Bombed Haifa restaurant was symbol of Jewish, Arab coexistence

Published: 2003-10-07

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- The beachfront restaurant damaged in a suicide bomb attack in Haifa, Israel, has been a symbol of coexistence between Arabs and Jews for 40 years. Nineteen people were killed and about 60 injured in the Oct. 4 bombing at Maxim, a restaurant co-owned by Jewish and Melkite Catholic families. Among the dead were five Israeli Arabs who were Melkite Catholics. Two complete families -- including grandparents and grandchildren -- where killed in the blast. Immediately upon hearing the news of the bombing, Miri Taiyar and her daughter, Orly Taiyar Nir, members of the Jewish family that co-owns the restaurant, rushed to Maxim and then to the hospital. They were among the first people to console the Matar family, the Melkite-Arab co-owners, five of whose members had been injured and two others killed. "I was only one of three people who left the restaurant on his own two feet," said Pierre Matar, 29, who was slightly injured in the blast. He spoke in a telephone interview from Haifa. "Everywhere else there were bodies strewn around. I never thought we would be attacked. Now I know what a terrorist attack is like," he said.

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