8 Years of Rockets And Still No End In Sight

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Sderot residents in fortified room (Photo: Amir Cohen)

Imagine that you live under a situation in which every day there is a rocket attack from your neighbors. You don't know where it is going to strike, you don't know if your home, your family will suffer this time. Imagine that this has been going on for 8 years and the authorities would do nothing to stop these attacks. This is what the citizens of Sderot and the Western Negev have lived with for 8 years now. Even when there was a so-called "truce", the rockets fell. And yet the world only condemns Israel for attacking back.

Four Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza Saturday evening towards the city of Sderot in south Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
One of the rockets landed in the courtyard of a local factory, but caused no damage to the site. Another rocket landed near a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, while the third landed near the security fence separating Israel from the Hamas-controlled territory. The landing site of the fourth Qassam has yet to be located.

The attack on Sderot took place at around 19:30 pm; loud explosions were heard in the city.

The al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, claimed responsibility for the barrage, saying it was launched in retaliation for Israel's "continued aggression" and "crimes of the occupation."

At 9:30 pm another Qassam rocket fired from Gaza landed in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

At least 15 Qassams and 26 mortars were fired toward the western Negev region throughout the day.

In the afternoon a barrage of mortar shells and one rocket fell in a kibbutz located within the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council's limits.

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Now imagine a former US President siding with your attackers, advising them and telling the Media that it is all your fault that you are being attacked by your neighbor.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter reported that he advised Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on what price to demand from Israel for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted more than two years ago. He said that Hamas is "relatively satisfied with the status quo."

Carter's visit to Lebanon and Syria earlier this month follows a trip to to Damascus several months ago in the face of American policy against establishing direct contact with the outlawed terrorist organization.

Carter wrote on his website that he spoke with Mashaal about "formulas for prisoner exchange to obtain the release of Corporal Shalit," who has since been promoted to sergeant.

However, he probably is not aware of the promotion because the International Red Cross has not succeeded in convincing Hamas to honor the Geneva Convention and allow its officials to visit him. The Red Cross also has rejected Israeli citizen's demands that it stop visiting terrorists in Israeli jails until Shalit is seen and confirmed to be alive and in good health.

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I see that a nursing home hasn't been found for Grandpa Carter yet.

In order to put forward your side of the conflict you hold a news conference, but the media does not attend, calling you an aggressor and murderer.

Sderot Media Center Press Conference Release

By Anav Silverman - Sderot Media Center

A day before the Hamas-Israel ceasefire officially ended, Sderot Media Center facilitated a press conference with a panel of Sderot officials who provided brief updates of the security situation and the impact of the ceasefire on the area residents to Israeli and international press.
Member of Knesset and Kadima party member, Shai Chermesh, who is a resident of Kfar Aza, a western Negev community under daily mortar shelling, participated in the panel. He stated that the ceasefire had yielded no positive results for Israel. "Gilad Schalit is still in Gaza and Sderot and western Negev residents are still under rocket fire. This is a reality that our government must deal with and as of now, the government of Israel has shown that it has little authority over what is happening to Sderot and the western Negev," MK Chermesh concluded.



"Hamas is the occupying power of Gaza and has treated its constituents terribly," he added. "Hamas must stop using their own Palestinian civilians as sacrificial offerings by employing rocket terror tactics against innocent Israelis."
Chermesh stated that he believed that disengaging from Gaza in 2005 was a positive move. "It was important that we left and it was too bad that we didn't leave earlier," he stated. "If the IDF re-enters Gaza, the attack must be planned carefully. The people of Gaza should not go hungry and we must limit civilian causalities as much as possible."

Batya Katar, representing the Parents Association for the security of Sderot, stated that Sderot residents feel that Sderot is a separate entity. "We don't have the right leaders to deal with the reality of the region," she said. "If this was happening in Tel Aviv, there would be a completely different reaction from the government."

"Only yesterday evening, a Palestinian rocket landed right outside a busy supermarket. People outside at the time barely escaped the rocket explosion," Katar added. "Thanks to the Tzeva Adom, they were able to make it inside, but the attack could have been deadly. How many more rocket attacks must Sderot experience, how many near-death experiences must Sderot residents endure--before the government of Israel acts?"

The president of Sderot's Small Businesses Association, Danny Dahan told the press that the rocket fire was economically crippling the region. Dahan, who owns Dahan's supermarket in Sderot, explained that the changed shopping patterns of his customers--"they rush in and rush out" has contributed to the decrease in sales. "People no longer linger around, taking their time to buy food. Everyone wants to go home as quickly as possible." Dahan also stated that due to the rocket fire, there were problems with shipments of goods coming into Sderot. "Some of our suppliers refuse to enter Sderot because of the rocket fire. Many times, I end up going to the junction in Ashkelon to pick up the goods for my supermarket."

Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center director, highlighted that the over 2,500 Palestinian rockets fired at Sderot and the western Negev have caused a marked increase in psychological trauma among Sderot children. "Between 70-94% of Sderot children are suffering from signs of PTSD, according to a recent NATAL survey" Bedein stated.

Bedein also related that between 300-400 Palestinian rockets have been fired at Israel since the ceasefire began in June. Yehuda Ben Maman, the Sderot security officer, added that although many bomb shelters have emerged throughout Sderot in the recent year, most of the structures provide protection from rocket shrapnel only and not from direct Qassam rocket hits.

But for the people of Sderot and the Western Negev, the IDF might be giving them a Chanukah present.

Military source: IDF prepared to 'conquer Gaza Strip' if need be

Military sources said the IDF was preparing for a wide-range of scenarios, pending government instructions.

"We have operational plans ranging from conquering the Gaza Strip to pinpoint raids against rocket squads," one officer said. "However, we will ultimately do what we are told to do."

