The Little Town of Sderot

Below is an article written recently by one of my professors. Hopefully, this can help us better understand the current situation in Gaza.

THE LITTLE TOWN OF SDEROT

By Paul Liptz

December 29, 2008

Sderot is a small town close to the north east border of Gaza. It's like many of Israel's peripheral areas with an undeveloped town center, monotonous buildings, lower middle class inhabitants and by and large, citizens who don't really have the money to sell their apartments and move anywhere else. However, the difference between Sderot and most other areas in Israel is that this particular town has been the object of attacks from Gaza for the last eight years.

Sadly, Sderot had little influence with the decision makers. As long as they only suffered a little, it just wasn't worthwhile making too much of a fuss about it. For many Israelis, it was preferable for a small group of people to be under attack than to get involved in a major war. Anyway, there was a widely held belief that Hamas would agree to some form of a minimal cease fire and even though there is unlikely to ever be a peace treaty with them, many Israelis imagined that one could continue with this low level of conflict for an extended period of time, especially since it was "out there".

Some Sderot residents even seemed to be coming to terms with their vulnerable position. They realized that they had few powerful supporters and while the politicians periodically traveled to this outpost to have their photos taken with the locals, the really important issues of Israel were perceived as the events in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa and in the banks, stock exchange and high tec firms.

In the historical context there was clearly a precedent for an "expendable" group. During the long years between Israel's Independence in 1948 and the 1967 Six Day War the kibbutzim and moshavim (collective villages) in the most northern area of the country had constantly been under Syrian fire. It hadn't seemed worthwhile going to war to ensure the safety of a relatively small group of citizens. Thus, year after year, children in the upper Galilee spent hours and days and sometimes weeks in bomb shelters while the Syrians shot down from the Golan Heights onto the defenseless villagers. It was only in June 1967 that the position changed radically and Israel took control of the Heights. I well remember my weeks on Kibbutz Dafna in June and July 1967 speaking to a whole generation of innocent people who would still look up to the mountains and wonder when the next alert would be sounded and the rush to ensure that their children were safe, waiting quietly in the harsh concrete bunkers until the all clear signal was sounded.

In many senses, life in Sderot was more difficult. There were few bomb shelters, despite continuing government promises that they would be built. As nuclear families populate this southern town, they didn't have the same kind of caring community and infrastructure that was of such importance to their northern brethren.

In 2005, during the painful unilateral disengagement process whereby several thousand Israelis were forcibly removed from their homes in the Gaza Strip, most people were convinced that now, with Gaza back in the hands of the Palestinians, everything would be just fine. And I was one of those optimists. However, on the second night after the Israeli withdrawal as I saw the Palestinians destroying the greenhouses and hacking at the water pipes, I realized my dream was ludicrous. I had so hoped that this was the first stage of Palestinian independence and slowly but surely, they would build their infrastructures - hospitals, schools and roads and that life would really become better for them.

The skeptics were correct. The Egyptians also quickly recognized that a Hamas controlled Gaza was a threat and so closed the border between them. Israel was troubled by the realities on the ground. Iranian military equipment was flowing into the area and it were designed for one purpose and one purpose only-to be used against the innocent residents of Sderot and the other small towns and villages in the area. The Israeli government decided to control the entry into Gaza of military equipment but permitted food and humanitarian supplies to flow in. However, tunnels built from Egypt were effectively developed and soon the attacks on Israeli citizens increased. The government stated again and again that it was responsible for the well-being of its citizens and thus could not allow a significant area of the country to be under constant attack. Israel's politicians appealed for understanding and asked global leaders a simple question- "What would you do if there were continuous attacks on your sovereign territory?"

More recently Israeli society came to a harsh realization. The attacks were not merely on Sderot, but some one million citizens in cities like Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and even Beer Sheva would find themselves threatened. The government had no alternative but to take stern action. It was clear that Israel would be widely condemned for defending itself. It is hoped that civilians in Gaza would not unduly suffer but one can never ensure that in military conflict, innocent people won't suffer.

Israel's goals are clear and simple. Allow our citizens to live in peace and the people of Gaza can live their lives undisturbed. Few Israelis ever want to occupy Gaza again. There are too many good things happening in Israel itself and still numerous challenges before us. Now the time has come to try and establish a new reality.

As far as I'm concerned, the people of Gaza can live their lives as they want. The type of government system is up to them. How they behave towards their women is no longer my concern. Their relationship with other Arab countries is an issue only between them and the Arab world.

I hope our goals are rapidly attained. I have no wish to cause suffering to the Palestinians but there has to be an understanding that we, Israelis, are not just going to sit on the sidelines and allow ourselves to be decimated. We've worked too hard to build what we have and no-one, but no-one, is going to destroy us.

