about the Western news media's cover- age of the situation in Sderot. If Detroit was being bombed daily froin Canada, or homemade Mexican explosives paralyzed the citizens of San Diego and El Paso, the U.S. would not hesitate to respond. And yet every time Israel strikes back at the people who cause its citizens so much pain and hardship, it never does so without signifi- cant condemnation. The silence of the world is taken for acquiescence by the terrorists. Granted, the residents of Gaza are living in troubling conditions, caused in no small part by the failure of their leadership to priori- tize improving economic conditions over attacking Israeli civilians. Not only is Israel feeding and supplying electricity and water to a population intent on her destruc- tion, but when that aid is decreased, the world quickly jumps to blame Israel, not those responsible. In a cruel trap, Israel is essentially financing the attack on her own civilians. Only three alternatives exist beyond the policy of collective punishment, and none is particularly appealing. One is air strikes against the people responsible for these attacks. Israel already carries out such attacks in Gaza, but only against people who are about to or have just fired a Kassam missile or a mortar. Yet they are located in civilian buildings. llamas uses Palestinian residents as human shields (a war crime) to prevent Israel from attacking its militants and weapon supplies. Many Gazans go to sleep in houses that contain bombs, missiles or militants who know that if they surround themselves with enough women and children, Israel won't attack. The second option is a ground invasion of Gaza. Unofficial intelligence estimates a ground invasion of Gaza could result in more than 500 Israeli soldiers killed and more than 1,000 wounded. Additionally, hundreds of Palestinians would be wounded and killed. This is not an attrac- tive option, and it would be used only as a last resort. However, if rocket fire increases and more and more civilians are injured or killed, it is only a matter of time before Israeli public opinion demands an invasion to stop the targeting of innocent civilians. The third and final option is to uphold the status quo; to continue to hope that the rockets will miss and to ignore the fact that the missiles are getting larger, stronger and more accurate. This is not a tenable option for the people living in Sderot, something must be done, the world cannot, must not remain silent. Ben Freed, 19, is from Ann Arbor You Can Help Here are some practical suggestions for you can help the people of Sderot: • Go to www.sderotmedia.com and learn more about what is going on; pass the link to friends. The site has photographs, videos and articles in English to help you better understand the situation. • See if your local Jewish Federation has a special fund for Sderot; if not, set one up. • Lobby your congressperson and senators and alert them as to what is going on in Sderot. If they already know about it, ask why nothing is being done. • Visit connectionsisrael.com/ donate/sderot-holiday-gift-basket and buy a gift basket for a Sderot family to help make their Passover a little bit happier. • Raise awareness about the terrible living situation for those in Sderot. They are people like us who get up in the morning, go to school or have jobs, except they don't sleep as well at night because they know that if that siren goes off, they only have 15 seconds to reach safety. Take your family to the MAX! W e saw Noa last year and it was one of the most compelling musical performances we had ever seen. Our only regret was that we didn't bring our children to see her. When we found out that she would be performing at the Max, we knew that it would be an extraordinary evening, one that we would want our whole family to experience together" Jennifer & Brian D. Siegel Please join us as we celebrate Israel's 60th Anniversary. INCLUDING THE DEBUT OF A SHORT FILM BY SUE MARX FILMS Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. Max M. Fisher Music Center • 371 1 Woodward Avenue • Detroit . Tickets from $18.00 $500 Patron Ticket includes: Valet Parking and Pre-Glow To purchase tickets contact the Max M. Fisher Music Center Box Office (313) 576-5111 or online at www.detroitsymphony.com Celebrate at a post concert party in The Music Box sponsored by Federation's Young Adult Division Questions? Contact Dale Alpert Rubin at (248) 203-1520 or rubin@jfmd.org All IsraelSixty events and programs are funded by ticket sales, corporate and private donations. ISRAELI SINGING SENSATION NOA WITH THE DSO Israel sixty 1948 — 2008 With support from MscMfisher Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation powered by Jewish Federation of Motropolitan Detroit April 17 • 2008 A31