Inspiration from Zion: This is a Love Story

Imagine you are walking down the road with your child. Sirens go off, warning of in-coming missiles. If you are lucky. You have 15 seconds to find shelter. There is a bomb shelter but it is too far away. What do you do?  A missile can hit you. It could hit next to you fling shrapnel that pierces your body. How do you protect your child?

In the picture you can see a mother in a southern town of Israel, caught outside with no way of protecting her child. Covering the girl with her own body she waits for the explosion. Where will it hit? A direct hit will kill them both. If shrapnel flies maybe she will succeed in protecting her daughter. She might not live through it but, hopefully her daughter will.

This is the reality for thousands of Israelis who live in southern Israel.

Imagine you are walking down the road with your child. Sirens go off, warning of in-coming missiles. If you are lucky. You have 15 seconds to find shelter. There is a bomb shelter but it is too far away. What do you do?  A missile can hit you. It could hit next to you fling shrapnel that pierces your body. How do you protect your child?

In the picture you can see a mother in a southern town of Israel, caught outside with no way of protecting her child. Covering the girl with her own body she waits for the explosion. Where will it hit? A direct hit will kill them both. If shrapnel flies maybe she will succeed in protecting her daughter. She might not live through it but, hopefully her daughter will.

This is the reality for thousands of Israelis who live in southern Israel.

Since the June 12, 2014 kidnapping of three teenagers, southern Israel has been the target of ever-increasing rocket and other terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip, aimed deliberately at civilian targets. Over these 21 days, approximately 130 rockets have been fired.
Monday, 30 June saw a sharp escalation, with the intensification in attacks beginning in the morning, prior to the discovery of the boys’ bodies. In the past four days alone, 80 rockets were launched from Gaza (as of 3 July, 15:00 Israel time). Additionally, there were five barrages of mortar shells.

These rockets have injured Israelis, damaged cars, homes and property. On Thursday morning (3 July) a rocket hit a nursery school and rockets burned two factories in Sderot to the ground (28 June).

Would you find this an acceptable reality?

A mother has to think twice before taking a walk with her daughter; boys are kidnapped on their way home from school and governments around the world demand that Israel show “restraint”.

This is not freedom.

We’ve waited 2000. We can wait longer. I fear however that time is running out.