day Moreh remembered that her "wallet was still on the table," surprised by her own thoughts. "You still have these normal reactions," she said, "because you are used to thinking this way." But she said she was happy she had not looked back, as there was "no table, no wallet, nothing but chaos."

"I had an immense feeling of gratitude to still be alive," Moreh continued. "I had told myself that if I survived, I would tell my story because I had a great anger inside of me ... for what had happened to me and all the people who had been wronged." Moreh spoke of the aftermath for her and her family and remembered Ladowski, who was one of the nine people killed.

Dianne Albert, whose sister Janice was a victim of the bombing, spoke of the tragedies' effect on her family. Janice had a Christian upbringing and had studied and written about Jewish studies for 10 years before she decided to convert Judaism in 1998. She attended HU from 1996-97 to see if she could "really identify with the Jewish people and with Israel" before finally converting.

The day of the bombing, Janice Albert was at the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria with long-time friend Miriam Scheffer for lunch. Scheffer was engaged telling the story of how her father accidentally saved a woman who would have been in the World Trade Center on 9/11 by delaying her for a conversation. "Just as Miriam finished relating this story and just as the two of them paused to absorb the magnitude of this chance meeting and its positive outcome, the bomb exploded," Albert said. "My sister's last thoughts were of the 9/11 terrorist events."

"Her initial interest in Judaism was purely academic, but as time went on she grew to love the religion and lifestyle, she was even a practicing Orthodox for a short time," Albert said. "She said once that she would rather die a Jew in Israel than in a violent act in the United Sates. Unfortunately, that came true all too soon."

Both women attributed their willingness to speak about the tragedy to a sense of obligation. "I don't think about how I feel," Moreh said. "If I survived, I have a moral obligation to tell people, a duty to tell people, about how terrorism affects everyone."

"Initially, writing it, I cried every day," Albert said, "but now that it is written and I'm sharing her story with others, I feel very beneficial. It's a part of the healing process. And it's a positive experience for me and for everyone.