Paul Liptz immigrated to Israel on June 4, 1967. He was on the faculty of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University for 35 years. He is on the staff of the Anita Saltz Center of the World Union of Progressive Judaism and lectures students at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

Happy Holidays from the Holy Land!!

Thank you, faithful blog readers, for still being faithful after a seven week hiatus from writing! Obviously, the last two months have been extremely busy here in Jerusalem... so busy I haven't had time to let you know what I'm up to! My last two months' activities can be divided into several categories: fun school activities, visitors, holiday celebrations, fun extracurricular activities, and the most important if not the most fun... SCHOOL!! I am 16 weeks into my fall (?) semester, including the few days here and there for vacation and celebration of the High Holy Days. My 2nd Temple History class has ended, and while I haven't added anything in it's place, I still have 9 classes and lots of activities, including football, choir, my internship at the Kibbutz, and school trips, on my schedule. More on some of the exciting things that have happened here...

#1: Fun School Activities!
As part of school's liturgy workshop program, we are required to lead services (I'll be leading in February), give a d'var Torah (sermon or literally "word of Torah"), and chant and translate Torah. I gave my d'var Torah on Monday, November 10th, and discussed the importance of helping other people do good deeds... in essence, the necessity of enabling other people to make a difference, not just doing so ourselves (if anyone is interested, I'm happy to send the full version to you). The next week, on November 17th, I chanted Torah for the first time in Israel (though I've done so many times at home)... I did so again last week, and am up one more time this coming week!

Unfortunately, due to the budget cuts that affected HUC (just like everyone else), we had to cut our fall tiyul to the North a bit short, but we did spend a long day in Haifa and Tzfat. Haifa is a northwestern port city where we visited the Leo Baeck School, a K-12 school, synagogue, and community center associated with the progressive movement in Israel. After our visit with program directors, the rabbi, young students, and high schoolers, we moved on to Tzfat, the city associated with Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. There, we met with local artists, shopped around, and visited Tzfat's many old, beautiful synagogues. Before we made our way back to Jerusalem, we stopped in Tiberias, a city near the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) for the first decent chinese food I've eaten in Israel (coincidentally, at the chinese restaurant where my cousin Joel first learned to like chinese food)!

elementary kids leading and participating in prayers at Leo Baeck

Another great perk of my time here at HUC in Jerusalem is that our teachers are very warm and friendly, and have graciously invited us into their homes to meet their families, eat their food, celebrate Shabbat, and to get to know each other better. I have been to the homes of the Head of Student Affairs, Nancy, and one of the instructors, Rabbi Shelly Donnell, for reflection group meetings, to the home of my Israel Seminar teacher, Paul Liptz, for a social evening, and to Dean Rabbi Dr. Michael Marmur's home to celebrate Shabbat with his family!

My volunteer project at Kibbutz Gezer, working with Rabbi Miri Gold at Birkat Shalom (a progressive synagogue) and with David Leichman at Pinat Shorashim (an education center), has been going amazingly well. I am really enjoying the work that I'm doing there, and I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to become part of Miri and David's community and family- they are wonderful people to be around, give me great opportunities, go out of their way to help me and do nice things for me, and generally are there to come to when life in Jerusalem gets a little crazy. More on Kibbutz Gezer in a later post...

Finally, I am involved in Parallel Lives, the project that joins HUC students and Israeli soldiers in an effort to get to know each other, our cultures, and our lives. Jaclyn and LuAnne, our coordinators on the HUC side, planned an amazing Shabbaton for us all in Jerusalem at the beginning of the month. My roommates and I hosted two soldiers in our apartment, and we all spent the weekend together learning alot, making great friendships, and really getting to understand each other.

the Parallel Lives crew at the start of the Shabbaton (at school)

#2: VISITORS!!!
Over the past month, to the detriment of my school work but to the benefit of my overall happiness and well-being, I have had a slew of visitors!! First, Sean's mom Corinne, stepdad Jeff, and stepsister Shana came to Jerusalem as part of a performance trip for Jeff's choir. We celebrated Shabbat together at the Great Synagogue and at HUC, walked around the Old City, shopped ALOT, heard Jeff's concert, and ate wonderful meals together. A few weeks later, Rabbi Miri and David, the couple I work for at the Kibbutz, called to let me know that they were having dinner with a group from Kansas City that included my grandpa Sam's cousin, Rabbi Art Nemitoff... they invited me to dinner, and I got to visit with family! Last week, as the semester started to seem endless, Emily and Elle came to Israel on the OSU Hillel Birthright Trip and then extended their trip for four days to spend time with me! I got to meet their travel buddies, go with them to a truly obscure bar, and then play "sorority house" with them in my giant bedroom that all of a sudden seemed very tiny with all of us and all of our stuff! Together we celebrated Hanukkah, "celebrated" Christmas, toured the Old City, went shopping, ate alot, and reconnected... it was truly wonderful to have such close friends here with me. Finally, just tonight, I got to meet up with Brian, one of my best friends from high school, for dinner and shopping during his birthright trip! Next week, I believe I'll be meeting up with Andrea, another friend from both OSU and high school. Anyone else want to come visit? I have a comfy futon you can sleep on!!

