Hello All
Although I would love to think that everyone knows every single thing that is going on right now in Israel, I know that this is not the case.
Over a week ago there was a huge increase in missile attacks into Israel fired from the Gaza strip and led by Hamas. Since then it has had consistent attacks and they have hit Tel Aviv, the West Bank * when they have been aiming for Jerusalem, and not to mention the areas of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Be'er Sheva, and many other places in the south. These southern cities are bombarded daily with missiles that force them into safe rooms or bomb shelters and destroy homes.
In the last week we have only heard 2 sirens here in Jerusalem. They were scary. It was so strange to see an entire community, without hesitation, know exactly how to protect themselves during an attack.
During the first siren I was at Shul. I was in an apartment room, split down the middle with Mehitza starting the first prayers of Kabbalat Shabbat when we heard it. My two friends and I didn't know what it was until someone said, "Its a siren, go to the safe room." I expected to go downstairs and go into a bomb shelter but instead, I moved into the adjoining room, crouched down, covered my head, and listened for the boom that signaled that the missile had landed somewhere. The Rabbi continued to lead; we prayed, with more passion and feeling put into our words. Once the siren was over we got up, went into the other room, and continued with our prayers.
I didn't even hear the second siren. I was in my room, on Skype my mom, putting away clothing when I got a text that said, "take shelter as we've spoken for 10 minutes. We'll keep you posted." I had no idea what was going on. I walked out of my room into the hallway and ran into someone else who had no idea what was going on. As we walked around looking for our Madrich, he came up the stairs telling us that there had been a siren and we should open our windows incase another one came so we could actually hear it next time.
Today, a bus was bombed in Tel Aviv. This is the first time this has happened since 2008 and its the first time its happened in Tel Aviv since the Second Intifada in 2006. After this shock, walking into the lobby of Hebrew U was like walking into a sea of smart phones desperately trying to get information.
These things are not normal. If any other country was put into this kind of situation, the kind where there own civilians were living in constant fear of missiles, the country attacking them would be taken out. Gaza has been attacking Israel for a very long time. Israel continues to give them aid and medical attention. They give them food and water. They transport people into Israel to benefit from the country's hospital services when they are in need of it. These people shoot missile after missile into our country. They set off bombs in our bus stations and on our buses. They threaten us. When we hit civilians we call it a failure. They don't just hit civilians, they aim for them. I am a believer in the two state solution, but I also believe that if you constantly threaten the well being of common people then those common people have a right to defend themselves.
Depending on your news station of choice you can receive different points of view on the situation, but I am not here to scare you OR to tell you that your news station is wrong or right. Israel is not a war zone. I am completely safe. I am not afraid. I am here until May unless I am forced to go home.
I stand with Israel.
-Miriam
glad you are safe
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