80 Rockets, Shells Fired From Gaza And The World Is Silent On The Barrage!

By Findalis

Why not?  After all the victims are Jews not Arabs.  After all to the UN, the Lame Stream Media, the State Department, only Arabs can be victims.  Jews are never to be considered victims no matter how many rockets are fired, how many babies are murdered.

New salvos hit the south Wednesday afternoon; school canceled for the day; residents ordered to stay close to ‘secure rooms’; three foreign workers hurt in morning hit on chicken coop.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza continued their rocket assault on Israel Wednesday afternoon after a three-hour pause in the attacks, which have seen dozens of missiles target the south in the past two days. More than 80 rockets and shells had been fired into Israel Wednesday by late afternoon.

Israeli leaders warned of a much intensified military response if the attacks continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of “a more extensive” response. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the army was ready for “a far, far greater and wider response.” Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Israel would not maintain its restraint for many more days, and that Israel was “facing a serious escalation.”

A salvo of eight rockets fell on Hof Ashkelon just after midday, shattering the quiet that had descended for a few hours after a series of rocket attacks in the morning. Another two projectiles were fired at the Hevel Eshkol area. In late afternoon, another missile strike was recorded. There were no reports of injury or damage in the latest attacks.

Three foreign workers were injured, two of them seriously, in Wednesday morning attacks when a rocket hit the chicken coop they were working in, and several houses were damaged by other missiles. At least two other people were reported lightly injured in the strikes. Some of those hurt in the attacks were flown by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

School was cancelled in areas close to Gaza on Wednesday, and residents were told to remain within 15 seconds of “secure rooms” in case of further attacks.

Netanyahu, on a tour of the Iron Dome missile defense facility near the coastal town of Ashkelon, said, “It was not Israel that initiated this escalation, but if it goes on we are prepared to take far more extensive action.” Those who fire on Israel, he said, should know that “they have sealed their own fate.”

He also promised to fortify every building in communities 4.5 to 7 kilometers from the Strip, where until now only educational facilities had been protected.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking to Army Radio, said, “There are about 1,700 households that need fortification, but that said, the situation was a lot more difficult in the past because there was no Iron Dome.”

On Wednesday morning, Iron Dome intercepted seven Grads fired at Ashkelon. In the afternoon the system stopped another missile fired at the city.

France sharply condemned the rocket fire on Israel, urging restraint from both sides.

Since Tuesday afternoon Palestinian terror groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. The incoming missiles were a mix of Gaza-produced Kassam missiles and military-grade Grad rockets that have a longer range and larger warhead.

The IDF has responded to the barrages by targeting terror cells and Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were killed in overnight airstrikes.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz called a meeting Tuesday to assess the situation and toured some of the sites that were hit in attacks.

Barak said he could not rule out a ground invasion if fire continued. “If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. We will do whatever necessary to stop this wave” of violence, he told Army Radio on Wednesday.

“It’s important for the government to think before it decides. This move will bring escalation and not peace — there is no way to reconcile with the terror from Gaza. We are considering everything we need and examining everything. If there will be no choice and the fire continues, they will be struck hard, nothing is impossible,” he said.

Liberman said Israel was facing “a serious escalation” in the south. Speaking before a meeting with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he said the situation was “unacceptable” and that Israel would “not suffer” the ongoing rocket fire for much longer.

Source

I wonder if France would be as accommodating if it were their cities being bombed, their people being killed.  Oops, I forgot, they were when Germans were doing it.

I also wonder how long will Israel go until they send in ground troops to finish the job they started in Operation Cast Lead.  An operation they stopped to be nice to Barack Hussein Obama and not have riots at his inauguration.  Bad move.

Pray for the people of Israel under constant barrage from Gaza.  And if you can, throw a few dollars, Euros, etc... to the people of the Sderot Media Center.  Serving the people of Sderot and Southern Israel for over a decade.  Just click here.

From Sderot To The Main Stream Media

 

For 10 years the men, women and children of Sderot and the Western Negev have lived with almost daily rocket fire from Gaza.  Yet if you watch or read the Lame Stream Media Main Stream Media you would believe that Israel is an aggressor nation.  Attacking Gaza without provocation, just because they are fundamentally evil.

The truth is the opposite.


Noam Bedein, Director of The Sderot Media Center, has issued a call to mainstream media from the citizens of Sderot.

This is his letter:

Sderot Call on the Mainstream Media:

We ask you respectfully to change the way you report the continued rocket fire on Israel from Gaza.

The latest statistics from Natal, the organization dealing with post-traumatic stress, show that 70% of the children of Sderot suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress two and a half years after the Cast Lead Operation and a full third of Sderot’s residents feel constant post-traumatic anxiety.

Seven rockets, missiles and mortars have been launched from Gaza towards the western Negev’s communities over the last few days.

The disproportional coverage of these rocket launchings and explosions is found in a dry, terse report on mainstream media that takes a few seconds of news time. The issue is barely mentioned by the msm, who state (luckily so far) only that there were no injuries and no damage to property. That is not really the case, as anyone who lives in constant dread of the next missile knows well.

We at the Sderot Media Center urge you to emphasize these strikes more emphatically, to describe them as illegitimate and criminal examples of warfare against innocent civilians. Otherwise, what the media are aiding unintentionally is tacit acceptance of Islamic extremist terror against innocent civilians.

We ask that you change your reports to the following:

1.If there are no injuries, it is important to stress that there were no physical injuries reported.There surely are mental injuries, even though we will not let the terrorists change our lives.

2. It is crucial to mention each time how many rockets have been launched against Israel since the last ceasefire of January 18, 2009.

As of today July 15th 2011, there have been 788 rocket launchings from Gaza aimed at the southern residents of Israel. This has to be brought home again and again so the world will know.

We have decided to write this open letter to all the mainstream media and ask for a change in awareness of the significance and after-effects of this constant bombardment of people trying to live normal lives in an area that has never been disputed even by the UN, that is, unless the very existence of the State of Israel is in dispute.

Noam Bedein

This is the terror that the citizens of Sderot live under.



Rockets specifically targeting Israeli civilians.  The world buries its head in the sand while Israeli Children are maimed and die.  They don't care.  They only care, they only scream, they only act when Israel strikes back in retaliation.  The people of Sderot know the world doesn't care.  They know that the Media has a decidedly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic viewpoint.

This has to change.  It is time that we inform the Media of the truth.  When the Media reports on an "unprovoked" Israeli attack, we must put their feet to the fire and demand they report the truth.  It was bloggers who put NBC's feet to the fire when they decided they didn't like G-d in the Pledge of Allegiance.

And although times are tough, if you can find a few extra dollars would you send them to the Sderot Media Center?  The few dollars you send go a long way.  They go to help the children of Sderot with a bombproof, indoor playground, psychiatric counseling, and is the lone voice for the people of Sderot.  It only takes a few minutes, just click here.

Tell the Children of Sderot you care!

The Most Shelled City In The World

A couple of articles from The Most Shelled City In The World.

1 million Israelis are asking: "Who's next?"

Last night, Wednesday the 23rd of March, was the first time since Operation Cast Lead that an Iranian Grad missile exploded in Be'er Sheba, 40km from Gaza.

