Sderot

Sderot is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District of Israel. In , it had a population of . Sderot is located nearby Gaza, with the closest point being away.
Geography
Sderot lies from the Gaza Strip and the town of Beit Hanoun.
History
20th century
Sderot was founded in 1951 as a transit camp for Israeli immigrants, primarily from Kurdistan and Iran. It was originally called Gabim Dorot and housed 80 families. It was later renamed Sderot, a symbolic nod to the numerous avenues of trees planted in the Negev to combat desertification and beautify the arid landscape. Like many localities in the Negev, a green motif was chosen in keeping with the Zionist vision of "making the desert bloom."
The development was located on the land of the Palestinian village of Najd, which was depopulated during 1948 Arab-Israeli War and served as part of a chain of settlements designed to block infiltration from Gaza. Permanent housing was completed three years later, in 1954.
From the mid-1950s, the town attracted many Moroccan Jews. Romanian Jewish immigrants also began settling in Sderot. In 1956, Sderot was recognized as a local council. In the 1961 census, North African immigrants, mostly from Morocco, made up 87% of the population, with 11% from Kurdistan.
Sderot absorbed another large wave of immigrants, from the former Soviet Union, during the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah. Immigrants from Ethiopia also arrived during this time, doubling its population. In 1996, it was declared a city. A number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were resettled in Sderot beginning in 1997 after cooperating with the Shin Bet.
21st century
From 2001, in the beginning stage of the Second Intifada, the city was a target for rockets from the Gaza Strip. Rocket fire intensified after the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005, with the city sustaining constant rocket fire from Qassam rockets launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The population declined as families left the city in desperation. The city continued to suffer from rocket fire until the Gaza War's end in 2009, which brought an end to regular rocket fire aimed at the city.
The city has still suffered from occasional rocket fire ever since. Despite the imperfect aim of these homemade projectiles, they caused deaths and injuries, as well as significant damage to homes and property, psychological distress and emigration from the city. The Israeli government installed a "Red Color" (צבע אדום) alarm system to warn citizens of impending rocket attacks, although its effectiveness was questioned. Citizens were only given 7–15 seconds to reach shelter after the sounding of the alarm.
In May 2007, a significant increase in shelling from Gaza prompted the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents. By November 23, 2007, 6,311 rockets had fallen on the city. Yediot Ahronoth reported that during the summer of 2007, 3,000 of the city's 22,000 residents (consisting mostly of the city's key upper and middle class residents) left for other areas, out of Qassam rocket range. Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak organised a series of relief programs for residents unable to leave.
On December 12, 2007, after more than 20 rockets landed in the Sderot area in a single day, including a direct hit to one of the main avenues, Sderot mayor Eli Moyal announced his resignation, citing the government's failure to halt the rocket attacks. Moyal was persuaded to retract his resignation.
In a gesture of solidarity, El Al (Israel's national airline) named one of its Boeing 777 passenger planes Sderot (4X-ECE).
In January 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York organized a display of 4,200 red balloons outside the headquarters of the United Nations. Each balloon represented a Qassam rocket that had been fired into Sderot, where for years the town and its surrounding area have been under near-constant bombardment by thousands of rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza. Consul David Saranga, who conceptualized the display, said he used the balloons as an opportunity to call upon the international community to stop ignoring what's happening in Israel. The balloon display made headlines in New York City papers as well as international publications.
In January 2008, British journalist Seth Freedman of The Guardian described Sderot as a city of near-deserted streets and empty malls and cafes. In March 2008, the mayor said that the population had dropped by 10–15%, while aid organizations said the figure was closer to 25%. Many of the families that remained were those who could not afford to move out or were unable to sell their homes. Studies found that air raid sirens and explosions have caused severe psychological trauma in some residents. According to a study carried out at Sapir Academic College in 2007, some 75% of residents aged 4–18 were suffering from PTSD, including sleeping disorders and severe anxiety, in the wake of rocket attacks on the city, and 1,000 residents were receiving psychiatric treatment at the community mental health center. From mid-June 2007 to mid-February 2008, 771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were fired at Sderot and the western Negev, an average of three or four each a day.
During the Gaza War in December 2008 and January 2009, between 50 and 60 rockets were fired at Sderot per week, causing about half the city's residents to temporarily evacuate. The war ended regular rocket fire from Gaza and the city experienced a revitalization. By 2009, demand for apartments was outweighing supply, a new sports complex largely funded by donor aid had opened, a new shopping mall was being built, and the assistance that the city had received due to concern over the years of rocket fire meant that Sderot now had better community, educational, and recreational services than many other Negev development towns. The city sustained rocket fire on occasion over the following years, including during Operation Protective Edge. However, the introduction of the Iron Dome rocket defense system reduced the effectiveness of this rocket fire, with many of these rockets being intercepted.
In 2011, a Sderot resident filed a million dollar lawsuit against two Canadian organizations raising funds for a Canadian ship to join the Gaza flotilla. According to the lawyers, "The Canadian Boat's raison d'être is to aid and abet the terrorist organization that rules Gaza." The suit alleges that these actions violate Canadian laws that prohibit aid to terror groups.
"Sderot cinema" is a name given to gatherings at a hill in Sderot, where over 50 locals would come to watch the fighting in the Gaza strip during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, cheering when bombs would strike. The name was coined by a Danish journalist who snapped a photo of it and posted it on Twitter. Similar events happened in Operation Cast Lead in 2009, after which some critics decided to refer to the hill as "Hill of Shame". Sderot residents have complained about the media portrayal. Marc Goldberg noted in The Times of Israel that "it shouldn't surprise anyone that after suffering a huge amount of shelling over the course of several years, they are cheering the IDF attacking the weapons that have been turned on them."
