Fear and trauma as rockets impact Israeli town

Middle East Features

Jan 17, 2008, 17:30 GMT

Sderot, Israel - For residents of Sderot, 'Red Alert' is not a cliche, but a way of life, a harsh warning telling them they have at most 15 seconds to find shelter until a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, less than two kilometres away, lands in their town. 'When you hear the warning, you hug the wall for shelter as tightly as possible and hope you don't become part of this Russian roulette,' says Noam Bedein, of the privately-funded Sderot Media Centre. Gaza-based Palestinian militants have fired over 2,752 rockets at Sderot - and more than 6,000 in total at areas adjacent to the strip - since June 2001. Although Sderot is dotted with bomb shelters, not everyone can reach them in the miniscule period between when the Hebrew phrase 'Tzeva Adom' (literally, 'Colour Red') is broadcast over loudspeakers throughout the town and the time the projectiles land. The rockets, known collectively as 'Qassams,' although the different militant groups have different names for their projectiles, are the dominant fact of life in the largely blue-collar town. People plan their daily routine around them, taking their children to school by a route which passes as many public bomb shelters as possible, or showering as quickly as they can, or keeping the volume of their radios and televisions low. There seems to be no schedule for the rockets, although they often strike in the early morning or late afternoon, when the streets of the city are busier than usual as people go to or from work. Nor is there a pattern. Some days no rockets, or only one or two, may fall, other days there may be more - well over 120 rockets were fired at southern Israel over three days this week. So far, the fatality toll in Sderot from the rockets has been relatively light, but it is often a close-run thing. On September 3, when the Islamic Jihad fired eight rockets in the morning, in what it said was a 'gift' for the start of the Israeli school year, one landed only 20 metres from the town's crowded open- air market. 'It was a disaster,' one witness recalls. 'People ran for their lives, stumbling over each other. One old woman was unable to flee. She screamed and then fell over. There was a bang, followed by 10 minutes of hysteria.' Effects of the rockets are seen all over the town, in the potholes in the roads which are actually small craters caused by Qassam hits, in the shelters dotted throughout the town, the colourful, almost garish decorations on some of them totally failing to disguise their purpose, and in the huge, awkward 'canopies' on stilts built over schools to provide some sort of protection. The rockets are makeshift affairs, each packed with up to 5 kilograms of explosives and metal shrapnel, and are not particularly lethal, having claimed only 12 lives. But for Sderot residents, who go about their daily - and nightly - business with one ear permanently cocked for the warning, they are anything but an irritant and few, if any, of the town's 20,000 residents are unaffected. Raziel Sasson, 13, was injured some years back when he fell out of a tree as a rocket hissed by and exploded in the vicinity. He still suffers from anxiety attacks and feels safest sleeping in the 1.5 metre by 1.5 metre metal and concrete shelter erected for him in the corner of the living room of his house. His family, like many others in the town, sleep each night in the living room as well, the better to get to a shelter if the alert sounds. Even the kennel for their two mongrel dogs has some sort of protection. Hanna Alkharar was caught in a rocket barrage as she sat in her car at a stop light and is now scared to leave her home in the western suburbs of Sderot. One third of her husband's income - not very large to begin with - goes toward paying for the medicines she needs. 'My life is destroyed. The trauma turned me into a prisoner in my own house,' she says, her stomach muscles twitching compulsively. The Alkharar family would like to move to a safer city, away from the strip, but they cannot afford to do so. Around one in seven residents have however fled the town and judging from the 'for sale' or 'for rent' signs on buildings, many of those remaining want to follow suit. Some 3,000 files have been opened at the Sderot Mental Health Centre - which has only four psychologists - as a result of the traumas induced by the rockets, and 30 per cent of the children in the city suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, with symptoms including sleeping difficulties, nightmares, development regressions, bed-wetting and agoraphobia. Parents have different ways of calming their children. One mother buys her daughter red-coloured candy or toys, so the child, who because of the broadcast warning associates the red with a missile strike, will not come to associate the colour only with danger. Residents in the town are bitter at what they see as the lack of response on behalf of the government to their plight. Many of them feel the Israeli army has to embark on a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to end the rocket threat. If they want to help us, they have to attack Gaza,' says Alon Davidi, a local resident who heads 'the Committee for a Secure Sderot.' 'We don't want charity,' he says. 'We want a future.' © 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Wm. GavinJan 18th, 2008 - 15:54:59

The United Nations should be disbanded for it is nothing more than a continuing criminal enterprise at this point. They have robbed Israel of its sovereign lands and have established a terrorist state to try and destroy it. Why are these palistinian pigs allowed to have weapons to fire into Israel? And why are the countries that supply the weapons to those pigs not punished with at the very least economic sanctions? The United Nations is a useless waste of money.