Arriving at the scene of the rocket strike Thursday morning, in the Northern neighborhoods of Be'er Sheba, brought me back to the terror scenes in Sderot of the past few years. For several years, rocket attacks were part of my daily routine living and working at the Sderot Media Center. When the Tzeva Adom (Code Red) sounded, I would go to the neighborhoods where the rocket exploded and film the scene. The next day, I would return, documenting the 'the day after, listening to the stories of residents on what occurred to them the day before.



In Be'er Sheba, I saw the same scenes I'd witnessed in Sderot: shattered car windshields; the shrapnel holes making "windows" on the homes; the radius of damage from where the missile exploded; the 'cover up' of the missile hole; like nothing happened and expecting the people to go back to normal; the holes in the iron doors; the Shabbat candles standing among shattered glasses; pictures of Rabbis hanging untouched on what remained of the walls; frightened and excited residents of the damaged or destroyed homes who just want to share their personal experience with the world; hearing story, counting the amount of times I heard the words; Luck, coincidence, and miracles.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

Be'er Sheba resident Chen Saban, a Sapir College student in her early twenties whose house was hit, described how she and her family were lucky enough to reach the secured room on time, saying she never expected her home to be hit. She said it was ironic because she goes to Sapir College, which is only a few km away from Gaza. Chen, who is supposed to get married in the next 3 weeks, is no longer certain about her future in Be'er Sheba and how she ill be able to plan her life living there.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

It was amazing to hear all this because it took me 45 minutes to drive from Sderot to Be'er Sheba, which is 40km from Gaza, with residents having 60 seconds to run for the shelter once the siren goes off. And still the same reaction and comments of the frightened and traumatized people.

Today, the more than 1 million Israelis who live in the range of 40km from Gaza are not feeling as secure as they did yesterday, asking themselves "who is next?"

Yitchak Akli a resident of the Be'er Sheba neighborhood said: "We should learn from

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

the experience of 'cast lead'' that this would happen, they have (missiles) and hiding them, to launch and fire them at the right time, on any target in Be'er Sheba. It's a matter of time. They've learned our capabilities and they've learned us".


Since the last "cease fire" 530 rockets and missiles have been fired towards the South Western, past of Israel.

The Iranian Grad missile exploding in Bair-Sheba is a reminder how that a few months ago the Shin-Bet reported that there's a stack of over 5,000 Iranian missiles in Gaza, all of them having a range of 40 KM.

This is especially troubling because, in November 2009, Hamas test-fired a missile test towards the Mediterranean, reaching 60 KM, which is the distance from Northern Gaza to Tel-Aviv.

In November 2010, the ITIC reported that Hamas has missiles with an 80km range.

Almost everyone in the Western Negev knows not it's not "if'" but "when"' the next missile escalation starts, leading to the next Gaza war.

After living in Sderot for the past 5 years, watching the construction of 5,000 new bomb shelters, you don’t have to be a prophet to understand that the highest authorities in Israel know there has not been a permanent end to the rocket fire. Being realistic, Israel has to be prepared for many more years of conflict on the Gaza border.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

While Iran is certainly a threat for Israel, the biggest delegitimization threat for Israel, is with no doubt Gaza. Add to this the uprisings in Egypt and North Africa, bringing to power groups that have already declared they will end the "peace treaty" with Israel.

The harsh response that Israel received from the world media and many governments during and after Cast Lead, after the Flotilla incident, and right up to today is actually a modern-day version of a very old demonization of Jews and Israel. A tremendous effort is being made to delegitimize Israel, with the goal of eliminating the Jewish state. How Israel will deal with this threat?

How should Israel deal with this threat?  Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amatzia Chen believes that the current  policy has failed.

"In all of the previous wars, starting from the 1956 Suez Operation, through the Six Day War and in the Yom Kippur War as well, the IDF took the fight into enemy territory," Chen recalled. "The security concept was that of fighting the war we choose, and seizing the initiative. But since 1982, after that rally in Rabin Square, Rabin and Peres decided, for political reasons, that the strategy needs to be changed and that we should only go to war when there is no choice - i.e., when the sword is on our neck."

Chen said that since that decision was made, Israel has lost its deterrent capability. "Our enemies understood the dramatic change in Israel's security concept as a position of weakness. In any case, they had ceased threatening us with regular armies and turned instead to the weapon of terror. They murdered hundreds of Jews inside Israel, but controlled the bloodletting so as to enable Israel's leaders to maintain the concept that one does not go to war as long as there is a choice."

"Every Israeli citizen knows that the Israel of today is not the Israel of pre-1982."

Chen said that artillery fire on Gaza is not a proper response to the missile attack on Be'er Sheva. "We are a nation that wants to live, and there is no point in fair play when it comes to terrorists. That is not how terror is defeated. The State of Israel is a sovereign state that needs to formulate a proper strategy. Unfortunately, the strategy today is that if you are fired upon you fire back. We are, in effect, signaling to the enemies that they can continue using the same method in the future, too."

There is great anger in Sderot, a city with more bomb shelters than playgrounds.

Speaking from the city of bomb shelters

By Dave Balson

Like everyone else on the planet, I have heard about the "complicated" situation in the Middle East my whole life: promises to fix it, hopeful negotiations that crumble behind closed doors, rockets, wars, treaties, stalemates, etc. Round and round it goes until, exasperated, I figure both sides are unwilling to reach the type of tough-but-straightforward agreements that brought peace to Ireland and South Africa, and I give up. "It's complicated" is a Facebook status, not a diplomatic agreement.

I spent the last two weeks in Israel. The trip was free, as it is to any Jew, through a program called "Taglit Birthright." To any students who come from a Jewish background, I suggest checking it out. It is a free trip to Israel, if nothing else.

Last Wednesday I visited Sderot, a town of about 20,000 people in the western Negev desert, less than a mile away from the Gaza strip.

Sderot has been the target of more than 10,000 rockets fired from Gaza since 2000. Gaza is controlled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. Sderot is the only town in the 21st Century where rockets are being continually fired at a civilian population.

To deal with the rocket attacks, the town has a siren that gives residents a 15-second warning to get into a bomb shelter.

Stop for a moment and consider how far you could get in 15 seconds. Could you get to the nearest bathroom? The nearest car? The nearest stairway?

Sderot is the bomb shelter capitol of the world. Every house has a bomb shelter. Apartment buildings have bomb shelters crawling up their sides. Every bus stop is a bomb shelter and others are spaced in between; there is a bomb shelter about 15 seconds away from most places.

If you are a child in Sderot, you should hope you are in school when the rockets come. Older schools have been retrofitted with huge steel shields on their outer walls and roofs. Newer schools are literally giant bomb shelters, their paltry playgrounds nothing but dust and three safe cubes awaiting the siren's call.

Other parts of town have the type of playgrounds we grew up on: ladder up, slide down, monkey bars and the wall with a clear bubble that never made sense. They have painted a castle a nice shade of purple, and made two long concrete snakes look so vibrant and fun, you could almost forget they, too, are bomb shelters. Between 70 to 95 percent of children in Sderot have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.

So why are people still living in this god-forsaken place? There are a few reasons. For one, housing is much cheaper there (feel free to guess why). For another, Sderot has one of the most lively and productive music scenes in the Eastern Hemisphere. The town is home to more chart-topping bands than any other in Israel and rivals any in Europe.