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You can give the children of Sderot a wonderful Christmas/Chanukah gift too. A small donation to the Sderot Media Center will give a child the gift of hope and love. It pays for the small parties given to the children of Sderot, the psychological counseling that many of the citizens need, and the legal help the people of the region need to deal with the government bureaucracy. It is easy to do. Just click on the Sderot Media Logo at the top or bottom of this post and follow the directions from there.

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Italian MPs Show Solidarity in Sderot

Cross posted by Findalis from Monkey in the Middle

By Anav Silverman - Sderot Media Center

In a unique show of solidarity, a delegation of 70 Italians, including 24 members of the Italian Parliament visited Sderot this past Monday, December 8. The Italian delegation brought with them a copy of a letter, written by members of the Italian Parliament, addressed to Gilad Schalit, the IDF solider captured two years ago who remains in the hands of Hamas in Gaza.

Photo: Hamutal Ben Shitrit

In a press conference facilitated by Sderot Media Center, the Italian delegation, which included members from various Italian political parties, presented the letter to a representative of the Schalit family, Medi Cohen. Rossana Boldi, President of the Committee on European Affairs, and acting as representative of the group, stated that the letter had been signed by many important members of the Italian Parliament in the hopes of getting the International Red Cross in Rome to hand the letter to Gilad Schalit.

Boldi cited during the press conference that the International Red Cross had not paid one visit to Gilad Schalit since his capture, and continues to ignore the plight of Sderot residents living under Palestinian rocket fire.

"Israel has a right to exist in security," said Boldi, "and Gilad Schlit has every right to return home."

Medi Cohen, speaking on behalf of the Schalit family, responded by stating that a week previously she and other Gilad Schalit supporters protested in front of the Shikma Prison in Ashkelon, which houses Hamas terrorists. "You could see Palestinian mothers freely entering the prison to visit their imprisoned sons. These Hamas terrorists are treated fairly and according to international law--they receive free medical treatment and proper care from Israeli authorities," said Cohen. "Gilad on the other hand, has been denied everything. Hamas prevents any form of communication with Gilad from the outside word. Gilad has not been allowed to even speak with his family for two years," said Cohen bitterly.

David Bouskilla, Sderot's recently elected mayor was also present at the press conference and warmly welcomed the Italian delegation to Sderot. "The city of Sderot has strong ties with the Italian community," Bouskilla stated. When Bouskilla was mayor of Sderot eight years ago, he oversaw the building of the only rocket-protected theater in the entire Negev which was funded partly by the Italian Keren Hayesod.

Photo: Hamutal Ben Shitrit

Mayor Bouskilla also added that Sderot residents have been standing alone in the face of continuing Palestinian rockets. "Our children and families are forced to sit and accept this situation, as rockets continue to hit our homes, properties, playgrounds and schools," said Bouskilla. "It is more important than ever to have the support of the international community, especially from a country like Italy" he told the Italian delegation.

Indeed, it was both encouraging and inspiring to see the concern exhibited by the Italian government officials for Sderot civilians in light of the 200 or more Qassam rockets that have been fired against Sderot and the Negev since early November. During the brief stop at the Sderot police station, where hundreds of Qassam rockets are stored away, the Italian delegation expressed their shock at the way life in Sderot has dramatically altered due to the terror generated by Palestinian rocket fire. "It is disturbing to think how Israeli children must live in this kind of reality," said one Italian official.

In the scheme of world affairs, Sderot children at least have a few friends back in the Italian Parliament.

From Monkey in the Middle:

It is nice to see that the Children of Sderot have a few friends in the world since they have none in the Olmert government. No matter how they plea and cry, Olmert will not even try to stop the rocket attacks that have been occurring daily for the past 8 years.



View at YouTube


But you can help. Write your Representatives in Congress demanding that the US do something to force the end to these attacks. Write your Senator. And you can give a small donation to the Sderot Media Center. You can give a child of Sderot a little Christmas/Hanukkah gift. It would be a nice gesture in support.

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Sderot: November Update

Crossposted by Findalis at Monkey in the Middle

By Anav Silverman - Sderot Media Center

More than 126 Qassam and 71 mortar rockets were fired at Sderot and the Negev from northern Gaza since November 4 according to the Intelligence and Terrorism and Information Center.

November 4-5, 2008: Over 60 Palestinian Qassam rockets were fired on Sderot and the western Negev. Hamas renewed Qassam rocket fire against Israeli civilians living in the Negev throughout Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, in light of. The rockets damaged several green houses in the western Negev. Two rockets landed in Ashkelon, one which hit a quiet neighborhood, and sent three people into shock and trauma. The massive rocket attack came about when IDF Special Forces entered Gaza to blow up a tunnel dug by Hamas terrorists that was created in order to abduct Israeli soldiers.

Photo courtesy of Sderot Media Center

November 7, 2008: Southern Israelis woke up to another day of rocket attacks Friday as Palestinian terrorists fired five Kassams at western Negev neighborhoods. The rockets landed in the Sderot, Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev regions. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. One of the Kassams landed near a kibbutz reservoir, while a second hit the fence surrounding another western Negev kibbutz. The other rockets hit open areas. The Islamic Jihad's armed wing claimed responsibility for the attacks. (Jerusalem Post)

November 14, 2008: A Qassam rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip hit an electric pole near a house in Sderot on Friday, injuring an 80-year-old woman with shrapnel and seven people suffered from shock from the attack.

