
From 1pm until 4pm on March 28th , THE BOMB SHELTER, an immersive multi-media installation exhibit was open to the public. A periodic siren will sound and participating park goers will have 15 seconds to get from where they are in Washington Square to the shelter - the same length of time that those facing rocket attacks in Israel have to reach safety. "The artists wanted New Yorkers to viscerally feel what Israelis went through this week during the bombing of a Jerusalem bus stop and repeated rocket strikes," says Craig Dershowitz, President of Artists 4 Israel, the non-profit that created the installation. As soon as visitors line up to enter the shelter, the deceptively calm Tzeva Adom warning begins to sound. This is the same siren that gives residents of Sderot in southern Israel notice that they have just 15 seconds to find shelter before the rockets launched from Gaza by Hamas begin falling. Then, like in Sderot, visitors will hear the sound of explosions. As they rush into the shelter amidst the blasts, immersive video continues the heart pounding experience as an actual Qassam barrage hitting Sderot unfolds around them - all from the perspective of being in the crowd suffering through the attack. "The students who have gone on Birthright Israel trips have developed life-long friendships with Israelis and are deeply concerned for them," says Natalie Solomon, Associate Director of the Birthright Israel Alumni Community who is sponsoring the exhibit. "After so many <b>...</b>
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