But the real reason people stay is because they feel they must. Sderot is internationally recognized as part of Israel. If they leave, if they give up, what happens to the next town? And the next? Rockets from Gaza can hit Israel's economic and cultural centers - Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, respectively.

I saw all this from Israel's side of the border, so I cannot speak with objective moral authority on who is right or wrong, victim or oppressor. I know everyone I talked to in Israel wants peace more than anything, and would give up land if they thought it would achieve it. I also know that people suffer in Gaza and struggle for a homeland in the West Bank.

As a commentator, I am supposed to speak in shoulds and should nots.

No one should have to live like the people of Sderot. That's all I've got.

It's complicated.

Dave Balson is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or DENopinions@gmail.com

I always allow the people of Sderot to speak for themselves.  This is their story, their struggle, their battle. What is happening in Sderot, Beer-Sheva, Ashkelon, the Negev, is the price for living in Israel.  For Sderot's residents it is the price of living on the frontier.  If they surrender their city, it will only encourage Hamas to conquer the next city, then the one after it.  Until they have conquered the whole nation.

You are not on the frontier, the front line in this battle, but you can help. The small donation that you give to the Sderot Media Center goes to help the people, especially the children of Sderot. Just a bit of your spare change will help.  To donate click here.

Children of Sderot Just Want A Little Peace

Sderot- The bomb shelter capital of the world

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

For the last week rockets fired from Gaza have been a daily occurrence.  Although they have caused limited damage to property and no one has been hurt or killed. (Frayed nerves and a couple of neurotic cats.)  It is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

A Grad rocket fired by Gaza terrorists hit an open area near a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon on Friday morning. No physical injuries were reported, although several people suffered shock and required medical attention. A vehicle was also damaged.

Ashkelon had experienced relative quiet following the Cast Lead counterterror operation in Gaza in early 2009.

The attack follows an attack last week that was carried out using an imported rocket more sophisticated than the short-range “Kassam” rockets produced in Gaza. In that case, the rocket failed to explode, and no injuries were reported.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has followed a policy of quick response to attacks from Gaza. Air Force planes have demolished smuggling tunnels and weapons factories in the region following previous rocket attacks.

Sderot is the only town and the Western Negav is the only region in the world, where missiles are fired towards civilian population in the 21st Century.--Sderot Media Center

If you are planning a visit to Israel, plan a side visit to Sderot.  You can contact the Sderot Media Center for a tour.

No child should have to endure this.  Please help!

Gaza Mall Iron Dome

By Findalis of  Monkey in the Middle

From the Sderot Media Center

Gaza "Strip Mall"- Did the EU's Ashton check the opening sales?

By Jacob Shrybman

As an everyday person and member of the general public, aren't you tired of being lied to?

This past Saturday night the Gaza Strip had a grand opening for its new shopping mall called "Strip Mall." As the world continues its chastising of Israel, the nation that uprooted its citizens and got at least one rocket per person it uprooted in return for its sacrifice for peace, Gazans including the over 10,500 that received Israeli medical treatment in 2009 can enjoy the new goodies of the "Strip Mall."

This Sunday morning, EU's Senior Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton called for Israel to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip. On her last visit this past March 18th she was in such a hurry to get to Gaza that she didn't visit nearby Netiv HaAsara where a Gaza qassam rocket murdered Manee Singmueangphon, a thai worker. On this visit when she was so overwhelmed with seeing all the terrible sites of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, was she able to stop in to check the opening day sales at the "Strip Mall?"

This past Saturday as the Gaza "Strip Mall" opened Sky News reported on the "still dire" situation in Gaza. The article reads, "The blockade has meant that only basics like flour, rice and sugar have been allowed into Gaza from Israel." Isn't it funny how one does not see any of these items in the joyous pictures of the Gaza "Strip Mall" grand opening?

UNRWA President John Ging,said on the day of the Gaza "Strip Mall" grand opening said that the people of Gaza, "Can't afford to buy cans of Coca Cola from Israel." But they can afford new clothes, luxury hair products, and children's toys at the new Gaza "Strip Mall?"

Is John Ging kidding me? The UN gave nearly $200 million in aid to Gaza in just the six months following Operation Cast Lead. It only gave $10 million in aid to Haiti following the devastating earthquake- Wyclef Jean should be campaigning in Geneva not just on The Huffington Post.

To what humanitarian crisis are these international "aid" ships sailing to? Does the Libyan warlord dictator Qaddafi, who sent a ship this past week, own a store in the Gaza Strip Mall?"

As an everyday person and member of the general public aren't you tired of being fed these lies about Gaza. If you're not, take a day off and go shopping at the new Gaza "Strip Mall."

Jacob Shrybman is the Assistant Director of the Sderot Media Center,www.SderotMedia.org.il . Jacob grew up in Takoma Park, MD and now hosts elected officials from around the world and international media visiting the Sderot/Gaza region. He has been published in The Jerusalem Post, USA Today, The Huffington Post, YNet News, and appeared on several international television and radio stations.

It has been over a week since the Gaza Mall opened its doors,  Yet the world still cries out that there is an "Humanitarian Crises" in Gaza.  Can you say Double Standard?

Southern residents have mixed reactions to Iron Dome

by Ben Hartman

Anti-missile system is set to be deployed in Israel in November.

After passing its final operational test on Monday, the Iron Dome anti-missile system is set to be deployed in Israel in November, and residents living within rocket range of theGaza Strip are greeting the announcement with both relief and dismissal.

Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin, whose city was bombarded by Kassam and Grad rockets during Operation Cast Lead, welcomed the impending deployment of Iron Dome, which he said would make a significant improvement in the quality of life of his city’s residents.

“I very much hope that one of the Iron Dome teams will be deployed in Ashkelon, because it can ensure us protection,” Vaknin said on Tuesday. “We took hundreds of rockets and Grads in Cast Lead, so we deserve a system like this.”

Vaknin called the news “very positive” for Ashkelon and vowed that the defense system would increase the deterrence against Israel’s enemies, as well as feelings of security among the public. “It’s expensive, but what can you do, it’s for the sake of security,” he said, when asked about what many consider the platform’s prohibitive cost.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i said later in the day that Iron Dome would not succeed in intercepting all of the rockets fired into Israel. “It is more likely that it will intercept about 80 percent,” he told Israel Radio.

Vilna’i said that residents of Gaza-belt communities would continue to be threatened by rockets for “years to come.” He added that the IDF would not deploy the system along the southern border immediately, but would do so based on operational requirements.

Development of Iron Dome has cost over $200 million, and the program has come under repeated criticism because of its high cost. The system operates by identifying an incoming threat and then firing a missile to intercept it in mid-air. The missiles cost tens of thousands of dollars each, while the crudely-made rockets they’re meant to take down cost very little.

In an article on the CBN News Web site on Wednesday, Yossi Drucker, director of the Iron Dome project, said each Tamir missile would cost $100,000.

Military analyst Reuven Pedatzur is less than thrilled about the system, which he has referred to as “a scam.”

“If each missile we fire costs $100,000, and each Kassam costs $10, $20, then all they’ll need to do is shoot as many rockets as they possibly can until we go broke. Hizbullah alone is believed to have over 150,000 longrange rockets. We can’t afford this.”