Four more rockets hit the Ashkelon area later Friday. One landed inside the city, another fell just outside, and two more landed in nearby open fields shortly after an alarm was sounded. Defense establishment officials said at least two of the rockets were Grad missiles. Three people suffered from shock. All victims were evacuated to Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon. A total of 14 rockets were fired on the Western Negev on Friday. (YNET News)

November 20, 2008: The port city of Ashdod, 24 km north of the Gaza border, was this week connected to the rocket alert system already in use in Ashkelon and Sderot. It is an acknowledgement that threats by Palestinian militants to bring it within range are being taken
seriously. (Jewish Chronicle)

November 27, 2008: Gaza terrorists continued their attacks on southern Israel Thursday evening, firing a Kassam rocket that hit a home in the Eshkol region, damaging the structure wounding no one. Earlier Thursday, two rockets landed in open areas in the western Negev. The exact impact sites of the other two rockets could not initially be ascertained due to heavy fog in the area, however there were no reports of wounded or further damage.

November 29, 2008: Eight Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded Friday evening, two seriously, after mortars fired by Gaza Strip militants hit a military base near Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the western Negev. The soldiers were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva and to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Six soldiers were still hospitalized Saturday morning. Doctors had to amputate the leg of one of the soldiers who was brought to the hospital in serious condition.
(Haaretz.com)

From Monkey in the Middle:

Just imagine you are sitting down to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and a rocket lands in your home, or your neighbors, or your child's school. Imagine the stress and trauma that the people of the Western Negev have lived with these 8 years. No nation on Earth would put up with it for this long, and yet Israel has to. Why? Because the world would condemn them if they truly struck back.

This holiday season please give a small donation to the Sderot Media Center. Help make a traumatized child's Hanukkah a little more joyful.



It has been said by many that only Jews can make light of a tragedy. That when things are bad they turn to comedy. And so it is in Israel with the situation in the Western Negev. And only Yaakov Kirschen can do it best.

From Dry Bones

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And Still The Rockets Fall

Cross posted from Monkey in the Middle

While for the last few days the world has been riveted to the news coming out of Mumbai, the Western Negev has been under rocket fire from Gaza. While rocket fire isn't as a glamorous news story as terrorist attacks, they are just another form of violence from the Religion of Peace.

Eight IDF soldiers were injured Friday when a barrage of mortar shells was fired from Gaza towards an army base near the southern town of Nahal Oz.

Two of the soldiers were seriously wounded, and one of them suffered a head injury. The other six were lightly to moderately injured. All eight were evacuated to hospitals in Ashkelon and Beersheba.

Two of the mortars landed inside the base. One fell on the officers' quarters and another fell on the female soldiers' quarters. According to international reports, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two others landed in nearby open spaces, in Shaar Ha Negev Regional Council. Another two landed in the vicinity of Netiv Haasara, but no injuries or damage were reported.

The security coordinator in Nahal Oz, Benny Sela, told Ynet that the barrage could be heard throughout the area. "I immediately ordered the kibbutz members to take cover in their shelters," he said.

"We searched for fallen shells, but luckily for us they didn't fall in the kibbutz but rather in the nearby base. The army told us to stay near the bomb shelters."

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the mortar fire came in response to an earlier clash between IDF soldiers and gunmen attempting to plant an explosive device near the border fence.

"We have said from the beginning that any Israeli breach will be met with a response, and this was a response," Barhoum said.

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The Israelis wouldn't be closing the border crossing and firing into Gaza if Hamas would just stop the rocket attacks. It is that simple. But Hamas won't stop. It will continue to attack Israel then cry to the world that the Israelis are firing back. And the world believes Hamas. For PalArabs are to be treated as if they are an oppressed people. Yet they are causing damage to Israel, both physically and mentally.

Psychological Trauma Increasing in Sderot

By Anav Silverman - Sderot Media center

In a recent study conducted by NATAL (Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War), researchers discovered that close to 56% of Sderot residents have suffered in some way from Palestinian rocket attacks. According to report, presented by Natal Community Staff Director, Dr. Roni Berger in Beersheva on November 24, nearly half of Sderot's population has been either physically or emotionally damaged by Palestinian rocket fire.

Over 4, 000 Sderot residents are suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) while one third of Sderot children, ages 13 to 18, have trauma-related learning disorders.

PTSD is a severe and ongoing reaction to a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm to the person, according to the National Institute for Mental Health. People who develop PTSD may have witnessed a loved one who was harmed in a traumatic event or were victims themselves.

Symptoms of PTSD usually begin three months after the ordeal but can also emerge years afterward. Some people can recover within 6 months while others have symptoms that last for much longer. For some people, the condition becomes chronic.

"The initial symptoms of shock include an accelerated heart rate, dry mouth, limbs 'falling asleep,' a sense of fainting, or seeming paralyzed or emotionally detached," says Gabi Schreiber chief of psychiatry at Ashkelon's Barzilia hospital.

Dr. Adrianne Katz, head of the Sderot Mental Health Center says that the shock impacts the victim's ability to function for months after the experiencing a Palestinian rocket explosion. "Many rocket terror victims suffer from depression, sleepless nights, severe anxiety, and have trouble going back to a regular routine," she says.

The NATAL study showed that almost 50% of Sderot residents know someone who has been killed in a Palestinian rocket attack, while 65% personally know someone wounded in an attack. Over 90% of Sderot residents have experienced a Palestinian Qassam explosion at some point-whether it be in a neighborhood, home, school, business or other residential setting.

Dr. Mina Zemach and the Dahaf Polling Institute conducted the research in order to compare Sderot to other communities outside of Palestinian missile range. Sderot residents made up the test group, while residents of Ofakim, a town of similar socio-economic makeup to Sderot but not under rocket attack, served as the control group.

Photo by Noam Bedein

The study revealed that three times as many Sderot residents had gone to a spiritual counselor (such as a rabbi), and a family doctor than did Ofakim residents.

