Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Sederot, Israel
















To the left is Gaza. The white wall is the border.

















Gaza
















Gaza City, and the border in front.

















Another view of Gaza.

















Seredot, in white and blue, is a beacon of Israeli patriotism. The thousands of rockets falling on the town rather strengthen the will to survive.

















Mr Rosenfeld, Chief Inspector, telling us about the wave of rockets that fell from heaven like flowers from hell.
















Shelves full of rockets at the local police station. They fell on Sederot and the surrounding Kibbutz.
















Home-made efficiency cum brutality.














The saddest part: The bomb shelters all over the town. Children play with shelters a few meters away. This shelter stands in a playing ground.














Click on the photograph and read the message. It struck me in the heart.















The message inside. Children should feel secure. In Israel as well as Gaza as well as the West Bank.














The shelter next to the playing ground.
















The losers in any armed conflict, as usual.

The last two days were mentally hard. We spent the days in Sederot, the most terrorized town in Israel. Thousands of rockets from Gaza landed in the town, killing thirteen residents and causing up to a quarter of the population to flee the city. Post-traumatic stress, especially among the children, is reported among many of Sederot's residents.

You can read more about Sederot at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sderot

We had a series of very interesting interviews with many role players in the city. We want to thank the Media Center of Sederot (http://www.sderotmedia.com/), the information officer at the Sderot Municipality (http://www.e-sderot.org.il/) and the Chief Inspector (Foreign Press Spokesperson) Micky Rosenfeld for all their help and assistance.

I could not help thinking of another lost generation of young children that don't have the luxury of a normal childhood. That applies to both the Jewish and Palestinian children.

Who will stop to smell the roses if nobody has planted roses?

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