Pedatzur called statements that Israel now has the means to solve all of its missile and rocket threats “nonsense and delusional,” citing the short flight time of most projectiles fired at Israel, and the time it takes for Iron Dome to identify and intercept a threat.

“The system can’t defend against anything with a range of less than four and a half kilometers, and also possibly projectiles with a range of up to 10 km,” he said. “It can’t protect Sderot or the western Negev because there isn’t enough time, enough range. The flight time of a Kassam is 14 seconds, and it takes Iron Dome 15 seconds to identify a threat and fire a missile.”

Pedatzur added that the system can’t target mortars, which were heavily used by Gaza militants during Cast Lead.

“Basically, the whole story, that they have solved the threats facing Israel, is nonsense, it’s delusional.”

Sderot resident and director of the Sderot Media Center Noam Bedein was similarly underwhelmed by news that Iron Dome was on its way to deployment, saying that it won’t provide protection to the western Negev town.

“Iron Dome is supposed to work only on objects fired from over 4 km. away, so those of us on the border with Gaza won’t be protected. Here in Sderot, everyone understands that it won’t protect the people.”

Bedein added that if the government was so sure about the effectiveness of Iron Dome, it wouldn’t have spent “half a billion dollars turning us into the bomb shelter capital of the world.”

Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.

Iron Dome is a joint venture between Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Department of Defense.  Iron Dome is only one of the many joint projects being developed.

From Rafael about Iron Dome:

The Iron Dome is an effective and innovative mobile defense solution for countering short range rockets and 155 mm artillery shell threats with ranges of up to 70 km in all weather conditions, including low clouds, rain, dust storms or fog.

The system uses a unique interceptor with a special warhead that detonates any target in the air within seconds.

The Iron Dome radar detects and identifies the rocket or artillery shell launch and monitors its trajectory. Target data is transmitted to the Battle Management & Weapon Control (BMC) for processing. The threat’s trajectory is quickly analyzed and the expected impact point is estimated.

If the estimated rocket trajectory poses a critical threat, a command is given within seconds and an interceptor is launched against the threat.

The interceptor receives trajectory updates from the BMC via uplink communication. The interceptor approaches the target and uses its radar seeker to acquire the target and guides the interceptor within passing distance. The target warhead is detonated over a neutral area, therefore reducing collateral damage to the protected area.

The drawbacks to such a system are:

1.  Limitations of time.  It takes Iron Dome 15 seconds to respond, a Kassem 14 seconds.

2.  Each Iron Dome missile cost $100,000, a Grad or Kassem costs $10, $20.

3.  It is only 80% effective.  In the North Hezbollah can overwhelm the system with the amount of sheer numbers of rockets at their disposal.

While not the panacea both government are claiming, it is a lot better than the nothing that was there before.

Every day thousands of Israeli civilians live with the fear of an rocket attack from Gaza.  And the world doesn't care.  They are nothing to the world, less than animals to the media.

You can help change that.  When the idiots leftists cry that Gaza is under  siege, is a concentration camp, a prison, point to the Gaza Mall, the Olympic Swimming Poolor The Roots Club.  Ask where the money came from?  The concrete?  How do they stock the stores in the mall?  Or where the food for the restaurant  is delivered (Aren't the people starving due to there being no food in Gaza?  See the pictures here. Warning Graphic Pictures of the Gaza Crises! )?

But most of all, you can donate. The few dollars you send to the Sderot Media Center does a world of good.  It helps the people of Sderot cope with the daily barrage of rockets.  Did you know that over 85% of all children in Sderot suffer from PTSD?  There is no other place in this world that occurs.  Counseling for these children is expensive and the government can only help a few.  So please give.  It just takes a few moments of your time.  Just click here.

Thank you!

News From Sderot

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

From the Sderot Media Center 2 important articles.

In the 90th minute of the PR game, does Israel have a last shot at Europe?

by Noam Bedein

Israel's legitimacy as an independent Jewish state is being undermined and threatened like never before, especially in Europe.

This became apparent during a short journey to Brussels and a nine-day speaking tour in Norway during the diplomatic crises of the Gaza aid 'flotilla'.

"It doesn't look good for Israel in the future if in this crisis, Israel loses support from friendly countries such as Spain and Italy" said a colleague who works as a political consultant of an Italian MP, (and asked not to be named citing security concerns).

At the European Parliament house in Brussels, the flotilla aftermath made one issue obvious: Israel had better start strategizing on focusing its talking points and PR in presenting the Israeli perspective to the last of the Europeans still willing to listen. Or else Israel risks becoming isolated like South Africa was in the last years of Apartheid.

"It is a dangerous situation when EU members choose to be blind, in order not to see and hear the actual facts," an Italian MP told me regarding the Israel's side presented to the EU Parliament house after the flotilla episode.

This observation was made while en route to a press conference where Efraim Halevy, former Israeli ambassador to the EU, was ' lynched’ by reporters, over the flotilla crises, and was raked over the coals by a REUTERS reporter. Ironically, the same REUTERS news agency had fabricated flotilla photos to present the image of 'peace activists' by splicing out the knives carried by the Turkish terrorists.

All this took place minutes before a Conference on Global Terrorism, where Mr. Halevy was asked by the Palestinian ambassador to the EU: "What about the serious accusation of the Swedish reporter about the stealing Palestinian organs by Israeli soldiers during the Gaza war? Why was that reporter kicked out of Israel for further investigation?"

The fact that questions like these about Israeli policies still ring in the international forums, reflect the depths of hatred and pure misinformation that is being cultivated in Europe--emanating from successful propaganda campaigns reminiscent of the Third Reich era against the Jewish people.

No matter what basic facts were presented and exposed to all about the Gaza aid flotilla, as so well presented by Law Professor Alan Dershowitz in his article- "Israel obeyed international law: Legally, the Gaza flotilla conflict is an open-and-shut case" it wouldn't matter because EU countires and their MP's have already been wooed to one side.

"The EU’s primary ‘case' against Israel in the EU Parliament regarding the flotilla crises, is with no doubt the killings’ in "international waters," according to Mr. Nuno Martines from European Friends of Israel.

Israeli PR is ticking at one minute before the END GAME, where there’s no looking back. It must refocus its main points and battles, when the Gaza/Palestinian narrative has had so deep an effect on people’s minds and hearts.

And this is the result of losing in the first battle in the Second Gaza Media War:

Case in point: a small briefing of the Israeli Ambassador to the EU took place in a local library in down town Brussels. This session was scheduled before the flotilla crises organized by the organization "Young Professionals of Foreign Affairs’ regarding the relationship between Israel and the EU.

Almost all the questions asked by young professionals in the audience at the meeting had a direct reference to the Holocaust or to Nazi Germany.

A young Italian woman's query was typical: "I admit I don’t know enough about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, but how can you as people who experienced a Holocaust can let children starve in an humanitarian crises like Gaza is?"

A young staffer for a Belgian MP chimed in: "How can people who’ve been through so much only 65 years ago, ignore the sufferings of the Palestinians?"

And the last question,asked in a laconic, non-chalant manner - "Why should Israel keep its identity as a Jewish state? After all, we all remember the last European country that wanted to define itself on a nationalistic note, and look what happened in Germany from there..."