Dr. Roni Berger explained that there were several reasons why Sderot residents suffered from higher degrees of trauma than residents other Israeli communities within rocket range. "The fortifications in Sderot are poorer, and the population is weaker as well. The social unity is smaller. It's a population who felt, and still feels, abandoned."

In addition, 45% of the Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip target Sderot according to IDF intelligence.

Although adults in Sderot showed significantly higher levels of trauma and stress in the study than adults living in other Gaza vicinity communities, children of Gaza vicinity communities did not fair so differently from Sderot children. Close to 75% of children living in Gaza vicinity communities, ages 12-14 suffer from symptoms of
PTSD compared to 86.6% of Sderot children.

"Only a minority of those suffering from PTSD actually seek help," Dr. Roni Berger told Sderot Media Center. NATAL, a non-government organization seeks to reach out those Sderot residents who otherwise would receive help. "NATAL's staff has been going door to door for the past two years in our mobile units, visiting Sderot families and offering them social support," says Dr. Berger. "We teach these families how to cope with the stress and panic that result with each rocket attack."

"In a way, this is much more effective then simply providing residents with a psychological diagnosis," adds Dr. Berger. "NATAL health professionals give Sderot residents the skills to relax. One of the most important things is for the residents to learn to talk about their experiences [with rocket attacks]."

"Unfortunately those residents who don't know how to cope, become worse," says Dr. Berger. "Those who do cope 'well' are also not immune to trauma symptoms-they also pay some sort of psychological price for living under Palestinian rockets and it may manifest itself in strained family relationships or tension at work."

The constant downplay of the psychological impact of Palestinian rocket fire in the international and Israeli media has unfortunately shifted important focus from the reality on the ground--Sderot residents after eight years of Qassam fire are gradually becoming psychologically crippled by the constant trauma of Palestinan rocket attacks. One of the most ironic phenomenas is that the concept, post trauma is not even relevant to Sderot residents. The constant renewal of rocket attacks has not allowed Sderot children and families to recover from past Qassam barrages. This constant state panic and stress that plagues Sderot residents is a continuing ordeal that remains theirs alone.

Again I ask my reader to donate to the Sderot Media Center. The funds go directly to those effected by the daily attacks by Hamas.

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The Rocket Fire Continues: Sderot Resident Wounded

From the Sderot Media Center

Throughout Monday morning, the Tzeva Adom (Code Red) sounded in communities in the western Negev, as Palestinian terrorists fired a barrage of Qassam rockets at Eshkol from Gaza. Approximately seven Qassam missiles landed in the Eshkol region, causing damage to several houses on a western Negev kibbutz. An additional five Qassam missiles were fired at the western Negev in the afternoon and evening, causing no reported damage or injury.

On Sunday evening, November 16, a Sderot man was injured in a rocket attack, and sent another two Israelis into shock.

The rocket shrapnel caused injuries to the man's hands and head. Two other Qassam missiles were fired earlier, landing in the Eshkol region.

View Video and Read the Report here

From Monkey in the Middle:

The so-called truce is over and again rockets are raining down over the Western Negev. The West does nothing except to condemn Israel for closing the border with Gaza. Olmert does nothing but appease the terrorists. The people of the region live with the knowledge that their lives are in danger on a daily basis.

You, my gentle truthseeker, can do something to help. If you have a blog, please cross post this. Let your voice be heard against the daily violence that the media is covering up against the poeple of Israel. Call or write your Congressman and Senator. Let them know you support the people of the Western Negev and not Hamas. And please, click on the logo below and give generously to the Sderot Media Center. The funds you donate are used to help the people of the Western Negev cope with the stress of living under the threat of daily rocket attacks.




Cross posted at Monkey in the Middle

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Gaza Ceasefire Update: 62 Palestinian Rockets and Mortars fired at Israel in 24 hours

Cross posted at Monkey in the Middle

November 4-5, 2008: Hamas renewed Qassam rocket fire against Israeli civilians living in the Negev throughout Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. Hamas terrorists fired 46 Qassam rockets and 16 mortar shells at the western Negev region.

The rockets damaged several green houses in the western Negev. Two rockets landed in Ashkelon,one which hit a quiet neighborhood, and sent three people into shock and trauma.
This escalation in Palestinian rocket fire has been the most serious breach in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire to date. In addition to the massive rocket barrage, 21 Qassam rockets and 26 mortar shells have been fired at Israel during the past five months of the ceasefire.
The massive rocket attack came about when IDF Special Forces entered Gaza to blow up a tunnel dug by Hamas terrorists that was created in order to abduct Israeli soldiers. The tunnel's end surfaced into a Gaza home, which the Palestinian terrorists blew up during the course of fighting with Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (IICC), reports that Hamas operatives have dug a large number of tunnels between Egypt and Gaza throughout the ceasefire. On October 28, 29 and November 2 the Palestinian media reported that about 20 tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Executive Force collapsed after stormy weather and heavy rainfall. According to Egyptian security sources, 13 tunnels were destroyed (Agence France Presse, November 3). Some of them had been dug under the cemetery in Rafah, and graves collapsed into the flooded tunnels (Quds Press), October 29).
In the middle of Sinai, Egyptian security forces uncovered an explosives cache containing eight rockets ready for smuggling into the Gaza Strip (Al-Khalij, October 30). Hamas propaganda ignores and even denies the continuing smuggling of large quantities of weapons into the Gaza Strip through the tunnels and sends foreign correspondents the false message that the tunnels are only used to smuggle civilian goods and are necessary because of Israel 's "siege" of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas smuggles weapons, money, terrorist operatives, foodstuffs, fuel and civilian and military equipment into the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the tunnels. Hamas oversees and to a great extent controls the industry. In the assessment of the IICC, there are several hundred tunnels running under the Philadelphi route, i.e., the Gaza-Egypt border. Rafah mayor Issa al-Nashar told both the Guardian and the Independent that there are about 400 tunnels, most of which are located in Rafah.

