Report on our visit to Sderot

As a result of a moving audio visual presentation in Macdonald’s shul on Tisha Be Av 5767, given by Noam Bedein, director of Sderot Media, a regional news service, it was decided to organize a visit Sderot to show our solidarity with the residents. Noam very kindly and efficiently organized a program for us.

We left Netanya on 24^th December at 9.00 am, and arrived in less than two hours at Sderot.  We were met by Noam who took us to the police station where some 400 of the 7,000 rockets that have fallen on and around the town are stored. Each rocket is marked in different colours identifying the senders, e.g. Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, etc. They are about one meter long, packed with explosive and nails (shrapnel) and it is this that is the main cause of injury. An average of three rockets falls each day. Afterwards we had a walkabout in the town centre to see the results of the damage. What was very striking was the obvious lack of shelters for the population and especially for schools. When the warning Tzeva Adom (“Colour red”) is given, you have fifteen seconds to get to a shelter. Then it’s BOOM! The majority of the residents are unable to get to a shelter in time, especially as many of the rockets are fired at night. 

Later we were taken to a community hall, named after a girl who was killed whilst protecting her brother during a rocket attack. There we received a talk from a lady named Chava who had accompanied us on our tour. She told us that she had always lived in Sderot and would not leave in spite of her siblings wanting her and the family to move to safety. She herself had lost a very good job due to all the stress, and her children were extremely traumatized. Her talk left us feeling extremely saddened.  We also felt at a loss as to how to help the population who were in constant fear of attack. Then we were shown a film of the children’s’ reactions. They are not able to play outside, and have to be taken to and from school. They are so traumatized that they sleep with their parents or else in the corridors of their apartments.

It is not sufficiently realized by the general population how much trauma there is, and how it affects the residents of Sderot. It is a mistake to shrug the whole thing off because, mercifully, “so few” people have been killed. Each and every time the siren is sounded nobody knows where the rocket will fall. Each and every time there is fear, and this is not something you get used to.

But quite apart from all the trauma, Sderot has the appearance of a ghost town. People are frightened to leave their homes, where, lack of proper shelters notwithstanding, they at least have some, if an inadequate, measure of safety. As a result, the economy of the town has been severely hit. Some 4,000 out of Sderot’s population of 20,000 have left, and it is the boast of our enemies that they will continue their rocket offensive till all are gone.

It does not take much to imagine if say, Mexico were to fire even one rocket into the United States, let alone 7,000, what the response would be. Our government, no doubt, has its reasons for not making a maximum response, but be that as it may, what can WE do? This very subject was discussed at a recent meeting of the shul Board. Among the various proposals made were that we should go shopping to Sderot to support the local economy and that there should be an appeal to provide more shelters. A shopping expedition could be made by as few as four people in a car to make their weekly purchases. This could be done immediately without any major planning. There must doubtless be more suggestions as to what we should do. 

It has not been given to us to understand why Hashem brings suffering to people. What is very clear, however, is that we need to respond, in whatever way we can. Our shul has never been found wanting in this respect. Let us put our heads together and do what we know is right.        

Rochelle and Felix Seiler.