The people who assess the results of the Israel PR media war at this time must come to some immediate conclusions. It is vital that we work to promote the basic human rights as Jews and Israelis for self determination as a state. The time has also come to pioneer a proactive response to the Gaza narrative as Hamas has become a household term around the world.

Based upon this experience in Brussels, Israel must re-focus its time and efforts on outreaching to the thousands of young adult professionals who work as MP staffers to the 736 EU MPs of the EU Parliament house and the European commission. Sending young Israelis to conduct dialogue with Europe's up and coming generation is the most effective outreach that can be done.

As an Israeli who lives less than a mile from Gaza and experiencing the third 'cease fire' between Israel and Hamas where already hundreds of rockets have been fired towards Israel, I know that the times are difficult. The total number of rocket and missile attacks fired from Gaza towards Israel as of mid-June, has risen to 370 since the end of the military operation in Gaza, January 18, 2009. It is clear is that the security situation in southern Israel on the ground is very fragile, just as Israel’s image is in neighboring Europe. We need to do all we can to prepare for the inevitable battle of rocket/flotilla warfare, while simultaneously implementing a media strategy to retain our allies in Europe.

As Israel marks five years to the withdrawal of Israeli troops and civilians from Gaza Strip--the only nation in modern history that has ever given land for peace after winning a war--Hamas continues to find other means to wage conflict. Since Hamas militarily took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, the battle for Israel's right to exist has only increased. As of now, the Islamic regime of Hamas today, the only such terrorist organization in the world that controls an entire population of civilians thanks to international support, is doing all it can to win on the PR front.

It's seems as Gaza today is haunting us..

And here comes the next load of ships...

I personally have given up on Europe and the trash that lives there.  I firmly believe that within a  few years Europe will be living under Shar'ia Law as Dhimmis.  Too bad for them, the warning signs are there now.


Finding an Oasis of Israel Support Among Christian Zionists

by Noam Bedein

As the director of Sderot Media Center, I find it is important to speak at eye-level to university students and other young audiences and to present a first-hand account of Israel’s stand versus the Gaza narrative.

During my fourth visit to the Christian Zionist communities in Norway, where I was invited by a pro-Israel advocacy group by the name of MIFF, to take part in a media conference that took place in Oslo. As a resident of Sderot, I talked about what it is like to live under the constant threat of missiles fired from Hamas-ruled Gaza.

I defend Israel’s blockade of Gaza, as a legal and necessary measure against an entity sworn to Israel’s destruction and its removal that would lead to a flood of heavy Iranian weaponry, including long- range missile systems entering Gaza.

My visit coincided with Israel’s latest diplomatic crisis in wake of the Turkish-led Flotilla to Gaza that tried to forcefully break Israel’s naval blockade while posing as a self-described human rights delegation offering humanitarian aid.

I cannot begin to describe the oasis of comfort I felt at the sight of the huge Israeli flags waving proudly from the terraces of pro-Israel Christians.

Where only moments before I felt so isolated, drowning in a sea of hatred while the massive negative media blindly turned against Israel, with every headline screaming “Israel massacres human rights activists”, these Chrisitan Zionists unapologetically took a stand for Israel. While European politicians were calling for a boycott on Israel - the Christian Zionists communities got together and made a point of purchasing products with labels “Made in Israel.”

My travels have exposed me to the pro-Israel Christian communities.

Being raised in an orthodox Jewish home, it has been somewhat of an experience for me to feel at home with the Christian communities. Yet, only they understand me when I point out that the Middle East conflict is a war of religions. These communities are completely familiar and in agreement with the Jewish people’s right to live in the Land of Israel.

Nancy and Doug's beautiful home in Lyngdall, Norway.

When I get up with the Bible in hand and say “here in this Bible is the word of God saying that the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel”. We have every right to live in Sderot and any other part of the land in peace and security". The audience cheers and says “Amen” and “Hallelujah.”

It was New Year’s Eve, 2010, when I first met the presidential candidate of Zambia, Dr. Savior Chishimba. Savior, a devout Christian and staunch Zionist, came to Sderot to take part in the Sderot “Sderot Rally for Hope” - an initiative of the Sderot Media Center - commemorating one year to the “Cast Lead” military operation in Gaza, marching to the hope that the new decade will bring a halt to Qassam rockets from Gaza targeting civilians in Sderot.

Dr. Savior represented the African civilians who fell pray to acts of terror from radical Islamic forces during the last decade.

Saviour Chashimba at the Sderot Rally for Hope.

Nowadays, most African countries do not have diplomatic relations with Israel due to their succumbing to the Arab boycott and their oil dependency on the Gulf States.

Traveling to Africa, I was invited to speak at the Kenya Security Council and at two Kenyan universities where most of the students are Christians. I was received warmly and was able to talk openly about life in Sderot alongside Islamic terror and the necessity for a security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip. This was mentioned in context to the parallel threat facing Kenya and the importance of a security fence between Moslem Somalia and Christian Kenya where approximately 5000 Moslems infiltrate Kenya daily including radical Islamic elements who carry out terror attacks on Kenyan territory.

Our paths crossed again last March at the “Jerusalem House of Prayer” in Lusaka, capitol of Zambia where I was invited to speak. Savior said he was planning another visit to Israel and I invited him to join my family for Seder night.

Dr. Savior took me up on the invitation and indeed joined my family for Seder Night at my parents’ home in Efrat, Gush Etzion:

Savior took delight in the many rituals he witnessed at our Seder table. He enjoyed the taste of his first Matza and loved the idea of drinking 4 cups of fine wine! He followed with rapt attention the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and it was clear that he was familiar with the story.

Chashimba and Bedein at press conference in Lusaka, Zambia.

His parting words to us were his promise to renew diplomatic ties with Israel when elected president and to set up the Zambian Embassy in Jerusalem. “I plan to awaken the Christian majority in Zambia to the importance of having ties with the Jewish people in Israel”, he said.

“Whosoever blesses the Jewish people will be blessed and whosoever curses the Jewish people will be cursed. You see that all the nations are now coming out against Jerusalem and the Jewish people but you have nothing to fear because the Jewish people will come out on top!”

When he left, someone at the table declared: "Elijah the Prophet has come to give us good tidings!

Speaking to many Christian Zionist audiences all over the world, has led me to believe that in order to make a dent in world opinion that is currently stacked up against us, Israel’s leaders must enlist the help of our Zionist Christian allies. To do so, Israel must send out emissaries to these communities and provide them with advocacy tools so they can stand with Israel and the values it represents and to be prepared and effective in swaying world opinion away from the dangerous Jihadists who vow to destroy all Western civilization.

May G-d Bless the Christian communities world-wide who understand, love and support the State of Israel.  May they grow and flourish for many years to come.

Take a good look at those so-called Christian churches, the ones called Main Stream.  They are dying. The young people don't attend, the families stay away, they are dying.  They also don't support or recognize Israel's right to exist or the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland in our ancestral home.

The churches that are thriving have Zionists for their membership.  They will flourish and grow.

The Sderot Media Center is a voice to the world for the people of Sderot.  It exists only with the aid of contributions from people like you.  Please give.

Can it all be just a mistake?