The tunnel industry is an important source of employment for Rafah residents as well as a source of income for Hamas and the tunnel contractors. It is estimated that thousands of workers and terrorist operatives are employed in digging the tunnels, operating them and smuggling. According to the British Independent newspaper, there are an estimated 6,000 workers in the industry. The profit from each tunnel is estimated at $30-$50,000 a month. The cost of digging a tunnel is estimated at $60-$70,000. Half of the amount is paid to the owners of the houses under which the tunnel openings are hidden and the other half buys digging equipment and pays the salaries of the engineer who designed it and of the diggers. An operational tunnel, according to the Independent, can be bought or sold for up to $150,000.

As the Hamas leadership continues to sponsor the building of tunnels, which they consider central to their economic infrastructure, the quiet that Sderot residents have experienced seems to be coming to a gradual end. Although the official date to the conclusion of the ceasefire is December 19, Palestinian terrorist operatives are continuing to fire rockets. Several more Qassam rockets were fired upon Israeli civilians throughout Wednesday and early Thursday morning, November 6. On Thursday, Sderot residents woke up to the sound of the red alert siren, Tzeva Adom, at two in the morning, which was followed by a rocket explosion that vibrated throughout the city.

From Monkey in the Middle:

The cease-fire is now over, and again Israeli civilians are being placed at risk. The world does nothing while except to condemn Israel for striking back.

If the Palestinians put 1/2 of the effort and money that they spend on tunnels and weapons into useful constructive ideas like an infrastructure or real industries, they would see a growth in their economy. Instead they choose to accept handouts from the world.

I ask you to click on the link below and give a donation to the Sderot Media Center. Your donation does not go to weapons of war, but to actually help the people of the Western Negev rebuild their homes, businesses and lives. Please give generously.

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In the Name of God

Cross posted from Monkey in the Middle

by Livnat Shaubi, 23, Sderot

Ordinariness
An explosion's echo.
Smokey mushrooms in the sky.
The smell of burning.
A shout.
An alarm.
People gathering in a mass.
Women crying.
Babies whining.
The storm after the silence.
A vision of the end of days.
Broken shouts of mothers at their children.
Tears of friends falling on fresh graves.
Fifteen seconds of life.
The wail of an ambulance cutting through the crowd
Freezes, threatens, and silences all.
Eyes suffering from what they see.
A heart shot through.
A child hurt.
"Color Red!" the siren shouts, the color of blood.
A direct hit,
Hurts, chokes
the heart.
Prayer,
A shout,
A warning,
Eyes tearing
Fifteen seconds
Tzeva adom! Color red!
Fifteen seconds to count backwards
To life or death.

From Monkey in the Middle:

The people of Sderot have endured 8 years of daily attacks from Gaza. The return of Gaza to the Palestinians didn't stop the attacks (as they were promised by President Bush and the UN), they escalated their attacks. Even during this so-called truce, the rockets fall daily.

Please donate to the Sderot Media Center. The money they collect is used to help emotionally, financially and spiritually the people of Sderot and the Western Negev. Just click on the logo below. Thank you.

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Sderot Under Fire: A CASE IN POINT AS TO WHY THE TWO STATE SOLUTION WILL NOT WORK

Cross posted from Monkey in the Middle

By Noam Bedein

Early in September, 2008, I was invited to take part in a press conference in Oslo, the capitol of Norway. I had the honor of sitting with the Israeli Ambassador to Norway, distinguished representatives of the Norwegian media, and members of the Norwegian Parliament. I was there as the head of the Sderot Media Center. The title of the press conference was: " Iran at Sderot's Backdoor'

That afternoon in Oslo, for the first time in their lives, the Norwegian people learned about the rockets and "the rocket way of life" in Sderot. Sderot is the only town in the world, and the western Negev desert is the only region in the world, whose inhabitants have learned to live with the fact that Palestinian terrorist militias fire rockets at them and their homes every day. These people live with the fact that somebody is trying to kill them, and to kill their children, and to kill everyone they know.

The raw material for these weapons comes indirectly from Iran. Syria and Egypt facilitate its delivery to Gaza, where skilled engineers transform it into rockets and other weapons, and where terrorist squads fire these rockets at small Israeli towns. Thus did Hamas become a branch of the Iranian Islamic revolution in Gaza, just as Hezbollah had already become in Lebanon.

While some Norwegian Parliament members did show sympathy and said that they more clearly understood Sderot and Gaza, other members of the Norwegian parliament rationalized the Gaza rocket reality with the commonly held illusion that If Israel did not occupy the West Bank, and if the Palestinians had an independent state in the West bank and Gaza, there would be peace and security for all, and the Arabs would no longer have to fire rockets at Israel.

In other words- firing lethal missiles at Israeli civilians is justified because the Palestinians have no state, because Israel continues to occupy the West Bank.

The subtext: promoting the "two state solution" provides an excuse to justify on-going rocket fire at Israeli civilians, because people who think that way view the continuous rocket fire as a struggle for national liberation, and therefore for peace with Israel - after that liberation has been achieved.

The notion that the rockets' purpose is to force an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory, followed by a peaceful settlement, gives countries around the world an excuse to send aid to the Palestinian Authority - which already receives the largest amount of per capita financial assistance in human history.

Indeed, the Norwegian government gave one hundred million dollars to the PA last year, continuing to send this money even after it was demonstrated that much of it went to Hamas, an openly terrorist organization that rejects any thought of peace with, or recognition of, Israel. Money given to Hamas is money to create terror.

