Living Under Hamas Rocket Fire

Frontpage Interview's guest today is Anav Silverman, the International Correspondent at Sderot Media Center. Her articles and blogs are published on the Sderot Media Website, Jpost.com, the Bangor Daily News of Maine, BBC on-line, and Israel National News. In Sderot, Anav has organized tours for UN officials, foreign press and visiting diplomats.

FP: Anav Silverman, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

Silverman: Thank you for having me.

FP: You are located in Sderot and working at the Sderot Media Center. While we witness this "ceasefire" taking place, can you talk about what the situation on the ground has been there over the years? Tell us about life under rocket fire, the general feeling of Sderot residents in regard to the war, experiences with rocket attacks, etc.

Silverman: The situation is terrifying, even though Palestinian rocket fire against Sderot is not new. For the past eight years, Sderot residents have been forced to endure daily rocket attacks on their city, which have completely destroyed normal life. You get up in the morning as early as 5 am to the sound of the siren alert, Tzeva Adom, followed by a rocket explosion. The rocket attacks follow you throughout the day. I usually find myself racing to the bomb shelter outside the office at least three to four times a day. 15 seconds is all one has to make it to the shelter once a rocket is fired from Gaza at Sderot and the alarm sets off.

The psychological effects of the rocket fire has been devastating. Between 70--94% of Sderot children are suffering from signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The general feeling here among Sderot residents is one of relief that the Israeli government is finally responding to Palestinian terror after eight years of this rocket torture. The Gaza rockets have destroyed countless Sderot homes and properties, and have forced over 5, 000 Sderot residents to leave the city. Nine Sderot residents have been killed, three of whom were children under the age three. Enough is enough.

If any other civilian population in the world was being targeted by rockets, there would be an immediate response to stop the rockets. Israel is no exception.

FP: As you say, no other nation in the world would be expected to put up with this. Why, in the eyes of the international community and media, are Jews the only people in the world that are not allowed to defend themselves?

Silverman: I believe that there is a certain standard--a double standard applied to Israel by the international media and much of the world leadership. There are those who would prefer to see the Jewish people as victims, struggling to maintain their freedom and identity--a role that has often been thrust upon the Jewish people since being exiled from the land of Israel two thousand years ago.

Today much of the world--especially those areas in the world where Jews were victims of anti-Semitic persecution-- have difficulty accepting that the Jewish people are now militarily able to defend themselves from hostile forces-- and have every right to do so. Because of that, Israel is demonized in every possible way, with the media spotlighting the suffering of the Palestinian people while turning away from the plight of Sderot and southern Israelis living under Palestinian rocket terror.

FP: How has this kind of life affected you personally? How is it possible to live under these conditions?

Silverman: For me personally, working under Palestinian rocket terror takes a heavy toll. There are days after enduring countless rocket attacks on Sderot, I find myself dreaming about rockets at night and waking up to the sound of the rocket alarm, Tzeva Adom in the morning--even when I'm sleeping in a rocket-free zone like Jerusalem.

There are days where I am very tense and alert and feel very scared that something will happen to me. Only a month ago, a Qassam rocket slammed a few meters away from our Sderot Media Center office.

However, I've learned that a human being can be conditioned to living in terror. At this point in the war, I think I've become somewhat numb--the abnormal has become a normal routine. Racing to the bomb shelter behind our office a few times during the day, is part of my work day. I've learned to value 15 seconds because that's all the time Sderot residents have to make it to the shelter, before a rocket slams into the city.

The hardest part for me is visiting the people and areas that have been hit by rockets. To see the pain and fear on someone else's face after a rocket strikes, to view the destruction of a home, or to watch people convulsing in shock at the scenes of an attack, just shows me how terribly vulnerable we all are here in Sderot and Israel. And how this situation has to change now, not later.

FP: Your thoughts on what Israel has achieved with this operation?

Silverman: I am very hopeful but also realistic. If Israel repeats its same mistakes in Lebanon, and allows this ceasefire to prevent it from fully completing its objectives toward the Hamas terrorists, then Hamas will simply rearm and restock its weaponry and rockets, and strategize once again, just as Hezbollah is doing now. Hamas may suffer a short-term defeat, but they will be able to regroup and fire longer-range rockets at Israel in the future, as long as funding continues to stream in from Iran and Syria.

Success means stopping all rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. It also means completely deterring Hamas from being able to smuggle in more rockets, weapons, and funds into Gaza and ending their rocket production. In short, the ultimate success would have the Palestinian people recognizing the need for a new leadership, one that doesn't place the destruction of Israel first on its list.

FP: Anav Silverman, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.

Silverman: Thank you.

Jamie Glazov is Frontpage Magazine's managing editor. He holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in U.S. and Canadian foreign policy. He edited and wrote the introduction to David Horowitz's Left Illusions. He is also the co-editor (with David Horowitz) of The Hate America Left and the author of Canadian Policy Toward Khrushchev's Soviet Union (McGill-Queens University Press, 2002) and 15 Tips on How to be a Good Leftist. To see his previous symposiums, interviews and articles Click Here. Email him at jglazov@rogers.com.

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