Israel
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Stairwell To Heaven
.
Tel Avivians and Jerusalemites get a taste
of (social) life under rocket fire.
Times of Israel
W
ith Hamas widening the rockets'
reach since last Thursday, reach-
ing Tel Aviv multiple times and
close to Jerusalem late last Friday afternoon,
residents of both cities have had to think fast
about finding safety when the sirens sound.
In Tel Aviv, where there are 380 shelters,
but only 240 located in apartment build-
ings (the rest are in public buildings and not
always easily reached, according to a munici-
pality spokesperson), many residents are tak-
ing cover in stairwells, in their own buildings
or wherever they happen to reach in the one-
and-a-half-minute warning span.
Given the timing of the rockets, which
have been in broad daylight as well as in the
evening, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality has
asked residents to leave open their building
entrance doors so passersby can enter and
take cover in emergencies.
While they're waiting out the attacks, Tel
Avivians are tweeting, Instagraming and
posting to Facebook about the state of their
bomb shelter or ad-hoc stairwell "salon," a
new facet of life for the so-called capital of
Mediterranean cool.
"Turns out lots of people in my building
work from home. Another stairwell meet-
ing:' remarked one local on Sunday. Another
resident said she was caught in a stairwell in
the mall next to a beauty salon, where half
of the people in the stairwell had their hair
wrapped in foil for a coloring treatment.
"I was in an Arcaffe this morning on the
ground floor of a corporate building:' said
Simona Kogan, a Tel Aviv fashion blog-
ger. "We were shooed into a stairwell by a
man on a loudspeaker who was directing
traffic. Two people next to me continued
to talk business while the Arcaffe workers
reminisced about the game last night. People
seemed prepared and unaffected. We only
knew the siren was over when the man on
the loudspeaker shooed us out:'
Life in the stairwell sounds less dramatic
than you might think, probably because it
begins quickly and is over within 10 minutes,
the prescribed time that the Home Front
Command asks that people remain inside.
Benji Lovitt, a comedian (and Times of
Israel blogger) who lives in Tel Aviv, thinks
it may be time to start preparing icebreakers
for the meet-ups in the stairwells.
"Hey guys, let's everyone go around and
say your name, your favorite color and what
App That Aids
Smartphones and
websites help keep
Israelis safe in wartime.
I
David Shamah
Times of Israel
A
s citizens of one of the most connected coun-
tries in the world, Israelis have been relying
on their smartphones since the beginning of
Operation Pillar of Defense, with new apps and sites
popping up to help keep them safe and informed.
Though the cellphone networks have reported more
congestion last week than ever before, not everyone in
Tel Aviv was on the ball when the first siren warning
went off in the city. According to residents in some
parts of the city, the siren sound was very faint and
people indoors where music was playing didn't hear it.
One tool for tracking attack locations is the Red
Alert warning app (iPhone, Hebrew only), which lists
where the latest siren alerts are taking place. The app
alerts users when a missile is on the way, enabling
them to immediately run for cover. Users can limit the
alerts to specific areas (such as their own communi-
ties), and they can also send comments and messages
12
November 22 • 2012
A young family sits in a stairwell as protection against bombs from Gaza.
Tel Aviv residents
brace themselves
as rocket alarm
sirens sound.
type of alcohol you're
about to start drinking;
he posted on Facebook.
Debbie Zimelman, a
Modi'in biker who par-
ticipated in last week's
13th Wheels of Love
ride for Alyn Hospital,
found herself stuck in a
hotel stairwell with a clutch of Brazilians as
well as fellow Modi'in bikers while staying in
Beersheba last Wednesday night, before bik-
ing the final 50 kilometers back to Jerusalem
the next day.
Back in Tel Aviv, former New Yorker
Miriam Warshaviak and her husband and
toddler son have so far taken shelter in the
sealed room of their local health-food store,
gotten to know some neighbors in their
apartment building stairwell, and taken
of encouragement to those who are under attack
When a missile is launched by Gaza terrorists,
Israel's defense alert system determines where it is
aimed and issues an alert for that specific area. The
Home Front Defense Ministry's maps show how long
residents of each area have to get to a safe place before
the missile hits the area — anywhere between 15 sec-
onds and three minutes.
Where to go? Israelis need to be aware of protected
areas — bomb shelters, underground parking lots,
and the like — where they work, live and travel.
Secure Spaces (iPhone and Android), developed by the
Ashdod Municipality, lists protected spaces in specific
areas. The app uses your device's GPS chip to deter-
mine one's location, and using Google Maps, it displays
the location of the closest protected space, including
address and distance from where you are. Tel Aviv resi-
dents can also access a Google Maps page that lists the
protected spaces in their city.
All the protected spaces in the app comply with the
instructions provided by the Home Front Command,
which has a Web page (Hebrew) describing where
and how to take cover. For example, residents of the
third and fourth floors of a four-story building are
instructed to take shelter in the second-floor hallway if
no other location is available.
The Home Front Command has been stressing that
following instructions is Israelis' best bet for surviving
an attack The new Web pages and smartphone apps
can help keep losses minimal.
❑
Dan ie l Bar-On/Haaretz
I
Jessica Steinberg
cover in a nearby alleyway during a walk
around the block.
"I had already played out in my head
many times the scenario of a siren while
driving, and thought about what I would do.
Would I make it to a building? Crouch down
on the road?" she said. "Yesterday's siren was
a bit scary when we were caught outside, but
otherwise life goes back to normal:'
❑
See related stories on pages 24 and 36.
You Can Help
The situation in Israel in recent days is dire.
Millions of Israelis in southern and central Israel are under
attack by Hamas terrorists who fire rockets and missiles indis-
criminately as they target innocent men, women and children.
Even Jerusalem, with its Muslim and Christian population and
important holy sites, has been under fire.
Here's how you can help:
Join other American Jews who are standing with Israel in its
time of need by taking action NOW.
• Contact your members of Congress and President Obama
to thank them for their support of Israel's right to self-defense.
• Send letters to the editor of local newspapers, radio or TV
expressing support for Israel's fight, opposing terrorism and
expressing hope for peace.
You can quickly and easily send your messages to
Washington and the media by clicking on the E-Advocacy links
on the Detroit Jewish Community Relations Council's home
page: www.DetroitJCRC.org .
Also important:
• Tell your coworkers, neighbors, friends, even family mem-
bers that you care about Israel and want peace for the region.
Let them hear a personal voice– yours – instead of just relying
on what they see and read in the media.
• Send a contribution to Detroit's Jewish Federation or
another Jewish organization that helps Israel in this time of
need.
– Detroit's JCRC, American Jewish Committee, Anti-
Defamation League and Jewish Federation