Guide to Action

Sderot and the issues the children face have continued to affect my life. My perspective on life, my perspective on religion, and my perspective on reality has been molded by the things I have seen over the last few months. I had started on this project before this school year and want to continue helping the children of Sderot.

This project is important to me because I have witnessed it first hand, hearing the stories from the victims themselves. I love these kids and know their pain. Their parents leave for work everyday, leaving their kids open to fear and death. Starting from a young age, they have  had to cope with daily struggles that none of us even know. We sit back with ease as they live in danger.

I am already part of an organization that has both helped get these kids to America and is now helping to fund for a bomb shelter. I have donated money and have influenced others to do the same. As I mentioned before, this organization is now raising money to make a bomb shelter that will consist of a dance fever and math lessons. These kids will be able to come after school and be in a place where they are cared for and where they are safe.

Oracle Larry Ellison tours Israel with wife(Breaking News)

Larry Ellison, CEO and founder of software Oracle, is a man that “only flies.” During his tour of Israel, he only traveled by helicopter, viewing the country from above. He tried to keep his trip secret along with his Jewish roots because of people from the Arab world.

When stopping by Sderot, he was surprised by all the violence he saw. Getting a tour of the city, he saw what Qassams are doing to the victims, their homes, and the city. He visited a lookout to see Gaza and Sderot and said that for the first time in his life, he finally realized how close two cities were to eachother. Ellison, being worth 20 million dollars, gave Sderot $500,000 for air-raid defenses.

“Israel cuts fuel shipments to Gaza Strip” (Breaking News)

This October, Israel finally decided to take a stand against the Gaza strip. They have decided to do this through a more productive and less aggressive approach. After years of rocket launches into Sderot, it was time for a change. The Israeli defense ministry decided to reduce fuel shipments to the Gaza strip. They claim that after near-daily rocket attacks, it is time to “step up pressure” against Hamas militants in Gaza.

The Gaza relies on Israel for all of its fuel and almost half of its electricity. This fuel shortage affects their hospitals and water pumping systems, leaving them in much danger. There was a 30% reduction and many people were unable to fill their cars. There are also supposed to be a reduction of electricity supplies. This initiative was meant to separate Gaza from Israel and retaliate in some way. They do not want to supply terrorists with the ability to do harm. Israel continues to control 1.4 million members of the Gaza strip.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071028/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Reasons why they can not/will not move (Background)

After spending weeks with these kids and hearing about how they live, one question continuously came to mind. Why not just move? Why not seek safety in another city? It seems simple but after hearing the answers I felt ignorant and horrible for asking such a question without forethought.

These people have lived in Sderot for years and years, having it be a safe haven for their families. Only until the past few years have these incidents been occurring. Since then, people live with faith. They feel that their passion and love for their city and country is overpowering. They are strong individuals who want to fight for their rights, their city, and their religion. To them, giving up is like giving up all hope and care.

The others that want to escape are unable to. If they try to sell their house, they can’t. No one wants to live there. If they try to move away, they still have to pay a mortgage on their house in Sderot and their house wherever they move to. They can’t afford this luxury since many continue to live paycheck to paycheck, and most of the time have to pay for the damages Qassams cause.

These parents want better lives for their kids but they simply can’t. These Qassams cause more psychological distress than physical because on a daily basis all they can think about it wanting to leave, but knowing that it is merely impossible. When fighting for their land, they must think about those that they are hurting. But when wanting to leave the land, they are hurting the rest of the people in their community that want to continue fighting.

History of Sderot (Background)

Sderot’s first inhabitants first arrived there in 1951 to what was known as a Gevim-dorot transit camp. Most of the residents were Kurdish or Persian refugees who lived in tents and shacks before building homes almost four years later. In 1961, the amount of North African immigrants reached a high of 87%. 11% were from Kurdistan. They were declared a local council in 1958 while continuing to get immigrants from Morocco and Romania. In the 1990’s a large population migrated over from the USSR doubling its population. In 1996, it was finally declared a city. According to CBS, 99.8% in 2001 were Jewish. In this year, there were 9,500 males and 9,700 females.

Comments, comments, comments!! (Ongoing Post)

Comments on Megan’s Blog! —

Your topic is very interesting. The things that are happening to women around the world is astonishing. I can’t believe that girls under the age of 16 are getting sold into brothels and illegally transported. The major issue suprises me and its really cool that you decided to write about it.

P.s. everything is really well organized!!

Comments on Kellseys blog —

Hey there,
I really like what you decided to do with your topic. It was really interesting and it was something that effects our everday life. The environment and global warming are key aspects to our survival and its crucial that we have people like you informing other about it. Good job. Well organized!

Vicky

Comments on Tiffany’s blog —

Hey Tiffany,
Good job on the blog assignment, even though I know you dont like it. I feel like your topic is very effective because it relates to what our society does everyday. We all know about sweatshops but never know their details and how they affect others around us. It was interesting to read about all of it. Good job, honestly.

Vicky

Process of blog (Ongoing Post)

This blog has been a pain since day one. I am not sure whether it be my technological deficiencies or the way wordpress is set up but goodness, there is so much I can’t figure out. The font in all my posts is different and I can’t change that. Sometimes, my posts are even hard to read. All of them extend onto a huge page and I would like for them to be seperated but apparently, I can’t do that. I must have just picked a bad design. Other than the issue with design, I’m not having any problems finding information.

A Brief Survey of the British Diplomats tour of Sderot. (Breaking News)

Fifteen British Labor MP’s went to visit the poverty striken sderot on September 5th of this year. The visited a qassam gallery at the police station, stood in a spot where they could see all the missiles being shot in from the Gaza strip, and spoke with families and victims of the horrible tragedy occuring in Sderot. They even visited classrooms, speaking to students and teachers. One of the British government officials claimed she was “deeply shocked” and “their lives cannot be normal.” Now they have first hand knowledge of what it is like living a life under rockets. They spoke to trauma filled victims and finally were able to see the number of rockets that they come face to face to every day.  

Sources for articles (Blogroll)

http://sderotmedia.com/?p=373

http://sderotmedia.com/?p=381

http://sderotmedia.com/?p=376

New York Times (Blogroll)

Here is a website from the New York Times that gives 6 articles about Sderot, Israel and the attacks from Hamas militants.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hamas/index.html?query=SDEROT%20(ISRAEL)&field=geo&match=exact