We Are All Sderot: Life Between Missile Attacks
Now I understand what Sderot residents lived with for eight years.
I wasn’t alone in these thoughts. Most of my coworkers began eating lunch at their desks or in conference rooms, and I noticed that everyone who arrived or left in a car had the windows at least partly opened so as not to risk missing hearing the air raid siren.
And when the siren did go off, people went to the shelters and stood looking at the sweep second hand on their watches … picturing the Grad rocket roaring through sky towards us. Only the explosion of the rocket’s impact could break the spell, and on the occasions when the missile fell too far away to hear, there was a missing “release” (for lack of a better word) that left everyone feeling even more on edge than the wail of the siren.
By the end of the second week of Beersheva’s inclusion in Hamas’ rocket range, a bit of the joking had returned to the shelters, but only because the rockets had been falling (miraculously) in open areas in and around the city and doing a minimum of damage.
Then this past Thursday as we were leaving the office and getting into our cars, the sirens sprang to life all over Beersheva. I was parked next to the building so I went back inside towards the shelter. But I was amused to see some of the people parked further across the parking lot pulling blankets out of their cars, spreading them carefully on the ground, and then assuming the Homefront Command’s mandated face-down position with their hands over their heads.
As I reached the shelter I thought to myself: “This must be ‘Sderot Lite.’ People have actually started keeping blankets in their cars so they won’t have to dirty their clothing when lying face down on the pavement.”
As if punctuating my thoughts, there was a distant boom from somewhere across town. We were just about to leave the shelter when an enormous BANG! went off near our facility. Apparently a volley of two or three rockets had been fired at once.
After a few more seconds the air raid sirens trailed off, but were replaced within a minute by the scream of police and ambulance sirens. We later learned that a woman and her seven-year-old child had exited their car and been prone on the ground when the rocket hit right next to them. They were showered with ball bearings that had been packed into the rocket’s explosive head, and both were badly wounded (the little boy critically).
As I drove home (with my window open, of course), I thought about how today the people of Beer Sheva are coming to terms with the “matzav” (situation). Next month it might be Tel Aviv or Jerusalem (actually, each has had their turn in the line of fire during the second Intifada).
But up until now, none of us could really know what it has been like for the people of Sderot. Our lives have been essentially normal, punctuated by brief periods of abnormality, while Sderot and the other communities bordering Gaza have been enduring a reality that is just the opposite. They have been doing so for years.
So yes, what we are experiencing now is dangerous, albeit a “Sderot Lite.” And yes, it may have the unintended affect of allowing us to look the people of Sderot in the face without embarrassment. But the real result I feel has come from this latest chapter in the ongoing conflict is that it isn’t one or two border towns being bombed. Rather, it has finally hit home that an attack on one community — or two or six — means the entire country is under attack.
At long last, we all live in Sderot.
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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