Israeli by Day, American by Night

This really warms me up, to read something like this. In case you don't have time to read that link, it's an article about a swarm of people that flocked to Sderot on Friday in order to do their shopping, providing emotional and financial support to their fellow Israelis and Jews.

Sderot is a little town inside Israel proper that rests along the Gaza border. Because of its location, it has been the target of around 8,000 rocket attacks in the past few years, since Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip. Nearly every day rockets are launched from Hamas terrorists inside Gaza, landing in the city or the surrounding area, often resulting in destroyed houses, injuries, and occasionally deaths. Just last week, I believe, two brothers were seriously wounded in one of these attacks. One of them had his leg amputated. Every day on the news it isn't a matter of whether or not rockets landed, but rather how many, and what they destroyed.

The residents, and particularly the outspoken mayor, have become vocally exasperated with the government. I read an article a few days ago saying that protecting Sderot is a "low-priority," right now. I'm not really sure what we can do, since all of this is originating inside Gaza, and it's not like our targeted assassinations ever stop these attacks from being carried out. The city wants the government to help fortify buildings, I guess make them more rocket-proof, though I don't know of many buildings that can withstand a rocket attack. I personally want to help in some way, even if it is in a way that will only bring emotional support, as I have no personal recourse in stopping rockets. I feel like there is something I should be able to do, but what can one silly guy accomplish?

I wish I would have heard about this! 10,000 Israelis from all over the country went to Sderot on Friday, just to do some shopping. I guess they bought groceries and other Shabbat items, since it was a "pre-Shabbat" event. This is, as another comment noted, real Zionism at work. The problem is that Zionism, outward acts of Zionism, have generally been abandoned, leaving religious demographics as the only groups that actively pursue these forms of support and activism. Maybe I'm wrong on that, I hope so, but I would venture to guess that the majority of these shoppers were religious.

Anyway, let's not spoil a good story with sad overtones or wild speculation! This is good news for a battered town. Sderot: We haven't forgotten about you, and we'll help, even if the government has better things to do. I hope I hear about it next time around! Or, maybe I should just go sometime? I'm sure my mom would love that...