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

For over a year I have been writing about the rockets that are fired and have been fired into the city of Sderot in Israel from Hamas in Gaza.  These rockets have no guidance system in them.  It is point, fire, hope that they kill someone.  What they really do is to instill terror into a CIVILIAN POPULATION.

For 8 long years these rockets have fallen, they are falling now even though there is suppose to be a cease-fire in effect.

I received this letter last night.  The author, Itzik Yarkoni asked me to pass this along to you, my readers.

With the result that Goldstone present to the UN Hamas’ response to the Goldstone report that the missiles sent to Israel were “by mistake”, I want to know if you would be interested in publishing my personal testimonial of life under Palestinian rocket fire, or life under the Hamas’ “mistakes.

Can it all be just a mistake?

By Itzik Yarkoni

Thursday, February 3, 2010, Jerusalem

Hamas officials said that a 52-page document has been compiled to testify that the offensive missiles fired during Operation Cast lead were “an accident” due to their weapon’s lack of aiming capabilities toward military installations.

However, section 1687 of the “Goldstone Report” presents that, “indeed, Palestinian armed groups, among them Hamas, have publicly expressed their intention to target Israel civilians…. claimed responsibility for the deaths of each of the Israeli civilians killed by rocket fired during the operations in Gaza”.

This begs the question: If Hamas weapon’s suffer from inaccuracy, maybe the information that was given to Goldstone is also off target?

I remember the first time that I heard about Sapir college was when I was traveling in the United States after the army. When I asked about the whereabouts of the college, a friend replied, “It is a nice place next to Sderot. However, the situation is a little strange. Rockets are launched towards the city daily”. I did not know what lay ahead for me at Sapir College, but I decided that I would take the risk. After all, I figured something would be done, eventually, to stop the rockets.

Eight years have passed since the first rocket was launched towards Sderot. The situation has not changed, I was wrong. More than ten thousand kassam missiles, grad, and mortar shells have been fired from Gaza, of which eighty-four fell in Sderot during Operation Cast Lead. Moreover, the “military installations” Hamas speaks of are nowhere to be found in the city. Where exactly were the rockets intended to fall?

I have witnessed firsthand the "mistakes" that have not only produced several deaths, but continue to affect hundreds, if not a thousands, of people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSD) as a result of the constant threat of incoming rocket attacks to the city.

What has been the result of the poor aiming capabilities of Hamas rockets?

As a student in Sderot, I awoke every morning to begin the usual routine of my day. However, my routine was not morning coffee and a newspaper. My routine, drenched with fear, caution, and preparation for the next rocket aimed towards my city, was different than the average student from other areas of the world.

Like clockwork, I was awoken at the same time, with the same target hit, and with the same color red alarm. This alarm notified me that I had only 15 seconds to take cover of my life. As I ran to the nearest bomb shelter, I passed the same children on their way to school. Once inside the crammed shelter, I heard the whistle.

That whistle of a rocket falling to my direction quickly became an all too familiar sound. Maybe this time the rocket will fall in my neighborhood? Maybe this time it will land in the home of someone that I know?

While waiting in a bomb shelter, praying for safety, the fire continued. It was not one rocket, or one “mistake”, that came to my direction. Many mistakes were fired towards me through the city. According to the Sderot Media Center, “Palestinian rockets directly hit more than 1,500 Israeli homes and buildings in the south. Three synagogues were hit, in addition to nine educational facilities, which include high schools, kindergartens, and elementary schools.

Can these cases actually be a malfunction in Hamas’ original plan?

After a day full of color red alarms, or after three weeks of 140 alarms during the Operation, the residents of Sderot and myself gathered to listen to the news. We heard about the mistakes that hit our loved one's homes, the mistakes that kept children from going to school the next day, and the mistakes that are expected to continue.

As a student and as a resident, we had to use our nights to recover from our day. There was homework to be done, relationships to build, our homes that we needed to continue to keep alive. We had to continue to live. However, our nights were full of their mistakes as well, for the nightly news had the highest Sderot ratings, and Hamas chose without fail to use that time for mistakes as well.

Maybe I shouldn't complain, for if Hamas had indeed aimed correctly, the extent of the destruction, the mental disorders, the loss of hope would be far greater. With that, I must say I have luck.

Last week Hamas issued a statement saying that the rocket attacks on Israel were not aimed at civilian centers in Israel, only military ones. (Somebody check the woods for constipated bears, and check Rome, the Pope has converted to Judaism.)

They retracted it a day later.

Make no mistake, the so-called Palestinians have a single goal:

The total destruction of the State of Israel and the death of every Jew living in the land.

To achieve this goal they will lie, cheat, steal, and murder anyone who gets in their way.

You can help in the battle against Hamas.  Become vocal.  Don't be silent on this subject.  Let others know about what is and has been happening to Sderot.  Tell your family, friends, church/synagogue,  pastor/rabbi, your Congressman or woman, your Senator, the President, your local newspaper.  But don't be silent!

Secondly, remember people like Itzik Yarkoni and the other residents of Sderot in your prayers.  You could sign up for Code Red Alerts, reminding you of the terror the men, women, and especially the children experience every day.

How long does any people have to be terrorized by the neighborhood bully before they will strike back?

Prayers For Peace, Rockets, And A New Daycare Center.

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

This month has been busy for the residents of Sderot (pronounced:  STAY'rot).  Let us start with this bit of optimism.

Sderot, Israel (31.12.09): Hours before the new year, as hundreds of pro-Palestinian and Arab demonstrators gathered at the Erez Crossing chanting "Katyushas on Ma'alot, Qassams on Sderot," while Israeli demonstrators at another Gaza viewpoint a few meters away gathered together to communicate a very different message.

A group of Israelis singing songs of peace versus a group of Arabs calling for the bombing of these people.  And the idiots on the left (especially the ones in the White House, Speaker's Office and the Senate Majority Leader) all have concluded that Israelis don't want peace, only Arabs do.

And black is white, good is bad, up is down.  Nothing to see here folks...just move along.

That was the optimism.  Now for the news:

Worst Rocket Escalation to Strike Israel Since Operation Cast Lead

by Anav Silverman

Since Operation Cast Lead, over 306 rockets have been fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. On Sunday, January 10, Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu told cabinet ministers that he regarded the recent escalation of rocket attacks very seriously.

Rocket attack in Sderot. (Photo: Hamutal Ben Shitrit/Sderot Media Center)

"Last week 20 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Government's policy is clear: Any firing at our territory will be responded to strongly and immediately."

Both Netivot and Ashkelon were hit by Grad rockets in the recent rocket escalation. On New Years' eve, two Russian-made Grad artillery rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and struck Israel, with one hitting the southern town of Netivot, a city of about 26,000.

The Color Red system did not go off at the time of attack, and Netivot residents had no warning of the incoming rocket attack. No damages were reported but one woman suffered shock.

The last Grad rocket to strike Netivot had exploded near a synagogue nine months ago, causing heavy damage to the building.

A week later, on Thursday, January 7, a Grad-type Katyusha rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a field south of Ashkelon, causing no damage or injuries. Air sirens, however, did sound, sending Ashkelon residents into panic.

Ashkelon, a coastal city with over 100,000 residents, has been a target of Palestinian-fired Katyusha rockets for nearly four years.

