Sarusi (right) and Azulay
צילום: עידו בקר
Leaving is not the answer, some in Sderot say
Neighbors of home hit by Qassam Saturday say defense, not vacations, is required answer; meanwhile, bus returns from tent city, several teens choose to stay
Leaving is not the answer, decided a number of Sderot residents, hours after a Qassam hit their neighbor's apartment in a Sderot building, Saturday. Ayelet Azulay, mother of six, said she and her husband decided they would not leave the rocket-plagued town, or even take vacation days.
She expressed her outrage at sources in Israel attempting to evacuate area residents temporarily, foremost among them the Defense Ministry. According to Azulay, she's not worried about the Qassams themselves, but rather with the misguided response of the defense establishment.
"This is the Defense Minsitry's answer, to evacuate us? Do we not deserve some actual defense? So after Sderot, should we evacuate Ashkelon and when rockets hit Tel Aviv then just all jump into the sea?" she scoffed.
Bat-el Sarusi, who lives next door to the apartment that was hit, made it clear that she had not left Sderot and did not intend to. She expressed her anger at the government, saying "it's impossible to live like this.
"Everyone in the government is worried about his post. What are they waiting for, more deaths in Sderot?"
Saturday evening, a bus arrived in the town bearing several Sderot residents – mainly teenagers - who had been staying in a tent city in Tel Aviv, built by billionaire Arcady Gaydamak. Some had come only to pick up a few belongings before returning to Tel Aviv, but others said that they had come back to stay.
Viktor, 19, said he cannot return to Tel Aviv because he feels duty-bound to help his mother, who has to care for his elderly grandparents. "Most of us returned because there are things for us to do or families to be with.
"We can't leave the house for too long, knowing that our homes and our families our here. And it won't help."
Sderot spokesman Yossi Pinchas Cohen said that, according to a report he received from the ministry of defense, some thousand residents are making their way back home.