#3: Celebrations!!

Not everyone would consider a football game a celebration, but when OSU beats Michigan 45 to 7 AND you get to watch that game via the internet with 10 friends in Jerusalem, you have to amend your definition a bit! My classmate Dan Geffen was kind enough to host the party, and I, along with other Big Ten alum classmates and some general football lovers, watched OSU pound on Michigan. Go Bucks!

Michigan Fans, OSU Fans, and a few football lovers together for the OSU Michigan Game!

Just a few days later was Thanksgiving in Jerusalem... the day I was looking forward to the least all year. Thanksgiving in my family is a huge deal- it's often my grandma's birthday, my entire family is in town, and I always spend several days cooking with my grandma and stuffing and sewing the turkey. This year, my family went on a trip (without me!!!) to celebrate my grandma's 75th, and needless to say, I was a little sad. Luckily, the Kef Committee (but really Leslie, the mastermind of meals and parties here in J'lem) put together a WONDERFUL school-wide Thanksgiving dinner. Four of us, including me, who had experience with turkeys, got elected to make the 15 lb "birds" (as my grandma calls them). After an hour of plucking pin feathers that made my index fingers bleed, I put my "bird" in a roasting bag with all my grandma's usual seasonings, put it in the oven, and hoped for the best... luckily, the turkey came out tasting just like it does at home- turns out I really did learn something!! The dinner at school was absolutely wonderful, with everyone coming through with wonderful dishes, a great talk about the Birkat Hamazon (the prayer after eating), donations to the HUC soup kitchen in NYC, and a great game led by Joel where we each wrote down what we were thankful for and then read another person's contribution. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving, all things considered.

the Thansgiving Spread... don't worry, you can't even see the four turkeys!

here's my Turkey!!! I gave it a thumbs-up... hopefully Gram would have, also!

Now it may still be Chanukah here in Israel, and this may be a Jewish country, but yes, I still "celebrated" Christmas here! For starters, feeling nostalgic for Christmas music, Ari, Joel, and I found some internet radio stations and listened to it ALL of last Saturdy while we made a test batch of latkes! I also ventured into the Christian Quarter of the Old City, as well as Mt. Zion, with Joel, Emily, and Elle, to seek out a little Christmas spirit on Christmas Eve... we found some interesting stuff, including a parade of slightly-scary Santas!! Though I missed a bit of the music, I definitely didn't feel too bad about missing commericialized Christmas in the States!

a sign wishing everyone in the Christian Quarter a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in both English and Arabic!

And of course, we can't forget my very first Chanukah in Israel!! I made test latkes with Joel and Ari, shopped for a new menorah with Emily and Elle (compliments of my parents- thanks, Mom and Dad!), saw Hassidic rabbis light a GIANT menorah with the help of a cherry-picker truck in Zion Square at Ben Yehuda St, made latkes AGAIN with the guys, Joel's roommate, and Em and Elle, lit my new menorah several times with my roommates, my visitors, and Lisa's mom who is visiting, played Chanukah songs with Ari at our school party, participated in Mysterious Menorah (read: Secret Santa) with my classmates, and had a delicious Shabbat + Chanukah dinner at my apartment, courtesy of Lisa and her mom, with lots of friends. Everyone you look there is a reminder of Chanukah- it has been wonderful to celebrate with an entire country of people, and for the first time, to not feel on the outskirts of the holiday season but as part of the majority!

Joel and Ari doing the Latke test-run, complete with Christmas music!

Lisa and me lighting our new Chanukiot (menorahs) on the 5th night!

As a side note, I want to mention what's going on in Israel today... I won't go into the politics of it all, but if you'd like details, please read the news at www.haaretz.com. I can only hope that there will be peace here soon. Please know that I, along with the rest of my classmates, am fine and currently away from any immediate danger. School is monitoring the situation carefully, and we will be as safe as possible in the coming days. I will keep you updated should anything more happen here.

I'll be back in the State for three whole weeks (yay!) starting January 9th, but in the meantime...
Happy 7th Night of Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and (almost) Happy New Year 2009!!!