People who think they represent Israel and who claim that Israel must support the two-state solution thus legitimize Hamas and the whole Palestinian terror network by saying, in effect, that the Palestinians have a RIGHT to a sovereign state, and that they are merely fighting for that right when they kill Israeli civilians. If even Israel concedes that the Palestinians deserve a state, then Israel also concedes that the Palestinians have the right to fight to get it. The people of Sderot, the surrounding communities, and Israeli society in general pay for that interpretation of the two-state solution.

In fact, the 'two state solution' is mistakenly used by Israel 's advocates to justify Israel 's approach for peace - even under fire or as a political solution.-
When Israel's advocates supporting a two state solution while Sderot and the Western Negev remain under constant missile threat - especially after Israel pulled out all Jewish communities and Israeli army bases from Gaza strip, on August 2005 - they simply ignore the fact that 7,000 missiles have been fired towards Israel from the de facto Palestinian state that has been spawned in Gaza over the past three years...

That is what a two-state solution really means - it means giving Israel 's enemies a convenient base from which to terrorize Israel 's civilian population. Sderot and the surrounding area have been part of Israel since 1948; Israel did not take Sderot during the Six Day War of 1967, in contrast to the West Bank and Gaza. If the Arabs really wanted a two state solution, and if they would then be satisfied with their part of the old Palestine Mandate, then they have no reason to attack Sderot, because Sderot is not and has never been part of the area that would become part of Palestine. That the Palestinians treat Sderot as occupied territory for them to "liberate" indicates that they do not want a two state solution as part of a final and peaceful settlement with Israel. They want a two state solution as a temporary phase until they can take the whole of Israel.

Let Hamas speak for itself. On 26 November, 2006, the day before the ceasefire before this one began - a ceasefire that lasted six months and saw more than three hundred rockets fired at Israel - Hamas issued this press statement: "We will not stop firing at the Zionist settlement Sderot, until the last citizen of Sderot leaves."

The map of " Palestine " on sale at any PA office replaces Sderot with the name Najd, Ashkelon with al-Majdal, and Ashdod with Isdud. Compare that map with the "peace loving PA" by opening the PA's web-site- http://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Najd
" Najd- (Sderot)- Ethnically cleansed 24,649 days ago."

Are those the words of people who want to recognize Israel and live in peace with a Jewish state?

When the Arabs speak of the right of the return, they are not referring to a desire to go back to the West Bank and Gaza, but rather to the Israel of 1948 - the Israel that existed before the Six Day War. Palestine Authority schoolbooks show no rights for Jews living in the land of Israel, and they make no mention of the history of Jews in land of Israel..

We must address these basic issues of the conflict. We must raise some new questions. These issues must be discussed, first for Israeli society itself, and then for the foreign press, foreign politicians, government officials from abroad, and world opinion itself.

People must know:
By what right was the State of Israel established?
What were the historical and legal rights of the Jewish people to the land of Israel ?
And why has the Palestinian refugee problem persisted in a way that no other refugee problem in the world has continued?

It is the responsibility of anyone who speaks for Israel to emphasize that during the late 1940's more than forty million refugees around the world were resettled. Only one group continues to define itself as refugee - wallowing sixty years later in fifty-nine UNRWA refugee camps, financed by four hundred million dollars contributed by nations of the world to kid the Arabs into thinking they will one day return to Arab neighborhoods and Arab villages that have no existed for a couple of generations.

This Palestinian propaganda line of their "inalienable" right of return remains unexamined, even though most countries in the world accord it some form of recognition and blindly vote for annual UN resolutions that support this specious notion.

While millions of dollars are spent to find the best way to 'entertain' people with the Arab-Israeli conflict, the basic assumptions underlying the most commonly offered solution to that conflict are not being questioned. People are being fooled.

No nation in the world would tolerate even one rocket being fired at its people. But Israel is expected to accept not one rocket, but rockets as part of its daily life. We are even supposed to feel sorry for those who try to kill us, if the origin of their hate for us is that the Palestinian people have no state of their own.

The current "cease fire" with the Palestinian state regime in Gaza is scheduled to end on December 19. of this year. After that, everyone expects the Palestinians to resume their attacks on little Sderot - to "liberate" Palestine, they will tell us.

From Monkey in the Middle:

Again and again we hear from the Moonbats on the left that there aught to be a 2-state solution. The problem with that is the fact that neither Hamas or the PA want a 2-state solution. They want 1 state. A nation in which they control everything and all Jews in the nation are:

1. Dead
2. Displaced
3. Under the Dhimmitude.

This cannot be allowed to happen. Oslo is dead. The Bush initiative is dead. The idea of a 2-state solution is dead. And pretty soon, if things do not change, the Western Negev's population will be again under daily attack.

You can help. Click on the logo below and donate to the Sderot Media Center. Your donation helps the people of Sderot and the Western Negev with counselling, food, clothing and just sometimes a shoulder to cry on.

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New Hamas Military Exercises

Cross posted from Monkey in the Middle

By David Bedein

Jerusalem - The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that Hamas military forces have begun training almost nightly at a facility in the central Gaza Strip.

The facility, referred to as Battalion 13, is located near the Gaza town of Khan Yunis.

Hamas captured the facility during its June 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources said Hamas' military wing, Izzadin al-Qassam, has been conducting live fire exercises nearly every night at Battalion 13. The sources said Hamas troops practice squadron and platoon maneuvers in full battle gear near the Mughazi refugee camp.

"Hamas has accelerated its exercises because of the ceasefire," a Palestinian source said. "The exercises start at the training ground but often move through residential areas."

Hamas has been joined by virtually every Palestinian militia along the southern Gaza coast. It has sought to improve coordination between its military and militia allies to counter any potential Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, expected by 2009.

