Hello, Gaza

I'm sure you all have been sitting at the edge of your seat, eagerly waiting in agonizing expectation for my next thrilling post...well here it is.  The last several days have been a groggy blur, peppered with memories of studying too long for a midterm, eating Doritos, and finally succeeding in buying guitar strings.  One interesting thing I did was travel with some fellow students to an area I never thought I would go: the Gaza border; maybe you've heard of it?  We left at 8 AM and arrived to a small village named Netiv HaAsara, which is a few hundred feet from the separation wall that divides Israel and the Gaza Strip.  Netiv HaAsara, founded in 1982, is a moshav, a type of cooperative agricultural settlement made up of individual farms--similar to a kibbutz.  With a population of just over 700, this tiny village is close knit and unfortunately, being the closest village/town/city to the Gaza border, has had their share of terror and heartache, losing two residents to mortar shell attacks; one in 2005 and one in 2010.  Threat of attack is a way of life in this area of Israel, and since Hamas has acquired longer range missiles, that threat stretches to here in Jerusalem.

Upon arriving to Netiv HaAsara, we were welcomed by resident Roni Keidar.  As we filed into her living room, I realized that was the first time I have been in a house since leaving the States.  Once we were seated, she told us the history of how her and her husband came to live in Israel, how they used to live in Gaza, but were forced to leave once Israel pulled out of the region in 2005, and what it has been like spending  a lot of time in the bomb shelter. One such story was set during Operation Pillar of Defense back in November.  Over 100 rockets were fired from Gaza in a 24 hour period; being that close to the border, every launch is heard.  Also, being that close to the border, the Iron Dome--the missile defense system that intercepts rockets--is of no use, as it doesn't have enough time to react, so there is no Iron Dome situated in the village.  Once the sirens go off, they have to drop everything and run; the residents also do not have the luxury of time.  There were a couple stories that stuck out to me.  One was her describing sitting in the bomb shelter and receiving texts from a dear Palestinian friend living in Gaza, each making sure the other was alive and safe. The other story was her being in the shelter alone, and hearing several explosions, she thought it was an all-out war.  Upon emerging from the shelter, she learned from the news on television that only three rockets had been fired from Gaza; what she heard were 9 explosions--the rocket being launched from Gaza, the Iron Dome (located some miles away) launching the interceptor missile, and the interceptor successfully destroying the targeted missile from Gaza--three times for each Gaza rocket.

After sharing with us for a little while, she joined us on our bus and took us to the separation wall.

Roni Keidar

Seeing Gaza from the Israeli side

Take two...I ate my hair in the first one...so windy!

Mrs. Keidar spends a lot of her time talking with others in hopes of finding a resolution that will bring peace to both sides of the border.  She took us by a wall that is covered in mosaic tiles and has a white dove painted on it (visitors can add mosaic tiles to the wall), calling for a "Path to Peace":

On this side of the wall is a lot of razor sharp wire to keep out infiltrators, and the wall itself serves as protection from potential snipers.  After our visit, we said goodbye to our gracious hostess and then we drove to the Black Arrow Memorial to meet with a lieutenant with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).  The memorial is dedicated to paratroopers who lost their lives during a raid in the mid '50s.  Again, only a few hundred meters from the Gaza border, we listened to the Lieutenant share with us the struggles and challenges the IDF has faced over the years, including most recently during Operation Pillar of Defense.  I could probably write all day about the media backlash Israel received, but I will refrain for now.  I am not sure if the IDF used this in November, but I know that during the Gaza War in 2008-09, they practiced what is known as "roof-knocking", which is when they fire a warning shot (sometimes a non-explosive missile fired at an empty roof) to warn civilians they are about to strike, giving them time to evacuate the area to reduce the number of civilian casualties.  I don't recall any members of Hamas giving Israelis an opportunity to flee.

After speaking with the Lieutenant, we drove the short distance to Sederot, where we spent some time in the parking lot of the police station (it's surrounded by a security gate, of course) listening to another resident of the area talk about the rocket attacks.  Behind her, on several metal shelves that angled around the lot, were hundreds of metal cylinders that had been fired into Israel over the years; these had been stuffed with explosives.  In a locked glass case directly behind her were the longer range missiles.  Residents in Sederot have 15 seconds to reach a shelter once the sirens start wailing.  Here in Jerusalem I've read we have about a minute and a half, but I haven't had to worry about that yet.

This is the bus stop for children in the moshav, but it doubles as a bomb shelter; these are common  in all areas around Gaza

Bomb shelter painted like a caterpillar at a playground; our guide emphasized the playground uses a soft foam rather than gravel so children can safely jump to the ground in the event of an attack

  

This map shows how long it takes for a missile to land from Gaza

The conflicts Israel always seems to be involved in can be very complex.  I know Israel has made mistakes and is not completely innocent, but I do not know why they are usually (if not always) the bad guy when they defend themselves.  Although there has been a "cease fire agreement" between Gaza and Israel since November, Gaza has fired several rockets into Israel since then; most recently because a Palestinian prisoner died...of cancer.  I, too, would like to see all of this mess resolved peaceably, but realistically I do not see that happening.  Until then, I am still praying for the peace of this land and I continue to support Israel and their right to defend themselves.