Since the start of 2010, tens of Iranian-supplied mortar rockets have also hit southern Israel. Terrorists also fired an anti-tank missile at IDF troops on the Gaza border.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for the recent firing of the rockets.

Hamas boasted on Friday Jan. 8, that it had managed to smuggle new types of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, published photographs on its website of the new weapons. The weapons include missiles with a double warhead, 107-mm caliber missiles that are designed to penetrate fortified structures and a new type of armor piercing RPG missile.

Abu Ubeida, the Hamas spokesman stated that the group "has thousands of fighters and good weapons capable of harming Israel."

Former OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samia predicted on Sunday that another war with Hamas was inevitable.

"We are before another round in Gaza," Samia told Army Radio in an interview.

"I am very skeptical about the possibility that Hamas will suddenly surrender or change its ways without being hit much more seriously than it was during Cast Lead."

Will someone please explain the meaning of the word CEASE-FIRE to Hamas!  In a cease-fire both side stop shooting at each other.  If one side starts shooting again, then the cease-fire is over, battle begins anew.

Now for a little good news:

A new rocket-proof daycare center was inaugurated in the southern city of Sderot on December 27. The money for the furniture, equipment, and toys was donated by 13 year-old Thomas Cole of Toronto on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah.

United Israel Appeal of Canada’s website reported that the dedication ceremony was attended by 35 members of Cole’s family, including his parents and grandparents, as well as by Sderot Mayor David Buskila, who unveiled a plaque of recognition and affixed the mezuzah together with Thomas.

The daycare center was built to withstand rocket attacks and contains three classrooms. It will serve approximately 45 infants ranging in age from three months to four years. The center will specifically serve the Reut community, a group of 150 young families who have made Sderot their home over the last decade.

Eran Shmueli-David, director of UIAC’s Israel Emergency Campaign, said that “this gift was implemented thanks to the tireless efforts of Eddy Azran, UIAC’s local coordinator in Sderot. It was his persistence and determination that pressed the municipality to open the new building as soon as construction was completed.”

Thomas Cole personally chose to dedicate the money to the Sderot Daycare Centre out of several options given to him by the B’nei Tzedek program of UJA Federation.

Read the full story here.

Young Thomas Cole of Toronto not only is on his way in life to becoming a man of good character, but has shown to the world the true meaning of becoming a man.  The unselfish giving unto others.  In Master Cole's case, his generosity will help many children to have a better life.

His parents MUST be busting at the seams with pride.

You can HELP too.  It isn't hard.  Just a few dollars can and does go a long way.  Just click here and follow the instructions.  Your donation to the Sderot Media Center will help the people of Sderot and the Western Negev.  People who have been under rocket attack for the last 9 years.

The Children of Sderot sent out messages of peace and hope.
The Children of Gaza send out rockets to destroy them.

Yet Hamas screams bloody murder whenever the Israelis strike back at them.

Not this time.

The time is coming when the people of Israel will have had enough.  When they will attack in retaliation, and not stop until Hamas is fully destroyed.  This next time nothing will be able to stop the IDF from achieving their directive.  Not the UN, not the EU, and definitely not Barack Hussein Obama.  Let Hamas and their anti-Semitic allies on the left cry all they want.  They will cry, scream, and throw a temper tantrum like they did last year.  But things are different now.  Europe is fed up with their antics.  The US isn't buying their lies.  And there will be elections this year.  Now Hamas will have to contend with that.

And the Children of Sderot truly might have a peaceful childhood.

The Most Dangerous Town In The World

by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle


Sderot (pronounced sderr-ROHT) is the only town and the Western Negev is the only region in the entire world in which missiles are fired towards civilian population in the 21st Century.

Yet in spite of the lie by Hamas that they will not fire rockets into Israel again, a promise to the world in fact, missiles have been fired and one exploded inside the city of Sderot.

The Israel Air Force carried out an air strike against terrorist operations in Gaza overnight in retaliation for a Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev on Saturday. The rocket exploded in the city of Sderot, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office, but caused no injuries or damage.

In response, IAF fighter jets targeted and identified hitting two weapons factories in the northern and central regions of Gaza early Sunday. They also struck one smuggling tunnel located in the area of Rafiah, along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

The air strikes were carried out despite an announcement Saturday by Hamas "Interior Minister" Fathi Hamad that the terror organizations had cut a deal with allied groups to temporarily halt the rocket attacks. Hamad told reporters at a news conference in Gaza the decision had been made in order to give people time to "rebuild" following the IDF's counterrorist Operation Cast Lead.

"The IDF will not tolerate any attacks by terror organizations against Israel and its citizens," said the IDF in a statement.

Nearly 270 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since the end of last winter's counterterrorist operation on January 18. This is in comparison to more than 3,300 rockets and mortars fired in the year before the IDF carried out the operation, the IDF spokesman pointed out.

In the past month, Hamas terrorists have again slowly begun increasing the number of rocket attacks on Israel, with approximately 15 rockets and mortar shells fired to date.

While 15 is not a large number, they do help to create the atmosphere of terror to Sderot. Sderot is the only town in the world in which between 74% and 94% of children aged 4-18 exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress, says Natal, the Israel Center for Victims of Terror and War. Those numbers are not present in Gaza where according to the Lame Stream Media Anti-Semites, the children of Gaza have experienced the most vicious and inhumane attacks in the history of the world. Where is the PTSD and other psychiatric disorders in these children?

Sderot children want missile fire to stop!



View the video here.

Just imagine this is your home:



Just imagine this is your kitchen on Thanksgiving:



Just imagine this is your bathroom:


Not a pretty picture is it.

There is much you can do. Write your Congressman and Senator, write the President. Tell them that Hamas' constant attacks on civilians (they very seldom target military personal) is unacceptable under The Geneva Conventions of War and other International Agreements.

Contact your local newspaper, especially after they write a story condemning Israel for attacking Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on Sderot.

Become informed. The people of Sderot have been on the forefront of the War on Terror for the last 8 years. They have put their families at risk, sacrificing good physical and mental health in this war. It is time their stories, their struggle comes out. The Sderot Media Center is a good place to start. Their on-line resource page is full of facts (not propaganda) for you to use, especially if you are a blogger. You can find it here.

I ask all who read this to keep the people of Sderot in their prayers. Pray that G-d will send a miracle to them. That they can live in peace and quiet.

And if you are able to, please send a little donation their way. The funds are used to help the people of Sderot. Each penny you send will bring comfort to citizen of that beleaguered town. Just click here and follow the directions. For those who wish to sponsor one of their projects, just click here. You will discover the projects that the Sderot Media Center is working on.

Just one thing, don't just do nothing.

“It is only a ceasefire for Israel. It is never a ceasefire for the terrorists in the Gaza Strip.”

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle



From the Sderot Media Center:

Waiting for the Color Red

by Jacob Shrybman

(Israelnationalnews.com) As this is the third ceasefire in three years between Hamas and Israel - with over 226 rockets being fired in the seven months since Operation Cast Lead - you will be hard pressed to find a person in Sderot who believes in the relative quiet. There is a common joke that it isn't a true ceasefire, but more like we "cease" and they "fire".