The training involves between 50 and 100 soldiers each night. Hamas has accelerated recruitment and training as well as tested a range of weapons, such as rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and missiles.

Palestinian militias have been identified as the Iranian- and Saudi-sponsored Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Popular Resistance Committees and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Virtually all of their exercises have taken place in the area of the former Jewish settlements dismantled by Israel in 2005.

From Monkey in the Middle:

This is just the lull before the storm. Hamas is just waiting until the end of the "truce" before they start on their next wave of attacks. And what will the Israeli government do? Will they continue the failed policy of appeasement that Ehud Olmert championed? Or will they take the inititive and destroy Hamas? I hope it is the latter, but I believe it will be the former.

And what will happen to the people of Sderot and the Western Negev? What always happens. They will suffer daily attacks.

The time has come for the Israelis to ignore the ramblings of the leftist anti-Semites and to destroy Hamas once and for all time. For Hamas has vowed to not only destroy all of Israel, but to kill every Jew in the land. Every man, woman and child to "purify" the land for their use.

The West stays silent on this. The Israeli government appeases the terrorists. And the people of Sderot suffer the attacks.

Please make a donation to the Sderot Media Center by clicking on the link below. The funds that are collected go to help the people of Sderot and the Western Negev. The West and Israeli government will not help them. Won't you?

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Does my baby not have the right to be protected? Does he not have the right to life?

Cross posted at Monkey in the Middle

Imagine yourself a young mother with a one-year old child. Imagine that you have only 15 seconds from when the warning is sounded to get to safety or you and/or your child will be injured or killed. This is the reality for those mothers who live in Sderot. Mothers like
Dena Cohen.

With her baby in her hands, Sderot mother Dena Cohen has only 15 seconds to dash to safety when she hears the warning siren of an impending rocket attack ring out across her hometown of Sderot.

On Thursday, she was the first resident of that city to address the United Nation's Human Rights Council and to give them an intimate portrait of what it was like to live under the constant rocket threat from the Palestinians in neighboring Gaza.

She spoke on the same day that Archbishop Desmond Tutu addressed the council and condemned Israel's 2006 shelling of the Palestinian
village of Beit Hanoun, in which 19 civilians were killed.

"All human life is equal and all innocent suffering is tragic," said Cohen. But, she told the Council, it should also understand what it is live on the Israeli side of the border, knowing that a rocket could fall at any time.

Cohen, 22, who has a one-year-old son, said, "Every night, before falling asleep, I face the same dilemma. What will happen if a rocket falls on my son's room?"

"We have fifteen seconds between the alarm and the explosion. Fifteen seconds to run to the closest shelter. In which direction to go? How to react?" she asked.

During the winter, she said, a rocket fell near their home, shattering the windows.

Eight-year-old Osher Twito, who lost one of his legs in a Kassam attack.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

A shard from that rocket injured their eight-year old neighbor, Osher Twito, who lost his leg as a result. His eighteen-year-old brother was also seriously wounded, Cohen told the Council.

"I will never forget their cries. Every time the alarm sounds, I know that this situation can happen again, or even end more tragically," Cohen said.

Sderot, she said, is a city in shock. At any moment an alarm can sound that would send its 20,000 residents racing for cover.

Since Israel withdrew from Gaza, the Palestinians there have launched thousands of rockets in the direction of the south, she said.

"I would like to ask: Does my baby not have the right to be protected? Does he not have the right to life?" said Cohen.

The Council is dominated by Muslim nations and has been widely cited for frequently and heavily criticizing Israel while virtually ignoring rights problems elsewhere in the world.

Tutu tried to strike a balanced tone Thursday when he said that the council should look at suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.

But he also said in compiling a report on Israeli-Palestinian violence for the council that he had been struck by the lack of international concern for Palestinians.

"The international community is failing to fulfill its role in respect of the suffering of the people of Gaza," he said.

Full Story

Desmond Tutu should go back to South Africa and look to the injustice and discrimination in his own land. His place is there. It is well known to the world that Desmond Tutu, like so many Africans is an anti-Semite and would love to see every Jew in the world killed. Heck he would love to be doing the killing.

Dena Cohen doesn't have the world's media on her side. They side with those who are trying to kill her and her son. Those who wish, like Desmond Tutu and Barack Hussein Obama, to finish the job that Hitler started. No one cares about Dena Cohen in this world.

In other news from Sderot:

Rocket fire from Gaza breaks ceasefire again
By Spencer Ho

A Qassam missile fired by terrorists in Gaza struck just outside of a residential neighborhood in the west end of Sderot, causing a small brush fire at a construction site.

No injuries were reported.

This was the first incident of Qassam fire in the western Negev since terrorists fired two Qassams Aug. 25, after which Defense Minister Ehud Barak closed crossings between Gaza and Israel, except for humanitarian purposes, for nearly two days.

View video here

The cease-fire is over it seems. As if the rockets ever stopped. More and more Israelis will be running for cover. Code Red will sound and they will have only 15 seconds to get to safety. How many more Osher Twitos will there be? How many more mothers will grieve over their sons and daughters? How long do the people of Sderot and the Western Negev have to live through this horror.

I ask you to dig deep into your pockets and to click the logo below. Give a little or a lot. The money you give goes directly to the people of the area. And feel free to cross post this at will.

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Gaza Strip military buildup

Cross posted from Monkey in the Middle

As part of the Gaza Strip military buildup, women are trained for combat and for suicide bombing attacks.

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

As part of the Gaza Strip military buildup, women are trained for combat and for suicide bombing attacks. Hamas and the PIJ allowed media coverage of female combatants during the lull in the fighting. Such public messages are designed to deter Israel from entering the Gaza Strip in the future

A poster titled “Women suicide bombers” (Al-Istishhadiyyat) dedicated to Palestinian women who perpetrated suicide bombing attacks. In 2008, it was prominently featured on the Hamas website Palestine-info.

