In a recent discussion I had with someone about Israel, they actually said to me that the number of people killed by incoming rockets was very low. So Israel’s reaction therefore was not justified. I was of course stunned. That somehow before Israel should be allowed to defend itself she should wait till lots of her citizens are murdered by terrorists. I asked if it was OK that I just fired a rifle randomly at my friends house and so long as I didn’t actually kill anyone that s/he wouldn’t call the police. That shut them up for a bit. I should have shown them this:
This video is part of an article on Israeli news requesting that media report on attacks against Israel in a manner that better reflects the reality of life under constant terrorist threat. Small excerpt below.
Noam Bedein, Director of The Sderot Media Center, has issued a call to mainstream media from the citizens of Sderot. Arutz Sheva has decided to publish it for our readers and hopefully, the mainstream media to whom it is addressed. A video below, shows children panicking to run for bomb shelters as a Kassam rocket approaches.
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.
I once had a similar conversation with a group of people about Israeli responses to attack.
I asked them to imagine being sat at a nice meal outdoors whilst a wasp begins to keep stinging you. After a while, tired of the wasp you roll up a newspaper and whack it hard. I asked them how they would feel if all your friends suddenly turned on you and attacked you for attacking a defenceless wasp.
That shut them up too.
Meryl Yourish did a report on the situation in Sderot back in 08. It’s a perfect companion piece to this one, and deserves a wider audience.