Sulika

Sulika was born in Morocco, married at the age of 16 and then came to Israel in 1963 with other Jewish immigrants. They settled In Avivim, a village located in the upper Galilee, close to the border with Lebanon. On Friday morning, May 22, 1970 a group of terrorists crossed the border. They waited in an ambush close to a curve on the road for the village's school bus to come. When the school bus from Avivim got closer and slowed down its speed, they fired Bazooka rockets at it. Twelve people were killed in that bus, 9 children and 3 adults, and many more were wounded. One of the wounded girls was Sulika's daughter, Lea. Years later, Lea, with a shard inside her head died at age of 43 during a surgery to take it out. Sulika greived for her daughter until her passing in the winter of 2018. I've photographed Sulika and other elderly people from Avivim as a continuing project since 2016. I'm enthralled by their stories, and admire the way they withstand the vicissitudes of life, the loneliness, illness and pain. I visited Sulika almost every week for about 3 years. We loved each other. I miss her so much and can't stop thinking about her. Sulika told me a lot of stories about her life in Morocco and in Israel.