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On July 12, 2006, at 10:53 AM, explosions rattled my house on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border, touching off both a war and a very close friendship - with someone who was supposed to be "the enemy".

Perhaps prophetically, I was on the internet when those rockets landed, posting on a bulletin board for frequent flyers. Under the user name of "Dovster", I wrote "Within the last few minutes eight Katyusha rockets were shot in my general direction (they sounded like they were very close)." Before I had even finished the post, I had an update:

"The Army just sent us SMSs telling us to go to our bomb shelters. It was followed by a second SMS telling us that they are now shooting at Hezbollah outposts."

Some three hours later a bulletin board member in Beirut, who goes by the name of "BEYFlyer" responded with, "Sad day for all of us... This just sickens me ... Don't know what else to say... Stay safe Dovster...God help us all. Excuse me while I go prepare for the wrath of the IDF."

For the next 34 days, along with millions of people in both of our countries, BEYFlyer and I lived through the nightmare of war. We were both under heavy and constant fire. Twice, rockets exploded close enough to me to shatter the windows in my house. BEYFlyer looked out of his own window to see the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) bomb the runways of Beirut International Airport just a short distance away. I drove 10 young children along roads pockmarked by explosions to a day camp where they could get away from the danger for some hours. BEYFlyer took his elderly parents on roads which were under constant attack to the comparative safety of their mountain home - and then turned around and took the same roads back to Beirut.

This might sound "heroic". It was not. It was simply part of what had quickly become the routine life for people in both countries. What set us apart was the internet - BEYFlyer and I kept posting constant updates on that bulletin board. At first, we were joined only by its regular members, but two days after the war began MSNBC picked up on the exchange a posted a link to it. Almost immediately, the bulletin board became inundated with thousands of views hourly, with many posting to ask us questions, tell us of relatives in both countries, or simply to wish the two of us well.

Although the bulletin board is a large one, it was not prepared for this kind of traffic. Fifteen moderators were soon assigned to handle that one particular thread and delete unsuitable posts.

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