We Are All Sderot: Life Between Missile Attacks
Now I understand what Sderot residents lived with for eight years.
After watching from afar for years as Sderot and other Israeli communities bordering Gaza were bombarded non-stop by rockets and mortars, I always knew it was only a matter of time before more and more Israeli towns and cities came within range.
So as I sat in my office in Beersheva in the first days of Operation Cast Lead, I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear the air-raid siren begin wailing for the first time, followed by the sound of my coworkers rushing to the shelter downstairs.
But “rushing” might be the wrong word. It was more like a focused meander … not unlike the fire drills we used to have back in high school. Everyone knew where to go, but there wasn’t the urgency that comes with a real emergency.
Once we were all in the bomb shelter there was a lot of joking around and false bravado. People were talking overly loud and those who had thought to grab their cell pones on the way out of their offices were busily chatting with family members:
Yes, I hear it too. … We’re all in the shelter. … I’m sure it’s just a test of the system, but best to be sure.
But after we’d been in the shelter for perhaps 30 seconds, there was a muffled boom from somewhere in the distance, and the ground shook slightly. I didn’t think it was possible, but the volume of chatter in the shelter doubled with everyone suddenly screaming in unison: “Did you hear that?”
After another 15 seconds had passed, the siren trailed off and people began trickling out of the shelter. Those with cell phones began calling home and those without dashed for their offices to check in with family.
This routine has been repeated several times per day for the past two weeks — and continues even after the so-called “ceasefire.”
But the joking and false bravado of that first trip to the shelter is now mostly absent. Now when the siren goes off we go to the shelter and stand or sit in the concrete room doing the silent math in our heads and staring at our watches.
Unlike Sderot, which has barely 15 seconds from the sirens going off to the impact of the rocket(s), Beer Sheva residents have between 45 and 60 seconds to reach shelter; a leisurely timeframe by comparison.
Or so I thought at first.
Without realizing it, I found myself leaving my office less and less between sirens. Where once I used to welcome the opportunity to walk across our office campus to speak with a colleague, I now found myself using the phone and email. And where at least once or twice per week I used to go out to run errands or do some quick shopping at the local mall, I found that I didn’t want to risk being in an unfamiliar area where a shelter might not be accessible.
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David Bogner, formerly of Fairfield, CT, moved to Israel in 2003. He lives in Efrat, works in Beersheva and blogs at Treppenwitz .
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13 Comments
1. Daily Blogger - Sunday, January 18th, 2009 | Jack’s Newswatch:[...] Pajamas Media | David Bogner: We Are All Sderot
Jan 18, 2009 - 5:34 am 2. Lisa:Why is Israel not reminding the world of all the attacks it has taken on the border crosssings from gaza?
why is Israel standing by in silence while idiots believe that only 3 rockets were fired during the whole truce at Israel and that Israel broke the truce on Nov. 4?
Jan 18, 2009 - 6:32 am 3. sherlock:“Why is Israel not reminding the world of all the attacks it has taken on the border crosssings from gaza?”
Short of spamming the world over the internet, how would they do that? The media occasionally mentions it as a footnote to the theatre of suffering in Gaza, just so they can point to the mention as proof they are not aiding the terrorists, but the drumbeat of the theatre goes on nonstop, pounding out the message that Israel is wrong because its enemies suffer more than it does when they attack it. Israel can, and does, have press conference and after press conference, but who will report them? Will they ever make the headlines like the fatuous pronouncements of the utterly corrupt UN?
No, the media will determine who wins this conflict, just like they determined who the party nominees and winner were in the US Presidential election. Until the people of the US (and I doubt it could be anyone else) decide to bankrupt the media, this elite group of leftists will rule like royality, accountable to no-one.
Jan 18, 2009 - 8:09 am 4. westbankmama:Right on the money, David.
Jan 18, 2009 - 8:30 am 5. mohammed:‘2. Lisa:
Why is Israel not reminding the world of all the attacks it has taken on the border crosssings from gaza?
why is Israel standing by in silence while idiots believe that only 3 rockets were fired during the whole truce at Israel and that Israel broke the truce on Nov. 4?’
Because you are not as smart as them, and they actually think before they let out any propaganda. If they actually trumpet how much damage or how many lives have been lost by the hamas rockets, they will only be exposed as a bully, that is why they keep mentioning the rockets rather than the number of rockets, I was actually wondering how long is it till they start giving the rocket attacks in kilos or pounds and atoms that way the numbers will be like trillions and gazillions. What is described above is an inconvenience anyway. They should try living in Gaza, an Israeli general recently said ‘we put them on a diet’ referring to the blockade.
Jan 18, 2009 - 10:37 am 6. rob:Hogwash.
Ah yes, the reality of the 7+ years of rockets shot at the Israelies from the hamas while in a ceacefire truce condition the liar medias circumvent. The Israelis simply defended themselves, Finally so too! Damn you medias for perverting the truth.
Jan 18, 2009 - 12:14 pm 7. thegre8_1:Kick the UN out of New York and move their headquarters to Southern Israel an then see what they think of Hamas rockets. Hamas is too chicken to fight Israel like men they hide and attack surrounded by women and children.
Jan 18, 2009 - 12:27 pm 8. thegre8_1:Sherlock you are right – the American people are SLOWLY catching on to the media which died last year. Newspapers are going bankrupt one by one. People have to stop buying newspapers, boycott whoever sponsors news broadcasts including the erectile dysfunction commercials, etc. At news conferences Obama has a preselected list of reporters who can ask him questions and he is probably given the questions on advance. Those not on the chosen one lost of reorters should just boycott the news conferences and report on what the minority party has to offer. This election was no different than American Idol, it is an insult to American Idol to compare as such, and the public has been so dumbed down I am concerned we will never reverse course. Obama has accomplished nothing other than win elections and G_d bless the pilot for landing that plane in the Hudson river. Our economy and national security are being piloted by Moe, Larry, and Curly, and I fear a much worse landing, a depression within two years.
Jan 18, 2009 - 12:40 pm 9. joeblough:This comes from someone who lives right there in Israel.
The complacency, however disturbing, is understandable up to a point.
How much more casual is the rest of the world?
Not good news.
Jan 18, 2009 - 4:22 pm 10. Gozer the Carpathian:It doesn’t matter that most of these missles miss people. What matters is that it’s a CONSTANT and RANDOM barrage of death, destruction, and mayham. I would love to constantly attack ANY US city like this, and see how well they take it.
Jan 18, 2009 - 4:50 pm 11. Gary:Let all those people fight on for the rest of their lives. Both sides seem to enjoy death, disruption and weapons. If it a way of life, then so be it! Kill or be killed. The only ones who come out ahead are the major media groups, they LOVE the bombs. Makes them richer!
Jan 19, 2009 - 5:28 am 12. steveoh:Hey Gary,
Jan 19, 2009 - 9:07 am 13. georgiebhoy:Dude pass the bong already, enough bogarting all the stash. And did you miss that humanities class again? Professor I hate Israel, the US and the evil imperialists may fail you.
7. thegre8_1:
Kick the UN out of New York and move their headquarters to Southern Israel an then see what they think of Hamas rockets.
They wouldn’t go. It is illegally occupied land.
Jan 21, 2009 - 11:38 am