AMERICAN IN ISRAEL COPES WITH TERRORISM

Grief. Rage. Shock. Mara Strom has experienced all three as an American Jew living in an Israel tortured by terrorism.

The 24-year-old Strom is the daughter of Dr. SueAnn Strom, Southeast Missouri State University's vice president of student affairs.

"I am still stunned," Mara Strom said in a conference call Monday with her mother and this reporter.

The telephone call came hours after a Muslim suicide bomber set off a blast at Tel Aviv's largest shopping center. The blast killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 100.

It was the fourth deadly bombing in Israel in nine days, and the fifth terrorist attack. Such attacks have traumatized the small nation of a few million people.

Terrorism is a personal thing here, where almost everyone knows someone who was affected by the killings, Strom said.

Strom lives in Ma'alot, a city of about 15,000 in northeastern Israel. The population is largely immigrants; about two-thirds of the residents are Ethiopian or Russian.

Strom, who is in Israel on a tourist visa, works as a youth adviser for 18-year-old American students who visit Israel before going on to collage as part of a program offered by a U.S.-based Jewish group.

Strom said the students are scared and worried about the terrorist attacks.

Israelis are angered by the attacks. "There is a lot of rage now," said Strom.

The terrorism comes amid an election campaign for prime minister that had focused on efforts to forge a Mideast peace.

"Sadly, in the last week, it has become a mandate on terror," she said.

SueAnn Strom worries about her daughter's safety. "I am trying to be a brave mom."

She regularly tunes to CNN to keep abreast of events in Israel.

As a Jew, she supports Israel. "I considered myself a Zionist, because I believe Jews should have a national homeland," she said. "But I don't have the same personal desire to live in Israel as she does."

Terrorism hasn't deterred Mara Strom, who wants to stay in Israel. She plans to keep her American citizenship and become an Israeli citizen.

"This is my third year in Israel since I turned 18," she said.

Strom was in Israel in 1989 and 1992. She returned to Israel in August 1995.

Her return coincided with a bus bombing in Jerusalem.

Six months later, terrorism has exploded on the scene again, ending what Strom said was the longest period in recent years that Israel had gone without a terrorist attack.