VIDEO - Who'll help Sderot residents? With no solution to Qassam attacks ,and while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his ministers are meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles, Sderot residents are not sure whether they should send their children to schools protected against rockets.
The head of Sderot's union of parents Batia Kattar told Ynet that she turned to businessmen Arcadi Gaydamak and Nuhi Dunkner to assist in plans to take Sderot school children on a holiday outside the city.
Sderot resident injured in attack (Photo: par)
The issue of unprotected school reached the High Court where Justice Dorit Beinish said: "Dozens of kindergartens are unprotected. It is unacceptable that because of Qassams schools are closed. It is a fact that people's lives are in danger."
She ordered the government to explain why schools have not been protected faster.
Kattar said it remains unclear if schools will be opened. "We hope that the IDF will enter the Gaza Strip for an offensive tonight, because after a day like this it is really wanted. If the IDF starts an operation we will not strike the education system but we will work like we did during operation 'Autumn Clouds', when we worked according to IDF orders. If in the morning we realize that there is no operation, we will have no option but to strike the education system."
Tomb of woman killed in Sderot (Photo: AP)
The parents' union under Kattar has turned to businessmen such as Arcadi Gaydamak to assist in taking the children out of the city: "The security tension is very big and this is affecting the children in the city. Therefore we asked to take the children out now for a break from studies, for a holiday, and so on and I hope they will take the initiative."
Defense Minister Amir Peretz spoke with Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal: "We spoke briefly about what happened today and what is happening in the city." Moyal added: "He told me we have to stop rocket fire and I agree with him."
Moyal was wary not to criticize the IDF and the security establishment after he called for a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip.
Artillery batteries were kept silence on Wednesday despite the target incident in Sderot after last week's killing of over 20 Palestinians by artillery shells in Beit Hanoun.
Alon Davidi, the head of the Sderot protest group against Qassam attacks, said: "The lack of response shows how much the defense minister is a puppet of Olmert. We feel like ducks within firing range and the victims of the security establishment's failure to function and he who heads it. We will certainly respond. That was one of the most difficult days in my life."
The city is awaiting instructions from the IDF about whether schools should be opened on Thursday.
It could be that many parents won't send their children to schools on Thursday. When rockets landed in the city on Wednesday, many residents ran to schools to bring their children home.