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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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.

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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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