Solidarity in Sderot

June 6, 2007

I just returned from a solidarity trip to Sderot, the town near Gaza that Hamas has been shelling with Qassam rockets for so long. It was explained to me that the purpose of the trip was just to be there to show support for the remaining residents of the town and to let them know the rest of the country cares for them. Also, there is a student’s festival in Haifa on Thursday and the university is donating some booth space for merchants from Sderot to sell their goods. We were to find the merchants that may want to be there. I was warned that it was a dangerous trip as so many have been hurt and there has been so much property damage.

Here is Randy’s Report:
The trip started when I left my ulpan (Hebrew school) early to join the President of Friends for Israel http://www.friends-for-israel.org/, Lior, and his friend to go to Sderot today. His friend, Baruch, sent me an SMS while I was in class and I was to meet him at a busy intersection near the ulpan. I was walking and talking on the cell phone when a policewoman stopped me and pointed out that traffic was stopped in all directions as were all of the pedestrians. There were already 7 buses backed up from my side. This was my first bomb scare in Israel and the corner where I was meeting him was the corner that was blocked off. I am told that there are many of these per day and most are nothing. I had to walk around the block in the other direction to meet him. Was this a premonition for what was to come? Karma?

Baruch and I spoke mainly in Hebrew for the first 5 minutes or so. That didn’t last. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Army Intelligence that specialized in bomb making and testing. That is how they find out about the terrorist bomb potential and risks. Baruch drove me in his Toyota SUV that he uses to carry tourists. He is not a tour guide in Israel. We drove south toward the danger. I was somewhat nervous as he told me that when we were in Qassam rocket range, we had to drive with the windows down in order to hear the “Code Red” announcements on loudspeakers. From the time you hear them, you have 10 seconds to find shelter. Yes, of course, I asked him what we’d do if we were driving. He said that we would stop and dive to the shoulder of the road and lay flat for cover. It was only a few weeks ago when there were an average of twenty rockets fired at Sderot per day. However, yesterday was quiet and they had not yet had and attack today.

Baruch gave me a guide’s details of what we were passing. We drove through a village that was built only two years ago from what was desert after Israel forced the settlers out of Gaza. Most came peacefully but some did not. These were modular homes, slapped up, that were probably only about 600 square feet. The settlers were mostly religious and had large families. Therefore, some had added an extra trailer alongside the house to accommodate. Many of these had afforded large homes in Gaza and worked with huge greenhouses that even shipped flowers to Holland. The Palestinian Authority had asked that the Israelis destroy the houses to avoid the chaotic looting that would occur.

We stopped to see a monument that was on a hill that was about 300 yards from the fence and Gaza. I could see into the towns of Gaza which meant they could see me. Baruch showed me the wheat fields ripe for harvesting but farmers could not get anyone to drive the combines to harvest them as they would be easy targets for Hamas’ mortars. Therefore, the farmers prefer that Hamas fire into the fields, burn the, then the government will compensate the farmer. Mortars are more accurate than the rockets but have shorter ranges. There several kibbutz’ in the area as well but they were smaller and, therefore, harder to hit. That’s why they shoot at Sderot. It’s a civilian fairly poor town of some 24,000. Now, there are barely 10,000-12,000 that have stayed, many had no where to go. They spend a lot of time in bomb shelters. Many have bomb/chemical weapon proof rooms in their homes and they pile in there to sleep. They see no light of day there. They don’t know if the bombs will come by day or night. The city was mainly founded by Middle Eastern Jews who were merchants and were either expelled from Muslim countries or fled persecution there. They were primarily merchants that didn’t know how to work the land. There was nothing there beforehand and the first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, was big on people developing the desert. He agreed that the state would supply water to all of its citizens, regardless of location, at the same price. The town never really prospered although I think it is prettier than most of Tel Aviv. Russians and Ethiopians moved there as it was less expensive to live there. However, no one has been able to sell their home since before the 2nd Intifada began in 2000.

The Qassam rockets are all homemade. There is a Canadian scientist named Richard Nakka that has published the best way to make these on the internet. Israel has urged him to take it down but he has not as of yet. I am told you can Google his name to get to it. The bombs used to be made of potassium nitrate. This is commonly used as fertilizer and they got it from Israel. When Israel stopped shipping it, they sourced the real stuff: C4 plastique explosives. This does far more damage. They pack the warheads with nails and screws. We saw many homes that had received direct hits. Some were in the Ethiopian neighborhoods and some not. We mainly walked through the Ethiopian neighborhoods and saw a dozen or more places where the rockets fell.

The President of FFI, Lior, was eager to talk to everyone, remembered people’s names, and truly has a deep passion to help these folks. We met several of the remaining residents as most houses were abandoned. Going into a larger neighborhood bomb shelter, we saw dozen Ethiopian Israeli teenagers playing pool and watching TV. It doubles as a recreation center as they feel safe there. But, there is no daylight from the inside. We spend some time with the owner of the hair salon that seems to be the gossip fence. She has seen her business decline every year but she owns her shop and 3 adjacent shops in the shopping center where tenants have moved out. Her son in the army helps her get by as she can’t pay the mortgage.

It was quiet and seemed pretty abandoned. Lior pointed out that the media rarely speaks about the mental anguish and psychological damage that is caused by this. The Ethiopian girl in the photo who is 11 was 20 seconds away from joining her friends when they were blown to pieces by a Qassam rocket. She was 8. She saw what was left of them. I felt I joined the people as I always knew where I would dive if I heard the “Code Red” announcement. I would only have up to 10 seconds before impact. Remember, Lior was there two weeks ago when a rocket fell without warning 30 yards from him killing two. A building protected him.

We spent some time talking with merchants and eventually filled the three donated booths in the Haifa University festival. I think this organization is new and is still deciding its direction. Lior is a passionate, bright Zionist, and works hard at it… for free. We escaped without incident. No bombs fell. I think that Lior and most Jews want the world to know that Hamas is deliberately provoking Israel in order to stoke the sympathy of the leftists of the world for the underdog. Israel is completely out of Gaza (or soon to be known as Hamastan) but the democratically elected party, Hamas, continues to target densely located civilian populations. The media only comments on Israel’s laser attacks on known terrorists, not civilians. They just want to stop the attacks. They are not occupiers. The people of Sderot deserve to live in peace. Many have traveled far from starvation (Ethiopia) and oppression (Russia and the Middle East).