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Hamas are the Hero'sJan 18th, 2008 - 16:00:28

Hamas is defending its right to regain its country that the Israeli's occupy, so any act from a 'resistance force' can be legitimised as the occupiers are the ones that have placed themselves in a position of danger, like the thief that breaks into your home, you have every right to defend your home, especially when the thief sais it is now his home, and these are my children that I am moving into my new home, lol, only a Zionist could put himself in someone elses home and claim it as their birthright!

The Myth that is Israel will only cause the Zionist's harm, year after year after year until freedom is gained, they know that even if there was a peace agreament made, in time as the ME countries developed greater strength, eventually there will be a group that will claim the country back for the Palestinians and for all Arabs. The Zionists live in a dillusional world and will only be satisfied when the whole middleast is in chaos, hence the best time to deal with these madmen and their continued occupation is to confront, weaken and dissarm, then talk peace.

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HAMAS is the problemJan 19th, 2008 - 02:53:30

HAMAS continues to allow rockets to be fired at Israel knowing the consequences. They understand Israel will fire back, and the borders will be closed.

HAMAS was elected to lead the Palestinians - they should lead them to a better life. They are putting their own ideals ahead of the lives of their people, not good leadership.

HAMAS has stated they do not want peace with Israel, they want Israel to leave. They know what is required of them and they refuse.

Israel is not the problems - it's the leadership in Gaza - HAMAS that is the problem.

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enough is enoughJan 19th, 2008 - 16:45:13

'HAMAS is the problem'

Yes, but these so called 'palestinians' (Jordanian and Egyptian Arabs) are the problem as well. They voted Hamas, a theocratic criminal organization in. They seem happiest when they are living in rubble and murdering others. They should be rounded up and put on an island somewhere where they will be free to kill each other off.

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FunnyJan 20th, 2008 - 13:48:18

Its funny that all we hear and see on the news is 'Israel Kills ......' 'US troops Kill..' yet when the legitimate respond against the illigitimate then they call them Murderers, the Arabs havn't started the 'murdering' yet. And who came up with this notion that Israel is a soveriegn country, LOL, just because you say Black is White doesn't mean Black is White.

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feroxJan 21st, 2008 - 15:40:31

Time to nuke the jew pig State thus ridding the Middle East of its malignant cancer.

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You are a confused monkeyJan 22nd, 2008 - 03:07:22

So Iran is the jew pig state?

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feroxJan 22nd, 2008 - 03:44:43

“You are a confused monkeyJan 22nd, 2008 - 03:07:22

So Iran is the jew pig state”

I think not hideous hebe. Have a ham sandwich, learn to read, and then take a hike kike.

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Poppa PuffJan 23rd, 2008 - 14:22:08

Why is it that when Gaza was 'occutpied' by Egypt and the West Bank was 'occupied' by Jordan, there was no 'resistance movement' from the Palestinians. No one called to return stolen lands. Only when it is no longer under muslim control did this issue arise.
So lets call a spade a spade. The 'Palestinian movement' is a synonym for a proxy anti-semite movement. It is a way that other Arabs can support their desire to murder the Jews, all under the guise of helping there so called brethern. If there was a Palestinian movement against Egypt and Jordan, than it may be a valid point about 'occupied territories'. Since it did not exist, lets make sure we call a spade a spade - aka the Muslim desire to kill the Jews and the Palestinians false desire for a homeland which has never existed.

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shed a tearJan 27th, 2008 - 01:38:43

'Fear and trauma as rockets impact Israeli town'

Poor souls. But the therapy is well known. Starve them for a month by blocking all supplies. Cut off all power at the same time. Send in troops and butcher a few hundred at will for sport.

Rockets? What rockets?

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poor dears...Jan 28th, 2008 - 01:25:24

'Starve them for a month by blocking all supplies. Cut off all power at the same time. Send in troops and butcher a few hundred at will for sport.'

Works for me...

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michael ukJan 28th, 2008 - 11:42:26

A sad state of afairs and people could write similar storys about people and towns in gaza

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GooseFeb 3rd, 2008 - 06:27:50

Towns in Gaza??? I thought the collective term for Pallies was a whoop or troop? Cant remember the correct term for sand chimps, so sorry:( Hey ferox you still havent taken allah up on his virgins deal, better hurry or you may end up with a scabby camel. Hmm thats probably what your waiting for aint it, those camel butts making a little tent in you soiled robes (and I do mean little)?

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