Sderot, Israel Is Iraq Without The Body Armor

I am no stranger to the danger of rocket and mortar fire. As a Marine officer serving in Iraq in 2006, a 122mm rocket landed roughly 50 feet from where my Staff Sergeant and I were walking through our motor pool. Thankfully it was a dud and didn't explode, but the experience of hearing the incoming rocket and knowing that it was too late to take meaningful cover was truly and uniquely horrible. Of course, we were Marines fighting in a war and were fully aware of the threats we faced. We had body armor, armored vehicles, fortified buildings to live in, and aircraft and artillery to return fire when we were attacked. We were in a war, we were prepared for the danger, and we knew that eventually we would go home. For Israelis living in Sderot, Ashdod, Ashqelon, and nearby towns, it is much different. They live in normal homes, drive normal cars, and wear normal clothes. They eat at restaurants, watch movies, and go to school and work. They don't carry weapons, and they aren't at war. Yet they have endured over 6,500 rockets and mortars over the last three years, with 80 landing per day on the worst days. Roughly figured, every four hours these civilians have 15 seconds to find shelter from an incoming explosive. That is substantially more indirect fire than anything I, or anyone else that I know, ever experienced during tours in Iraq.

As I walk the streets of Sderot I am struck by the absurdity of this situation. These are civilians living normal lives in a normal town in a democratic country. Yet their bus stops were converted into blast-proof shelters, and every other block has a "Lifeshield" bunker. Camp Fallujah is the only place I've ever been with such "force protection" measures in place. How absurd that Sderot is in that kind of company. Sderot has no rocket launching pads or artillery equipment. There are no helicopters or jets based there. Not only is there no offensive military presence, but there is no mechanism to return fire either. If you told Marines that they would be living in a place that received regular mortar and rocket fire, had no counter-fire capability, and would never be allowed to return fire, they would tell you that you're completely insane…among other things.

I am told by Sderot's residents that there are typically two times per day that are most dangerous: when the children go to school in the morning and when the children return from school in the afternoon. The pre-school children learn to sing songs about the proper response to the "Code Red" siren warning of an incoming rocket. Imagine that, a child returning from school proud of the new song she learned, unaware that she lives in the only place where such songs are taught. In Haditha and Fallujah the youngest kids that I had to worry about were 18 years old, and that was a heavy enough burden to bear.

With only 2.5 miles between Sderot and the Gaza border, every resident remains keenly aware of the 15 second rule. Every action is taken with the nearest bunker in mind, and every trip to school is rushed to minimize the time spent outside. Baths and showers, bathroom breaks, wake-up times, naps, and exercise are all planned around the likely times of rocket attacks, but the residents are all too aware that there is no way to be sure. If one is observant, the signs are everywhere. Savage holes scar the walls of buildings, and larger holes in sidewalks and streets remind passersby of the ever-present danger. I pass a home destroyed by a recent Qassam rocket attack, and recall the 70 year old grandmother who lived there. She survived because she decided that morning to sleep in a bit longer; otherwise she would have been in the now non-existent kitchen or bathroom when the rocket crashed through her roof.

Such strikes are not accidental. These rockets are deliberately fired at civilian areas like Sderot with the intention of killing the residents as they go about their daily lives. Every one of the 9,400 rockets fired into Israel since 2003 is a war crime. The people of Sderot continue to wait for these charges to be made against the Hamas terrorists controlling Gaza. They believed that the withdrawal of all Israelis from Gaza in 2005 would improve the situation, and despaired when Hamas drastically increased the number of attacks. They live on with the hope that soon the rockets will stop. They dream of a day when their lives will more closely resemble those of citizens of other democratic nations, and less the experiences of those of us who must endure the risks of combat. They ask us why this dream is not possible, and we pretend not to hear.