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|  | Students lead south |
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'I can’t hide behind my ignorance any more'
Hundreds of students answered the call and traveled to Sderot over the holiday of Sukkot. This is what they saw
David Fain
I came from the small state of Connecticut to Israel for many reasons. Traveling, learning, and volunteering were a few of them. Throughout my year of volunteering last year, I only heard about Sderot, a small city in the south of Israel, nestled less than a mile from the Gaza Strip, but I never came to visit.
Like many Americans, I knew about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and about rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip. I never spent time thinking about where all these rockets landed. I never thought about what it might mean to have a rocket land in my city, my house, or my room. It wasn’t really relevant to me.
I’ve spent the past two days in the city of Sderot, where the rockets are landing. I went to the city to volunteer as a part of “Students Lead South”, a three-day volunteering opportunity organized by students, and was given a tour around the city by Noam Bedein of the Sderot Media Center (SderotMedia.com). I’ve spent the time getting to know the city: seeing where the rockets land, meeting the people who live under the constant threat and fear of rocket attacks, and trying to understand what it means to live in Sderot. I have realized the situation of the people in Sderot is relevant not only to me, but to all people around the world who care about saving innocent civilian lives. I can no longer pretend that I don’t know.
Of all the residents of Sderot I’ve spoken with, one person’s story had a particularly powerful impact on me. Chava turned what the news media shows as a shot of a pile of rubble into reality. I’m used to thinking about people’s suffering from a distance, because when it gets too close, it becomes painful. But I feel obligated to share Chava’s story with you, because the situation in Sderot is being hidden from the world and if we don’t act soon more innocent people will be killed.
Chava is a mother of three. Her story begins three years ago almost to this day, when her daughter called her, crying hysterically, because a Qassam rocket fired by Hamas had just passed over her head and landed in the streets. It took the doctors in the emergency room four hours to calm her daughter down, and that was just the beginning. Later that night there was another Qassam. A week later during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah another Qassam was fired at Sderot. Chava used to be able to work, but with the never-ending Quassam attacks, and not being able to sleep at night or have a moment of relaxation, the stress overwhelmed her.
She lost her job. She has to rely on prescribed drugs now to be able to sleep at night. The siren that goes off almost daily before an incoming rocket brings back terrible memories for her. Absurdly, her children now make jokes about rocket attacks because they’ve become such a “normal” part of everyday life.
But a Sderot resident’s personal trauma isn’t confined just to them, but spreads to their entire family. Chava’s son wanted to have his eighth birthday party in Sderot. She invited her family from central Israel. The family wanted to accept, but were afraid of the danger of the Qassams, and Chava had to work to convince them to come to her house.
Chava told me about conversations she’s had with her young son, who has asked her, “If I am killed by a Quassam, how long will you stay sad? ” and “What will I do if you are killed?” I can’t even imagine an eight-year-old asking a mother such a question.
After spending just two days here, I know what the media cannot convey in a two second film clip. The psychological effect the Qassams have had on Chava is devastating, and she is just one of the thousands of residents of Sderot who suffer from the same pain and trauma. Do we need a certain amount of blood to be spilled to act?
If the picture of what we are ignoring is not clear yet, I have to share one more thing Chava told me. When a Qassam is launched, people can’t always make it in time to a shelter. After all, they have only fifteen seconds, and time passes quickly when you’re overcome by panic and fear. There are entire blocks in the city with no shelters. Chava explained what she does when walking with her son in an unsheltered area: her son lies down on the ground, and she lies on top of him. A rocket full of explosives flies above her head and she prays to God that she won’t be killed with her child lying under her.
This shouldn’t happen to anyone – not to parents, not to children, anyone - but it is happening in Sderot, because the State of Israel, the United States, and the rest of the world aren’t helping.
Ignorance is bliss. What I don’t know, I don’t have to act upon. I hope after reading this you won’t hide behind ignorance anymore, so mothers in Sderot do not have to use their bodies as bomb shelters to protect their children.
David Fain participated in the project Students Lead South
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