I woke up this morning to the devastating news that multiple rockets and missiles launched from Gaza have landed in Ashdod and surrounding areas, injuring many and killing one man in Be'er Sheva. Additionally, a bomb that went off outside of the central bus station in Jerusalem killed one woman and injured 50.
Spending half a year in a country as amazing as Israel allowed me to forge an incredible bond with both the people and the country itself. Still, my reaction to this morning's news surprised me. Instead of feeling relief to know that my friends are safe, and that I'm safe at home, for some inexplicable reason I wished that I was back in Ashdod. Feeling so personally involved and being so far away makes me feel so incredibly helpless. Business are closed and school is canceled for the rest of the week; my friends are just sitting around waiting for news while overhearing the sounds of bombs and missiles landing dangerously close to their homes.
I think what breaks my heart the most is that now, I know and have personal relationships with people who need to endure this while trying to go on with their daily lives. While volunteering at school, I had conversations with students and teachers who reflected on how things in Ashdod were a few years ago, when missile attacks and warning sirens were a regular occurrence. Can you even imagine your school day being disrupted multiple times a day by a siren, giving you mere seconds to find shelter in case a missile landed in one of your classrooms? Being this scared should never be a normal thing.
I know there is a lot of craziness going on in the world right now. Please keep Israel in your thoughts and prayers, along with Japan and Libya and everywhere else in the world that needs an influx of positive energy right now. To my dear friends, stay safe.
To read more information on the attacks in Ashdod and Be'er Sheva, go here.
For more information on the Jerusalem attack, go here and here.
Spending half a year in a country as amazing as Israel allowed me to forge an incredible bond with both the people and the country itself. Still, my reaction to this morning's news surprised me. Instead of feeling relief to know that my friends are safe, and that I'm safe at home, for some inexplicable reason I wished that I was back in Ashdod. Feeling so personally involved and being so far away makes me feel so incredibly helpless. Business are closed and school is canceled for the rest of the week; my friends are just sitting around waiting for news while overhearing the sounds of bombs and missiles landing dangerously close to their homes.
I think what breaks my heart the most is that now, I know and have personal relationships with people who need to endure this while trying to go on with their daily lives. While volunteering at school, I had conversations with students and teachers who reflected on how things in Ashdod were a few years ago, when missile attacks and warning sirens were a regular occurrence. Can you even imagine your school day being disrupted multiple times a day by a siren, giving you mere seconds to find shelter in case a missile landed in one of your classrooms? Being this scared should never be a normal thing.
I know there is a lot of craziness going on in the world right now. Please keep Israel in your thoughts and prayers, along with Japan and Libya and everywhere else in the world that needs an influx of positive energy right now. To my dear friends, stay safe.
To read more information on the attacks in Ashdod and Be'er Sheva, go here.
For more information on the Jerusalem attack, go here and here.
