On Nov. 3, Noam Bedein from the Sderot Media Center visited Brandeis to discuss his work in the publicizing of the continued missile strikes on Sderot, Israel. In an event hosted by the Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee, Bedein discussed the traumas, tragedies and perseverance of the Israeli citizens living in Sderot, which is just one kilometer away from the Gaza border. It is in pre-1967 Israel, the part of the country that is not disputed in any landswap discussions. The Sderot Media Center’s objective is to educate the global community about the city—“the bomb shelter capital of the world” in Bedein’s words—through media outreach and seminars. 

According to Bedein, Sderot is the world’s only city in the 21st century which has been under constant and unprovoked rocket fire for the past 15 years. Citizens of Sderot have routinely been forced to run into rocket shelters, even during official ceasefires, according to many mainstream media outlets across the entire political spectrum. Furthermore, in Sde…

Tzeva Adom! Tzeva Adom! One. Two. Run, quick!  Five. Six. No, he can’t walk, quick, carry him. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Are you all here? I can’t see you! Fourteen. Fifteen. 

Boom. 

In Sderot, the reading of the news is often interrupted with this siren. Parents understand they have exactly 15 seconds to ensure that their kids are safe. Kindergarten-aged children are encouraged to start singing loudly once in the shelter; this way, they won’t hear a rocket exploding just a few meters outside.

The rockets, all shot from Gaza, are mostly Qassam rockets. These can be homemade by rogue militants or handed out by Hamas, the terrorist organization ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007. According to the Sderot Media Center, as well as the times stated by Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post when reporting the attacks, terrorists fire most commonly between 6 to 8 a.m.—exactly the times when children are walking to school and adults are rushing to work. Worse yet, not even Gaza’s civilians are kept safe from Hamas. The rockets are stored in and fired from hospitals, mosques and United Nations schools and, in many instances, Gazan civilians have been killed by the rocket fire of their own government.

But do you know how many rockets were fired into civilian areas in Sderot this past Saturday night? Two.  Do you know what the casualties are for the thousands of rocket attacks in the last five years? Six, according to the Sderot Media Center. This fact, which can only be described as a miracle, can be explained by the introduction of two things: the accessibility of bomb shelters and the Iron Dome. 

The Iron Dome is a defense system, developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and heavily funded by the United States government, which can track a rocket and intercept it with a second rocket over an open field. Most recently, on Aug. 1, the House of Representatives approved $225 million in H. J. Res. 76. This provided expansion of Iron Dome technology around Israel during this summer’s Operation Protective Edge. During Protective Edge, over 3,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

This recent spike in rocket fire follows 2,700 to 2,800 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. In Sderot, bomb shelters are constructed in every home, school, office building, restaurant bus stop, as well as in most playgrounds, according to Times of Israel. Interestingly, Hamas has been found to store its rockets in its U.N.-supplied bomb shelters and use the cement Israel has allowed  for infrastructure projects to build tunnels for terrorists to smuggle into Israel. Israel uses bomb shelters to protect its citizens; as the world saw this summer, Hamas uses its bomb shelters to store bombs and uses its population as shields to protect their rocket launchers. Although there are means by which Israelis can defend themselves, this situation is inexcusable.

This rocket fire must stop. How can a country put up with daily unprovoked attacks on one of its cities? I refuse to say that it is Bedein’s fault that he is faced with rocket fire each day because he lives in Sderot. And I refuse to say that Bedein should leave. No matter how you define the borders of Israel, Sderot is never debated land, except by those who say Israel should not exist. Sderot, amidst rocket fire, continues to exist as part of Israel because people like Bedein insist on living there. 

If you are interested in helping the people of Sderot, Ashkelon, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and Beer-Sheva from the threat of the 5700 to 6000 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001, here are three things you can do: educate yourself, educate others and educate your (new!) House and Senate members so that they understand the importance of funding Israeli defense systems. 

As one of America’s key geopolitical and military allies in the Middle East, the U.S. must fund Israel in its efforts to protect its civilians. Advancing this cause will benefit both America and Israel. For example, Israel has shared its Iron Dome technology with American armed forces to ward off rocket attacks at American military bases abroad, including in Afghanistan. 

The symbiotic relationship funds Israeli defense systems, and the American military is given access to the technology. 

This strategic partnership also helps innocent Gazan civilians, as is evident in the bipartisan sponsored bill H. Con. Res. 107, in which House members denounced both the missile attacks on Israel and the use of human shields by Hamas. Ideally, the rocket fire would be stopped indefinitely. Because the rockets can be homemade and are handed out by the Hamas government, a terrorist organization, it is critical to take protective measures in conjunction with measures to stop the rocket fire. 

Israel’s people deserve to live without the constant threat of rocket fire. Peaceful Gazans deserve the opportunity to build normal lives without seeing their schools, hospitals and apartment buildings turned into rocket storage facilities for a terrorist organization. By encouraging those around you, your media and your Congress members to save Israelis and Gazans by fighting terrorism and funding shelters and Iron Dome technology, you will take part in saving innumerable lives.