My Life in Israel...Today

First, let me say, that I cannot begin to imagine what life must be like in Southern Israel right now.  They are receiving regular if not constant incoming rockets, I am sure that the air raid sirens are regular and I have read most folks are just staying inside.  That for them is apparently a pretty normal life.  The Big Duck visited a southern town a couple months ago, and said it was amazing. The threat of incoming rockets is so constant, that they have an entire generation of children that have never played outside, been to the playground or kicked a soccer ball.  Additionally, over 50% of the children suffer from some form of PTSD.  They literally go from home, to a bus stop that is also a bomb shelter to bus to school, which is also a huge bunker and then repeat on the way home.  They never go outside.  This is a life I cannot imagine.  If the air raid sirens do go off, they have about 15 seconds to seek cover.  And, to be fair, Gaza is, I am sure, no picnic either.  The level of poverty is incredible and the people are pretty much fenced in everywhere.  I guess the fences went up around Gaza and the West Bank to stop the terrorist bombings in Israel. It has been effective, but has cut the Palestinians off from a lot of the things they need to live.  So, this just adds to the conflict that already exists here in Israel.

Another thing to note, is that Israel is tiny.  You can drive from the Egyptian border to the Lebanon border in a little over 3 hours.  It is 44 miles from Tel Aviv to the Gaza Strip.  Gaza itself, is about 25 miles long, and not more then 7 miles wide.  We live about 50 miles north of Gaza.  Supposedly, the longest range rockets that they have reach about 45 miles.  I am hoping we don't get to test out their maximum range, but we are ready if we do.  Truly, there is not much you can do but take cover, and be glad that the Palestinians aim is a bit haphazard.  Whereas, Israel has precision guided rockets and missiles, the Palestinians fire often "homemade" rockets from a wooden ramp, and operate on the theory of what comes up, must come down.  That is why the live news feed that we keep in touch with reads, "Air raid sirens sounded Siderot." Followed by, "two rockets land in open area" or "iron dome intercepts two rockets" or "rocket lands in garden. No injuries" and so forth.  Lucky for Israel they don't hit much.  This is of course not how it is in Gaza, and there are so many politics involved there that I cannot even pretend to understand, but I do know that when Israel is firing away at Gaza almost all night, there is very little coming our way.

So, in Central Israel, life goes on.  It is not what one watching the news would imagine it is.  Instead, it is pretty normal.  We wake up, send our kids to school, people go to work and things seem pretty much the same as they did last week at this time.  However, at the back of your mind, you are always wondering what will happen next.  I went for my walk today, but I was always listening and always looking for the best place to take cover.  I think that people who have lived here forever, don't even do that.  Everyone seems incredibly relaxed.  I am only kind of relaxed.  We always have the door open or the window cracked.  It is easier to hear the sirens that way.  Our bags are packed just in case and we have a lot of food and water in the house.  I don't worry about my kids.  They are safe at school. I don't even worry about me, I just worry about what I don't know.  What happens next?  Everyone wants to know if we will evacuate.  And I don't know. I think, I would rather stay here with my family then be separated from my husband.  Although at times, Christmas in Colorado sounds pretty nice.

A few times, we have heard the air raid sirens from Tel Aviv.  Last night, we heard the interception of one of the missiles, but didn't hear the siren.  That was freaky.  Always though, we get an email and a phone call making sure we are alright and accounted for.....which thankfully we are.

I have no idea what the next few days will hold. And, I guess that is the most difficult thing.  Yes, it seems silly to be worrying about the 5th grade Thanksgiving party, but turkeys need to be picked up and things need to be done.  I think too, that it is important for the kids to have life as normal as possible.  They know what is going on, and are handling it pretty well.  I think they are a little worried, but are glad we are together.  As the Big Duck said yesterday, "we are getting to live the full Israeli experience."  Lucky us.

I am adding a couple links that you all might find interesting. The 15 seconds video was on my Facebook Account in case you have already seen it.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-khalil-from-gaza/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsm-mEy38pQ&list=UUawNWlihdgaycQpO3zi-jYg