In May 2019, the Israeli Air Force held a special flypast (aerial display) over Sderot (in addition to Yom Ha'atzmaut flypast), in order to salute the residents of Sderot who suffer continuously from Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas gunmen attacked Sderot, engaging in firefights with Israeli police and civilians in the streets and occupying the town's police station. About eighteen members of the Israeli police were killed during the fighting. Fighting continued through the night until security forces retook the police station, which was demolished in case more terrorists remained inside. Early estimates stated that at least 20 civilians were killed as they were waiting at bus stops, walking down the street, and driving in their cars. Among those gunned down was 20-year-old Amir Tanbora, a Palestinian Muslim resident of Sderot. Of the 36,000 residents of the city, 90% were evacuated during the days after the massacre.
Local government
In 2010, after a decline in charitable donations, the municipality revealed that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
In May 2011, the British Ambassador to Israel visited Sderot and met with Mayor David Buskila, who described the suffering of children in both Sderot and Gaza:
"Believe me that I feel bad for my children, for the children that live here in Sderot, but I also feel pain for the children that live in the other side of the border in Gaza ... This situation that the children from this place and the other place is because of the behaviour of the leaders of the terror organisations. We can create another quality of life, it is so close."
In October 2013, Alon Davidi was elected Mayor of Sderot.
Demographics
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2010 the city had a population of 21,900. The national makeup of the city was 94% Jewish, 5.5% other non-Arabs, and Arabs less than 1%. There were 10,600 males and 10,500 females. The population growth rate in 2010 was 0.5%.
Economy
In 2008, the average wage for a salaried worker in Sderot was .
Hollandia International, founded in 1981, a company that manufactures and exports high-end mattresses, moved its sole manufacturing center to Sderot in the 1990s. After 11 years there, it decided in 2008 to relocate due to rocket attacks that hit the city and the factory.
The Osem plant in Sderot, opened in 1981, is the region's major employer, with 480 workers. 170 products are manufactured there, including Bamba, Bisli, Mana Hama instant noodle and rice dishes, instant soup powders, shkedei marak, ketchup and sauces.
The Menorah Candle factory located in Sderot exports Hanukkah candles all over the world.
Nestlé maintains a research and development facility in Sderot, established in 2002. Its production facilities for breakfast cereals are also located in Sderot.
Amdocs has a plant in the Sderot and an industrial zone is under development.
In 2012, the government approved nearly $59 million worth of economic benefits for Sderot to strengthen the economy, boost employment and subsidize psycho-social programs for the city's residents.
Culture
An unusually high ratio of singers, instrumentalists, composers and poets have come from Sderot.
Several popular bands have been formed by musicians who practiced in Sderot's bomb shelters as teenagers. As an immigrant town with high unemployment experiencing a dramatic musical success, as bands blend international sounds with the music of their Moroccan immigrant parents, it has been compared to Liverpool in the 1960s. Among the notable bands are Teapacks Knesiyat Hasekhel and Sfatayim. Well-known musicians from Sderot include Shlomo Bar, Kobi Oz, Haïm Ulliel and Smadar Levi.
The winner of the Israeli version of "American Idol" 2011 was Hagit Yaso, a local Sderot singer of Ethiopian origin.
Israeli poet Shimon Adaf was born in Sderot, as well as the actor and entertainer Maor Cohen. Adaf dedicated a poem to the city in his 1997 book Icarus' Monologue.
In 2007, Jewish-American documentary filmmaker Laura Bialis immigrated to Israel, and decided to settle in Sderot "to find out what it means to live in a never-ending war, and to document the lives and music of musicians under fire". Her film Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone focuses on young musicians living under the daily threat of Qassams.
Politically, the town leans heavily to the right.
Transportation
Sderot is accessible by Highway 34 and Route 232.
The Ashkelon–Beersheba railway, a new railway line which connected Sderot with Tel Aviv and Beersheba, was inaugurated in December 2013. The Sderot railway station located on the outskirts of the city at the southern entrance, was opened on December 24, 2013. It is the first in Israel to be armored against rocket fire.
Education
According to CBS, there are 14 schools and 3,578 students in the city. They are spread out as eleven elementary schools and 2,099 elementary school students, and six high schools and 1,479 high school students. 56.5% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. Sapir Academic College and the Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot are located in Sderot. All schools in the city and 120 bus stops have been fortified against missile attacks.
Twin towns – sister cities
Sderot is twinned with:
Antony, France
Zehlendorf (Berlin), Germany
People
Erez Biton, poet
Miri Bohadana, model
Kim Edri, beauty queen, and former Miss Israel
Kobi Oz, musician
Amir Peretz, politician former defense minister
Hagit Yaso, singer
See also
List of Israeli twin towns and sister cities
Merkhav Mugan
Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
Sderot Cinematheque
References
Bibliography
External links
Sderot Media Center
The Other Voice
Humanitarian aid organization in Sderot
Sderot; The Movie
Sderot portal—Hebrew
Sderot Information Center for the Western Negev
The committee for a secure Sderot
Sderot in The Washington Post
Sderot Journal: An Israeli Playground, Fortified Against Rockets
Cities in Southern District (Israel)
Cities in Israel
Development towns
Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada
Populated places established in 1951
Gaza envelope
1951 establishments in Israel