On a Positive Note

May 17, 2007 - 4:06 PM by Israelity

I was in Sderot, albeit 6 months ago on Tuesday, November 14, 2006. I remember that day because it was the first day I ever stood on a hilltop overlooking the Gaza Strip.

But my group toured Sderot as well. It’s a small development town, rundown and poor with a high unemployment rate. . People go about their days, but the town suffers tremendously from poverty. Restaurants don’t get business, classrooms in schools are emptying, and in some places litter fills the streets. Houses are only just beginning to become Kassam-proof.

The relative quiet that took place at the time didn’t mean that there weren’t any rockets. They fell on the outskirts of the city and one even fell the day after we visited the place.

We visited the local hospital where a worker spoke to us about the people that enter unwillingly, suffering from wounds or shock. We visited the police station and saw the remnants of past Kassam rockets clearly labeled by date and time. Then we stood atop a hill and viewed the Gaza Strip from a distance. It’s hard to imagine that this is the same Gaza Strip that Israeli friends of mine have said their parents used to visit because of good food and fair prices.

An Israeli friend from Arad once told me he was thinking about moving to Sderot just because the houses there were so inexpensive. How sad!

But in the midst of such trying times for the people in Sderot, one blogger struggles to find the positive in it all. I think we all can be inspired by the optimism in Mechi Fendel’s Jpost blog.

Whenever people meet me (in taxis, in the hospital, etc.) and hear that I live in Sderot, they immediately ask “What are you still doing there? Why don’t you move out?”

Why don’t the people of New Orleans and Florida move out since there are still hurricanes? What about those who live in LA – maybe there’ll be some more earthquakes…

My answer to those who ask is that we moved to Sderot in order to help the town – to strengthen its citizens and to contribute to the welfare, education, etc. – we can’t move out now when the town needs us to keep up the morale and to help its residents try to live “normally” in these abnormal times. I understand that some Kassam missiles fell over the Passover holiday…what’s new? May I continue to write only happy news in these blogs!