Kids 'fire' cardboard Qassams
Photo: Amir Cohen
Sderot protests
Photo: Amir Cohen
Ruti Sawisa: We're in constant panic
Photo: Amir Cohen
Sderot strikers: Make Abbas defense minister
Dozens of Sderot residents march toward Beit Hanoun demanding security. Meanwhile, yeshiva students take credit for day of calm after rabbi holds special kabbalistic prayer service asking God to save the rocket-stricken town
More than a year after Sderot residents marched toward the municipality in Beit Hanoun demanding an end to Qassam attacks, they marched once again Tuesday along the same route. This time, police and security forces let the protestors march towards Nir junction. Protesting residents “let off steam” by shooting off dummy rockets made of cardboard.
At the head of the procession marched Alon Davidi and his colleagues, who have been hunger-striking in front of Defense Minister Amir Peretz’ house. Their struggle is gaining momentum daily, and today they hosted Knesset members, citizens and youth from around the country in their protest tent. Before the march, police debated whether or not to authorize it, and even police chief Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi, who arrived to display solidarity, questioned whether to enable the procession owing to the hot warnings of Qassam attacks. In the end, it was decided the march would proceed towards Nir junction.
‘We want security’
Dozens of Sderot residents, joined by their children, held posters proclaiming, “We don’t want money, we want security,” “Abbas can be defense minister” and “We just want security.”
Rina Mor Yosef, Batya Katar and other hunger strikers participated in the march.
“I am father to five children, and now I’m marching exhausted to Beit Hanoun. I want to tell Amir Peretz – you got confused, it’s not us that need to apologize – they need to apologize for shooting at us,” Davidi said.
'Money doesn't buy safety' - Sderot protests (Photo: Amir Cohen)
Yonatan Abukasis, who lost his daughter Ella in a rocket attack, marched alongside the protestors. “They promised me, after my daughter was killed, that there would be no more dead and they would act to contain the attacks and would do everything to restore the sense of security, but the situation has only become worse,” Abukasis lamented.
Ruti Swisa came with her daughter. A year ago, a rocket landed in Swisa’s hous and since then her life hasn’t been a life, she said. “We are afraid and panicky. My kids are frightened and completely hysterical. They’re even scared to go to the bathroom, and all we ask for is the quiet we once had,” she said.
God’s salvation in the blink of an eye
The protest concluded a relatively quiet day, with fewer rocket attacks than in recent days. The IDF attributed this to its operations in Gaza, but others had an alternate explanation for the calm. A few hours before the march, a strange thing happened. Almost unnoticed, some 100 students of Rabbi Leon Levi from Bnei Brak spread out in the town and carried out a special prayer to save Sderot.
“The rabbi has special powers, and he led the special prayer for Sderot; he also heard about what’s happening here and decided to do something. Within two days he recruited us, we brought food tables and all our holy books and Kabala books for the special service,” one student said.
The gang chose a special spot under a few trees in the heart of the Naveh Eshkol neighborhood. Residents also came: “The rabbi organized us and we started to read first Tehilim and then secret chants and Kabalah, and in the end we recited the special prayer. The whole prayer, our rabbi explained, is intended to stop the affliction, this plague, and G-d’s salvation came in the blink of an eye – and already today we saw results.
Not even one rocket was fired, and not just that, with our help the IDF managed to take out a terror cell. Since the prayer, the rabbi promised there would be no more killing in Sderot. In any case, he will come to hold more services in the town soon,” his student assured.
