I
World
Rain Of Rockets
Detroiter heads Jewish Agency contingent that witnesses Gaza missile blasts.
Robert A. Sklar
Editor
ane Sherman spent just three
hours in Sderot in the western
Negev last week. That's the Israeli
city of 20,000 people under constant ter-
rorist rocket fire launched from the Gaza
Strip, less than a mile away.
But the journey proved the most emo-
tional and haunting that she has had in
Israel in recent years.
And that's saying a lot. The Franklin
resident heads the Israel Committee of the
Jewish Agency for Israel and is a frequent
visitor to the Jewish state.
Sherman had been in the north of Israel
during the Israeli war with Hezbollah in
2006. But the Feb. 25 visit to Sderot that
she made with 20 Israel Committee mem-
bers to take the measure of the Jewish
Agency's popular Youth Futures program
was much more telling of what life is like
on the Gaza border.
It marked her third visit to Sderot in the
past year.
"I felt it very important to take the Israel
Committee to show support for this com-
munity under siege:' Sherman told the
IN on her return to the United States on
Feb. 28. "It is not enough for us to sit in
Jerusalem and talk about Sderot and the
programs we are providing:'
said.
The Sderot visit turned sour almost on
the group's arrival. Within 15 minutes,
the Color Red alert — sirens outside and
buzzers inside — sounded. Such warn-
ings come 17 seconds before rockets land,
so time becomes precious in the race for
shelter.
"We were directed into one of the two
bomb-proof shel-
ters attached to
this community
"
center; Sherman
said. "There was
no confusion, no
screaming or yell-
ing — fortunately,
very orderly movement of our group along
with the children and their mentors!'
Missile Barrage
Palestinian terrorists just inside the Gaza
border fire Kassam missiles into Sderot
and other Israeli border towns daily. The
portable missiles are small rockets about
4 feet long and largely handmade. They
have a range of 8-10 miles. Hitting civilian
targets is the objective.
"At the entrance to Sderot is an ever-
changing sign:' Sherman said. "It had the
number 5,726 when we entered and 5,738
when we departed three hours later. The
number represents the Kassam rockets
that have hit the city in the last five years."
Youth Futures is an educational and
mentoring program operating in Sderot
and 25 other towns in Israel. Young adults
ages 21-30 serve as big brothers or big
sisters to 12 to 16 kids ages 10-15 who are
at risk.
"The 25 children and 10 mentors with
whom we met made all of us proud of the
program and our involvement:' Sherman
Eye Opener
In the short time the Israel Committee was
in Sderot, it experienced three red alerts
and eight Kassam rockets. One of the kids,
10-year-old Yossi, playing outside the com-
munity center, about 100 yards from the
Israel Committee's location, was hurt.
"Little Yossi did not have the 17 seconds
to find shelter when the Kassam hit the
play area near his family's apartment:'
Sherman said. "He was struck in the
shoulder, but remains in the hospital and
recovering, though he has lost the use of
one hand:'
Sherman added, "Some young mothers
were with their children on benches near
the play area where twisted metal and bro-
ken concrete remain from the attack!'
With the all-clear signal, the group
moved back into the community center to
continue filling gift bags for soldiers for
Purim and completing get-well cards for
Israelis wounded in the rocket attacks.
j
A20
March 6 • 2008
Above: Sderot kids Osher and Shlomo
Right: Lilach and On are Sderot siblings
"It was surreal;' Sherman said. "The chil-
dren took this kind of life as being normal.
They moved in and out of death-threat-
ening situations as a part of their daily
schedule."
The reality is
they also have
nightmares, can
become aggres-
- Jane Sherman sive and agitated,
and are afraid
to go outside.
It's a life on the edge — every second of
every day. Social workers help the kids and
adults cope.
"Many of their parents do not want them
to come to the center for the Youth Futures
programs because they are so concerned
for their well-being:' Sherman said.
Those people who stay are
the real heroe s. ”
Constant Heartache
The same day of the Sherman-led visit, a
mother and her year-old baby were lightly
wounded.
In the last two years, Sderot's population
has shrunk 20 percent.
"Those people who stay and attempt to
adjust are the real heroes:' Sherman said.
An 8-year-old child who lost a leg 2 1/2
weeks earlier to rocket fire is a Young
Futures member. Sherman's contingent
met with his three brothers and one sister
to give them support and the gift of a DVD
player.
The very next day, 50 rockets rained on
Sderot and the surrounding area, including
Ashkelon, which is 11 miles from the Gaza
border and home to 120,000 people. Roni
Yihye, a student at Sapir College in Sderot,
was killed in the attack.
Government spokesman David Baker,
responding to the barrage, said: "Israel will
actively pursue those who strike at our
children and will take whatever steps nec-
essary to bring these lethal rocket attacks
to an end."
A senior llamas official told the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that it would
stop firing Kassam rockets if Israel
halts all military operations against the
Palestinians. Three Hamas members were
killed and at least four others wounded
earlier Feb. 25 in two separate Israeli air
strikes on the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Israelis from all over flocked
to Sderot three days earlier, Feb. 22, in a
show of solidarity. They came to shop at its
markets, eat at its restaurants or enjoy its
warm weather with hikes in nearby desert
dunes and pastures.
Activists initiated Convoy to Sderot to
help stem what JTA termed "the long-term
erosion of the hardscrabble southern
town's economy amid constant rocket
attacks."
Staying Focused
Reflecting on her unforgettable few hours
in Sderot last week, Jane Sherman was
circumspect.
"All of us had a great feeling about com-
ing here to support the local population;
Sherman said. "But we departed concerned
that perhaps we were running away from
reality:'
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
Sunday, March 2, that he's encouraged by
residents of the south.
"I spoke with the mayors of Sderot and
Ashkelon over the weekend and I felt that
there was great determination, fortitude
and appreciation for the untiring actions
of the IDF and the security forces;' Olmert
said.
Olmert won't relent on strategic strikes
at llamas inside Gaza.
"The more that llamas is hit:' he said
in remarks to his cabinet, "the greater the
chances of reaching a diplomatic agree-
ment and peace. Israel will continue to
defend its citizens and will continue to
make efforts to hold negotiations in order
to reach a dialogue and understanding
with the Palestinian leadership that wants
this."
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