Sunday, March 02, 2008

Sderot

Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues,

Numerous articles have been (and will be) written on what is happening in Sderot. Just the other Friday my wife and I went shopping in Sderot, a small personal act of solidarity, of joint fate. Probably an insignificant heart warming act by itself but then we were not alone. Tens of thousands of people from all over Israel have done the same turning this in to a powerful show of support and strength of spirit.

But … Since then things have only gotten worse, and the situation only continues to deteriorate day by day.

It is obvious that we should not let this situation continue (as obvious as it was for the last 7 YEARS!!), I have many thoughts and ideas on how and what we should do, it is so easy to say and write on the subject sitting at the safety of my home as if this is an intellectual challenge. So rather than sharing with you my own thoughts on the subject, I would like to share with you the following letter that was written and later sent to our Prime Minister by Yossi Haimov, a 10 year-old kid, of Sderot, who was injured recently by a Kassam missile.

And the letter goes something like this (Translation from Hebrew) …………

"Mr. Prime Minister:

I want you to know that I am afraid. I am afraid of the Kassam missiles. I am afraid of dying. All I think about is how I lay on the ground after I was injured. I thought that my hand had been severed. I held it so it wouldn’t fall off. People tell me I experienced a miracle. They say I could have died. I’m happy I didn’t die. But I’m very scared.

I am asking you, Mr. Prime Minister, to stop the Kassam missiles. Build something that will stop the missiles. I don’t know what; I’m just a child. Make them go through what they’re making us go through. I want all the Arabs who are throwing these missiles at us to die. I don’t want them to live. They are bad to us. What is happening to us, I want to happen to them.


I was born in Sderot. I remember the first Kassam missile that I ever saw. It was before the “color red” warnings. I was in nursery school. I went with my mother to take my sister to the park. I heard a loud “boom” and the entire street was shattered. The entire park was destroyed. I hate that there are Kassam missiles. Everyone starts crying and screaming and my parents’ faces are sad.


Sometimes I am jealous of children who live in other cities. I would also like to live somewhere quiet; somewhere where I could buy ice cream with my family and have picnics. Now, it’s impossible because there is always a “color red.” Our whole family has to sleep together in one room because we’re afraid of a Kassam attack. I want to be a soccer player when I grow up, but we can’t even play soccer these days. We can’t go outside; it isn’t allowed.

Very soon I will be released from the hospital and I will return home. I will tell my father that I want to move. I don’t care if they say I’m not brave. I want to live.

-Yossi Haimov"

Reading this as a father of three kids of my own, I find Yossi’s words particularly heartbreaking. No child should ever have to experience what Yossi is going through – not in Sderot, not in Israel and not anywhere else on the globe. All I can do is share this and promise to continue and support Sderot as best I can, I will walk your streets, visit your shops, and dine at your restaurants and meet a friend at your coffee places.