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Everyday Hero: Kelly Hartog

Kelly Hartog believes that fate plays an important role in this chaotic world. Her belief in fate is even stronger since she went to the Paradise Mombasa Hotel on vacation and her world turned upside down.

Kelly, 38, made aliyah alone from Sydney, Australia almost nine years ago. She is editor of the Jerusalem Post's "In Jerusalem" Friday supplement. A professional actress, she is also founder and artistic director of the Tall Poppy Theatre Company in Jerusalem.

On the airport bus to the Mombasa Hotel, Kelly sat next to the two young Israeli brothers, Noy and Dvir Anter, who were later killed in the terrorist attack; the third Israeli who was killed was her tour guide, Albert de Havilla. But Kelly herself survived. And although she was not injured, her suitcase was blown up.


Kelly Hartog
(Photo courtesy of the Jerusalem Post)

Kelly and the other Israeli survivors, accustomed to the preparedness and instant response of Israeli emergency services, were shocked to find themselves waiting three hours for local ambulances, and six hours to be evacuated. "Nobody wanted to take us in," Kelly recalls. "I didn't know how -- if -- we were getting home and how we were going to be safe. Then I heard from my boss in Jerusalem that the Israeli army was coming to get us."

The Israeli Army knows the route to Eastern Africa well. In 1976, the IDF flew on a dramatic rescue mission to Entebbe, saving over 100 Jewish passengers from a hijacked Air France plane. And in May 1991 the army airlifted 14,000 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan, bringing them home to Israel.

Kelly attained near celebrity status as an English language reporter who happened to be at the Paradise Mombasa during the bombing. She filed her first report with the Jerusalem Post an hour after the bombing, and she was interviewed by CBS, CNN, Sky News, NPR, four Australian radio stations, and many other media outlets.

Two things became clear to Kelly in the aftermath of her traumatic Mombasa experience. The attack proved to her that nowhere is safe -- and if you're going to experience an attack, you're better off in Israel. "Nothing that happened has made me feel like I'd do anything differently. Everything is so completely a matter of fate -- where you happen to be, when you happen to be there. If you focus on all the 'maybes,' you'll drive yourself crazy."

The events do not change the way she feels about living in Israel. "One of the things that brought me to Israel was a feeling that I didn't belong in Australia," says Kelly. "My experience in Kenya has taught me that no matter where we Israelis may find ourselves in trouble, our government and our army will always come and rescue us.  We will never be abandoned. The only nation that always has and always will care about the Jews is the Jewish nation itself."