Since yesterday after Seuda Shlishit, the entire southern portion of Israel has been living a living hell. ('scuse my language.) It's a terrifying experience to hear a siren and know one has X number of seconds to reach a 'safe space.' Sadly, many of my dear friends expelled from Gush Katif are still living in trailers with no 'safe space' to run to. My sister-in-law in Beer Sheva not only has no safety in her entire building (built in the early 1960's) but the nearest bomb shelter is locked.
Absurd as it seems, I am pleased that Sederot and Netivot are no longer chief targets as they were for almost 8 years. For, the suffering of plebian citizens of development towns in the south was taken for granted for too long. ("More rockets in Sederot. Ho hum; what's for dinner?") However today with major cities such as Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beer Sheva targeted, the government cannot be apathetic as it has been for years.
I would like to quote from a blog post of a dear friend of mine. These are her words:
"I live in Ma’agalim, home to four hundred families. Ma’agalim is an Yishvu [community], in the Southern Negev, just outside of Netivot, half hour from Beer Sheva and nine kilometers from Gaza.
Our 4 month old puppy Patches needed to be taken out and I said that I would walk her. Patches and I had just gotten down the street when the warning air raid siren went off. That meant in 20 seconds a grad missile would land. I started to run home. The puppy was scared and running as fast as her little feet could. Just as I reached my home, I saw two flashes in the sky that looked like lightning and a ball of fire flying over my backyard.
Then boom, boom! The sight is mind boggling. The booms are so loud. The flashes were not lightning but the iron dome getting ready to take out the rocket. The iron dome is a mobile air defense system. The boom was the iron dome doing its job and destroying the rocket before it could land.
As I write this piece, rockets have been falling for over five hours. Almost every town and city in the south has been hit. From Beer Sheva to Netivot, to Sedrot to Ashdod to Ashkelon and every little town in between has had a siren. The IAF is retaliating over Gaza. I can hear the booms.
Two grads were sent to Beer Sheva around 3:00 a.m. and at 5:00a.m. a grad was sent to Ashkelon. There is nothing worse than being woken up during the night with an air raid siren. The booming is continuing. I just heard two very loud booms.
The drones and helicopters are out. Egypt supposedly brokers a ‘cease fire’ to start at 6:00 a.m. This was already broken. The IDF is reporting thirty-nine kassamim, mortars or grads landed in Southern Israel.
We have nothing stopping us now. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all the other terrorist groups must be put out of business for once and for all.
Terrorist own video: Shooting into Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Bg5HGW8qY&feature=share "
I have little to add as my very eloquent friend said it all! With Gilad Shalit now home, we should bomb/ eliminate each and every known terrorist leader in Gaza. As a citizen in Ashdod told Kol Yisrael Radio last night after a grad fell nearby, "Bibi, bomb the hell out of them! Bomb the hell out of them! Do you hear me?" I hope he does.
10 comments:
I ask this with all due respect, My family and I are in the process of Aliyah. I have 2 babies and 2 teens. would you honestly say we should still do Aliyah? If so why? I need more encouragement.
Shalom Netivot Girl
I am so very flattered that you included my blog within yours.
Every inch of our holy land must be protected. Our cousins [yuck] don't really want 'peace'..they want every 'piece' of our G-D given gift with us in the sea.
Our government has a responsibility
to rid us of our enemy without worrying what will America say or the EU or France etc.
May the Hand of G-D protect our chayalim and chayalot. And may HE guide our government to take the right actions.
And if I may, I would like to say something to Anonymous.
COME HOME! Please do not allow the actions of terrorist keep you from your home. This is what they want to do. STOP Aliyah!
Aliyah under the best of conditions is difficult. But if you have patience, will go with the flow and remember that in Israel we do things differently than in America your Aliyah will be successful. We are here 17 wonderful years....
If you want to talk more, feel free to e-mail me at saftala@gmail.com
Miriam
Anonymous COME HOME with your babes and teens! This is where you belong! I remember Meir Kahane speaking at a NYC cafe in 1976. He rightly predicted the present revival of world-wide
anti-Semitism. When I read hate filled anti-Semitic talk-backs on Yahoo! and other news sites, my hair stands on end!
Just 2 weeks ago Arutz 7 showed a video clip of a young black dude mouthing off (as part of the 'Conquer Wall St.' gang,) "It's all them Jews! They own Wall Street! They's all judges! We gotta take the country back from dem!"
It was pure neo-Nazi slander. Do you want to raise your kids in US society with such hate?! Here is where Hashem guards His people most as in the Mendy Jerufi song, "Eretz Asher Einai Hashem.." The eyes of Hashem are always on her. (The Land of Israel.)
If my 85 year old Dad were not still alive I'd NEVER go back even to visit -- I HATE the materialism and the hate I see everywhere.
COME HOME! It's worth all the paperwork and other headaches! 'Nefesh B'Nefesh' never existed when I made aliya in 1977!!
Amen to every eloquent word you wrote dear Miriam! As I told you ages ago, you are one special lady and it's an honor knowing you!
To anonymous, ultimately the decision is yours, but let me tell you a true story. Two French girls had planned a holiday in Israel, during the time of the second intifada. One of them thought it was too dangerous to come so she went on holiday to Turkey instead and her friend came to Israel. The girl who went to Turkey was killed in a car crash.
As a Thai woman once said to me in her bad English, "day you die, you die, not die, not die".
Unfortunately, there often seems to be something going on in Israel, and if you wait for the perfect time it may never come. And if all the other olim had done that, well there wouldn't be an Israel.
Netivotgirl, thanks so much for posting this. In Shiloh, we're far from those danger. Each location has its own, I guess.
A, people die all over the world. Life here in Israel is truly wonderful. It's safer in the eye of the storm. The more Jews here the stronger the country.
Miriam, what's your blog?
anonymous, batya and i have disagreed for years on this blog. i find her rhetoric harmful.
but about the most important issues we agree 100%.
i have had my share of 'tzaros' since moving here, but i have never regretted it.
every day i wake up blessed and full of gratitude.
yes its hard, but its so worth it!
i can go on for pages, so i will stop here.
i just have to add: there are times i dont want to go to sleep because i dont want to miss a minute of life in jlem!
A small sad and true story for the alya candidate:
Some years ago, a young male Israeli was sick of the current mood of violence and decided to leave Israel...
He decided to settle in London and was one of the first victim in one British bus,blown out by muslim terrorist on the 7th July 2005 !
H.SHEM gave us free will and we choose our path
Unlike our so called "cousins", I would not say "maktub" (it was written)but Ijust wanted to add some material for thought..
Greetings to all,
Trumpeldor
Batya
My blog is Miriam's Words
http://miriamswords.blogspot.com/
Thank-you for asking.
Miriam
Post a Comment