Sderot
The town of Sderot, 2000m from Gaza, is continually in the news. It is one of Israel’s poorest towns. Since the erection of the border by Gaza, they have been showered with over 9000 Kassam rockets. Plagued by uncertainty of their safety and security, the streets are lined with safety rooms next to every bus stop and all new buildings are built with bomb shelters inside. Everyone kept on asking what we were doing in Sderot and why we were crazy enough to visit. We told them that we wanted to witness and understand the violence the town experiences. Our welcoming speech: “You come to Sderot. You are hero. “
It wasn’t always this way. Sderot was founded in 1951 by immigrants from Tunis, Morocco and Iraq. Atop of a hill, overlooking Gaza, our host described how after the 1967 war there was a great relationship between Gaza and Sderot. They would buy fish in Gaza’s market, shopping and relaxing on their beaches while Gaza’s residents were often employed in Sderot and would frequent their vegetable market. So what changed? According to our host, the extreme movements changed. When Israel erected the border between Gaza and Israel, the missiles began to come. Sometimes between 40 and 50 missiles a day would fall in a day: they couldn’t listen to music in case they missed the sound of the Code Red. When the siren calls, there is only about a minute to take cover. Right now there is a quiet period because of the cease-fire with Hamas; hopefully, it will remain. Our guide told us that he hopes for peace. He believes that there can be quiet, an agreement, between Israel and Gaza. He told us “we think about [the people in Gaza]. The army closed the border and sometimes they have no food, no water, nothing. It’s very awful. But we [in Sderot] suffered”. We asked if most people in Sderot agreed with him. He told us that unfortunately, no, “the majority in Sderot don’t think it is possible. They [Sderot residents] hate them [Gaza residents].” I pray that his hope for peace will become contagious.
There were a few things I observed in Sderot. First is the role of the government in fostering peace. I believe that we must always be willing to dialogue with those we do not agree with. If we fail to dialogue we isolate our opponents and perhaps contribute to creating enemies. We asked what happened when the Kassam rockets started to fall on Sderot. Our guide told us “it is stupid because we found out there are Palestinians who want to make peace with us (that would have been Fatah). But the government said no, we don’t want to speak with terrorists. But now the extremists became more extreme and now we have Hamas.” Second, are the economic consequences of war. Sderot’s population 5 years ago was 25,000. Now it is 19,000. “Those who could afford it, left.” If the situation is calm, the market is busy. If it is not, no one goes outside. Often in war, the poor are the victims. It reminded me of the conference I went to last month. A woman spoke up about how some individuals actually profit off of the war. While it now seems like a fairly obvious point—arms manufacturers, oil industry, etc—I had never really considered that. Witnessing Sderot it made me realize that often, on the ground of conflict zones, it is the poor who take the brunt of the trauma and consequences. They need to be remembered when policy is formulated and enacted. The Kassam rockets are the result of terrorism. Yet, I heard it described once that one person’s terrorists are another person’s freedom fighters. I only say that because the rockets are often launched as a response to an action: An action of the government, not the people of Sderot. Yet the people of Sderot are the ones who reap the consequences.
The politics of seatbelts:In Palestine, they get insulted if you wear your seatbelt because they believe it means you do not trust their driving. They also will tell you “the seatbelt constrains you and we are already so repressed in our lives”. In Sderot, when we tried to put on our seatbelt we were told that no one wears their seatbelt in Sderot. Why? Because when the siren calls out the code red they have about 30s-1minute to get into a bomb shelter and undoing your seatbelt can be a safety hazard to your life.
Overall, I really need to comment on the amazing hospitality of the individuals in Sderot. They basically fell over themselves to insure our comfort. It was a wonderful day, even though it was almost 100 degrees! We also managed to make it onto Israel Channel 1 News. They are preparing for Barak Obama to come visit Israel and we were filmed in a video welcoming him. Impromptu TV stars? Speaking of Obama, he is supposed to be in Ramallah today so that is where I am heading. If we don’t see him, it’s okay because Ramallah has amazing ice cream!