One of the most visible developments is the extensive construction of bomb shelters underway throughout Sderot. There is a huge influx of building materials for private one-room bomb shelters attached to people's homes and whole apartment complexes adding bomb shelters to each level of the building. Wherever you look in this small city of 19,500 residents, you can see thousands of shekels being poured into preparation for future rocket attacks.

Besides the various terror attacks on the border that have thankfully been thwarted by the Israel Defense Forces, there remains steady smuggling of terror weapons into the Gaza Strip. According to Israel Security Agency Chief Yuval Diskin, "Hamas is continuing to increase its strength, manufacture longer-range rockets and smuggle rockets of a far superior quality." One of these newer Grad missiles, coming straight from Iran with heightened targeting capabilities and explosive power, hit a school in Ashkelon over the Sabbath back in February. In early June, Hamas terrorists packed horses full of explosives and attempted to attack the IDF on the Gaza border.

The last home that was hit in Sderot on May 19, 2009. (Photo: Noam Bedein)

The situation in southern Israel is quieter than during Operation Cast Lead; however, as one can see from various small news bites, it is a very delicate silence.

As this delicate silence continues, the more trouble the victims of this once daily reality of rockets have with any sort of treatment. The emergency center that treats victims of the Kassam attacks shut down this June. The two centers that treat the vast psychological damage to the people of the region will shut down in the coming months due to lack of funding. One of the private sponsors of the centers, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, cut their funding due to a restructuring of priorities.

While the medical professionals diagnose people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as frequently as they do a common cold, there remains the unique Sderot phenomenon that there is no "post-trauma" yet due to the continuation of the rocket fire. Dr. Danny Brom, the founder and director of the Israel Center for Treatment of Psychotrauma, says that, unlike the northern cities of Haifa and Kiryat Shemona following the 2006 war with Hizbullah, Sderot is "not in a post-traumatic reality." Even though the need for trauma treatment is ever present, the centers serving Sderot and the surrounding areas are closing.

After the widely covered Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip this past December and January came the widespread criticisms and condemnations of Israel's actions. The United Nations established a fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict. Although the Israeli government did not officially participate, private individuals flew to Geneva to testify about the rocket fire in southern Israel. This past July, along with Noam Shalit, Sderot Media Center Director Noam Bedein gave testimony, with the assistance of videos, explaining the human side of the daily reality of rocket fire on civilians.

This is the third "quiet period" Sderot has seen. During the first, over 300 rockets landed in the region and during the second, over 500; now, the number is steadily rising to over 226 rockets. The world may have found new topics in the news, but that has not stopped the rockets. Sderot is continuing to go about its daily life through the eerie quiet, knowing well that the rockets will return in full force in due time.

In a cease-fire, both sides are suppose to stop all attacks. Not just one side.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen and Texas Governor Perry Visit Emergency Center in ‘Missile City’

by Jacob Shrybman

Following four rocket and mortar attacks in southern Israel this week making it 230 attacks since the ceasefire on January 18th, ranking Republican member of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) and Texas Governor Rick Perry visited Sderot, Israel and the shut down Sderot Emergency Center accompanied by the Sderot Media Center yesterday. During the visit, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen noted the still apparent rocket threat, “It is only a ceasefire for Israel. It is never a ceasefire for the terrorists in the Gaza Strip.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry in Sderot, Israel.

The Congresswoman and Texas Governor visited the city of Sderot, Israel today to see first hand the toll that over eight years of rocket fire has had on the people of Sderot. The Sderot Emergency Center which provides immediate first aid to the victims of the rocket attacks was closed last month due to lack of funding and was specially opened for Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen and Governor Perry.

View video here.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen expressed her concern for the deterioration of the situation in Sderot. “We are very worried about the budget cuts of the trauma clinics. That is going to have such a severe negative impact on the children and the families of this ‘Missile City’.” The Congresswoman continued to highlight the city's psychological crisis and the closing of its trauma centers, “The needs are getting tougher and tougher and yet you see trauma centers getting closed. It just makes no sense.”

After visiting the closed Sderot Emergency Center, the Congresswoman and Texas Governor spoke to Sderot residents and viewed a short clip from Sderot Media Center ’s and American producer Liane Thompson’s upcoming feature-length documentary, Missile City Kids , that aims to create global awareness of the psychological trauma of Sderot’s children.

Texas Governor Rick Perry commented after the clip of Missile City Kids, “I hope most Americans realize that there’s a part of the world where children are still being victimized, and individuals, freedom loving people, who just want to live in freedom and live in peace are being victimized every day by individuals, who for whatever reason, want to attack in the most vicious and thoughtless way to destroy lives. And for what reason? G-d only knows.” The Governor continued conveying his support for Sderot, “Americans and certainly Texans are going to be supporting the citizens of this city.”

Gov. Perry not only paid a visit to Sderot, he is in Israel discussing security, seeing the sites, and received the Defender of Jerusalem Award.

Besides the lone star that sits boldly on both of their flags, Texas and Israel have much in common, and a sturdy relationship that should continue to grow, according to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is in the country on a visit aimed at strengthening economic ties between the Jewish State and his own.

"I come from a pro-business, pro-prosperity point of view," Gov. Perry told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, "And the first goal of this trip was to further some of the economic development that already exists between Texas and Israel, and to recruit some of the Israeli businesses we visited here to expand and come to Texas."

Perry also recalled the Texas-Israel Exchange - a body that supports the trade of agricultural know-how between Texan and Israeli scientists - which he established in 1991, while serving as the Texas Agriculture Commissioner.

"We have a connection that goes back many years," he said. "And Israel has a lot that we can learn from, especially in the areas of water conservation and semi-arid land - Israeli technology has helped us a lot in dealing with drought."

"But also," the governor continued, "when I was here for the first time some 18 years ago and I was touring the country, the comparison between Masada and the Alamo was not lost on me. I mean, we're talking about two groups of people who were willing to give up their lives for freedom and liberty." Beyond the comparisons, Gov. Perry said another point of his trip here was to show other people "what was really going on", with regards to the military threats facing the country, and in particular the IDF's recent Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

"We went to the border with Gaza and received a briefing from the army there, and we went to Sderot and saw the police station with all the Kassam rockets piled up, we saw playgrounds that had to be covered from rocket fire. It's a powerful place." In that vein, the governor said he was also interested in learning more about security aspects while in the country, as Texas has a large, porous border with Mexico, and the recent violence in that country had unnerved many Texans.

"Israel is a leader in security technology, and another reason for our visit to the Gaza border was to see some of the security measures being used there," said Perry.

Read the full story here.

Wouldn't that be funny. The Texas border safeguarded by Israeli technology. I wonder when the Mexican government would start comparing itself to Gaza.

“I hope most Americans realize that there’s a part of the world where children are still being victimized, and individuals, freedom loving people, who just want to live in freedom and live in peace are being victimized every day by individuals, who for whatever reason, want to attack in the most vicious and thoughtless way to destroy lives. And for what reason? G-d only knows. Americans and certainly Texans are going to be supporting the citizens of this city.” Gov. Rick Perry.

I hope you will support Sderot too. Just click here, and donate what you can. The smallest amount goes a long way.

And this tribute is for Gov. Rick Perry and all the good people of Texas. How I wish he was my Governor!

Texas, our Texas - Lone Star State tribute