Israeli voices: Seminary shooting

Three Israelis reflect on Thursday's shooting at a seminary in West Jerusalem in which eight young Israelis were killed.

MIRIAM BURNS, 18, SEMINARY STUDENT, WEST JERUSALEM

I have been at a girls' seminary [Midreshet Lindenbaum] near Mercaz Harav for a year. I came here from London with a friend last August.

Obviously we were all very shocked - it could have been us.

I spoke to my parents in London last night and when I got off the phone, there was a group of around 20 girls sitting around praying. That's how we reacted.

When you hear that people in Gaza were celebrating, I don't know what to say.

We mourn the losses in Gaza; it's terrible that mothers have lost children.

But what is different is the objective. Israel is aiming to stop the rockets; last night was about hatred.

I am in Israel to get a deeper understanding of my religion. The atmosphere here is simply phenomenal; when there's a festival, the whole country celebrates.

I think in a way last night was also important for me, I now have a sense of what people have been going through for years.

TAMAR GORDON, 32, ENGLISH TEACHER, SHILOH

One of my parents' neighbours, Yonaton Eldar, was killed last night. My parents are attending his funeral - half of the village is there.

He is the fifth terror victim being laid to rest from our community in Shiloh [a settlement in the West Bank near Jerusalem] , and there will probably be others to come.

My brother and my nephew attend the Mercaz Harav seminary - luckily they were not there last night.

Five years ago my brother was critically wounded in another terror attack when he was getting off a bus. He was 17 then and lost an eye, part of his leg muscles - and a friend.

How much longer do we have to play sitting ducks, with the world looking on and moralising at us?

I listened to a service on the radio this morning - and by the way there was no word of hatred. Everything that was said was about hope and love.

MARK FREEDMAN, 29, RABBINICAL STUDENT, KIRYAT MOSHE

My son goes to a kindergarten right next to the seminary and I pray there myself - so this shook me.

What's shocked people more than anything is that the man who did it was a Palestinian with full Israeli rights and ID.

In the past we've felt that the Palestinians in East Jerusalem are friends, but now that kind of trust is shattered. People feel extremely scared.

I have been living in Jerusalem for nearly three years - before that we lived in London. During that time nothing has happened.

I used to be very comfortable about getting on buses in Jerusalem - am I now? I don't know.

Of course I mustn't give in, but all the same, there is only so much security you can have. People in London know this too.

On Wednesday night I was out with my wife in Yehuda Street, an area which has been hit many times before.

It felt very calm, very relaxed. That atmosphere may well have changed.

As Israelis we have our differences, but something like this brings us closer together. So, Palestinians must realise it's not going to achieve anything.