Overview

1. As part of the military buildup of the Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which continues on a large scale even when the lull in the fighting is in place, the terrorist organizations provide military training to women, teenagers, and even children.1 During the lull, the terrorist organizations allowed a Lebanese TV correspondent (and, prior to that, the Al-Jazeera TV channel2) to film and interview women terrorists. It is our assessment that by doing so, the terrorist organizations wish to communicate their commitment to the struggle against Israel and deter the IDF from entering the Gaza Strip following the lull.

2. The women interviewed and featured on the media undergo defensive training (in case the IDF enters the Gaza Strip) and offensive training (such as firing rockets and perpetrating suicide bombing attacks). The women train in firing small arms, launching RPG rockets, throwing grenades, ambushes, attacking IDF soldiers, firing rockets, and blowing themselves up near IDF soldiers using explosive belts.

3. In the terrorist organizations' view, using women for combat activities has considerable operational advantages, the main of which is the relative ease they can operate without raising suspicions, both in the Gaza Strip (during IDF operations) and when perpetrating terrorist attacks in Israeli territory. It should be noted that, in the past, the various terrorist organizations (mainly Hamas, the PIJ, and Fatah) used women terrorists to perpetrate suicide bombing attacks in Israeli territory3 and to hit IDF soldiers during activities in the Gaza Strip. For example:

a. On November 6, 2006, during IDF Operation Autumn Clouds, a woman suicide bomber attempted to hit a Giv'ati force south of Beit Hanoun. The force spotted the suicide bomber and motioned her to stop, at which point she blew herself up, lightly injuring an IDF soldier. The PIJ claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.

The suicide bomber Mirfat Amin Mas'oud reading her “last will” before
leaving to perpetrate the suicide bombing attack. She said that hopefully
she would go to heaven and meet her mother (Al-Jazeera, November 6, 2006).

b. On November 23, 2006, an IDF force spotted a female suicide bomber on the outskirts of the Jebaliya refugee camp. She was carrying an explosive charge and approaching the force. She blew herself up, lightly injuring four IDF soldiers. Hamas claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack. The suicide bomber, who had formerly led women's demonstrations in the Gaza Strip, was 57 years old. It was the first time such an old female suicide bomber was dispatched to perpetrate a terrorist attack.

Left: suicide bomber Fatima Najar reading her last will before
embarking on the suicide bombing (Al-Aqsa TV, November 23, 2006);
right: Fatima Najar leading a women’s demonstration at the entrance of
Beit Hanoun in the winter of 2006 (NTV, August 19, 2008)





4. Following is a summary of several reports which appeared on the Arab media, dealing with the terrorist organizations' training and use of female suicide bombers in the Gaza Strip during the past year.

Hamas's Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades

5. On August 19, 2008, the Lebanese TV channel NTV (Al-Jadeed) aired a program about women belonging to Hamas's Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades training in the Gaza Strip. The program showed women training in firing small arms, throwing grenades, and ambushing and attacking IDF soldiers. The correspondent noted: “Every year, dozens of women in the Gaza Strip undergo military training, including students, mothers, and working women. They know that their part in the conflict is not limited to taking care of the injured and the children. [They know] that what they do may change the balance of power [between the Palestinians and Israel ].” Following are several images from the NTV program:







Left:Throwing a grenade while shouting “Allah Akbar"
right:Shooting a rifle with a telescopic sight
middle:Firing small arms














6. Following are photographs taken before the lull in the fighting of women belonging to the Hamas movement on training and operative activity. The photographs appeared on the Internet forum of the popular TV channel Al-Jazeera (January 31, 2008).


left:The so-called “the woman who desires Jerusalem ”,
operative of the Jerusalem Brigades (NTV, August 19)
right:The explosive belt belonging to “the woman who desires Jerusalem” (NTV, August 19)

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad

7. A show aired on Lebanese TV channel NTV ( August 19, 2008 ) featured a female operative of the PIJ's Jerusalem Brigades. Referring to herself as “Ashiqat al-Quds” (i.e., the woman who desires Jerusalem), she presented a ready-to-use explosive belt and expressed her willingness to blow herself up among IDF soldiers in case of an Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.




left:The so-called “the woman who desires Jerusalem ”,
operative of the Jerusalem Brigades (NTV, August 19)
right:The explosive belt belonging to “the woman who desires Jerusalem” (NTV, August 19)






8. The operative told the Lebanese television reporter that she had taken part in combat operations before and noted that she was highly motivated to continue her activity. She also said she was engaged, but that she informed her fiancé that she would have to leave if duty called. She further stated: "Even if the Jews come on my wedding day, I will go out and confront them on my wedding day. Nothing will stop me on my way to martyrdom..."

Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

9. The Al-Jazeera forum ( January 31, 2008 ) published photographs of female Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Fatah's military wing) operatives on training. It was said on the forum that Fatah women have carried out suicide bombing attacks.



left:Women operatives belonging to Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades networks training in the Gaza Strip
right:Women operatives belonging to Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades networksThe Palestinian Islamic Jihad.






From Monkey in the Middle:

This is just the lull before all out war will break out between Hamas and Israel. And again the world will scream foul if a single Palestinian civilian even stubs their toe. But this next time, Israel should attack on the ground only after they use saturation bombing and make Gaza look like Dresden or Tokyo did in 1945. Maybe then the Palestinians will stop their attacks.

As usual I ask all to click on the logo below and give generously to the Sderot Media Center. Your contribution goes to the needy families of Sderot and the Western Negev, providing mental health support, financial support, and food to those who undergo a daily bombardment. Give generously.

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