Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: The little town of Sderot

By Paul Liptz
December 29, 2008
Sderot is a small town close to the north east border of Gaza. It's
like many of Israel's peripheral areas with an undeveloped town
center, monotonous buildings, lower middle class inhabitants and by
and large, citizens who don't really have the money to sell their
apartments and move anywhere else. However, the difference between
Sderot and most other areas in Israel is that this particular town has
been the object of attacks from Gaza for the last eight years.
Sadly, Sderot had little influence with the decision makers. As long
as they only suffered a little, it just wasn't worthwhile making too
much of a fuss about it. For many Israelis, it was preferable for a
small group of people to be under attack than to get involved in a
major war. Anyway, there was a widely held belief that Hamas would
agree to some form of a minimal cease fire and even though there is
unlikely to ever be a peace treaty with them, many Israelis imagined
that one could continue with this low level of conflict for an
extended period of time, especially since it was "out there".
Some Sderot residents even seemed to be coming to terms with their
vulnerable position. They realized that they had few powerful
supporters and while the politicians periodically traveled to this
outpost to have their photos taken with the locals, the really
important issues of Israel were perceived as the events in Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem and Haifa and in the banks, stock exchange and  high tec
firms.
In the historical context there was clearly a precedent for an
"expendable" group. During the long years between Israel's
Independence in 1948 and the 1967 Six Day War the kibbutzim and
moshavim (collective villages) in the most northern area of the
country had constantly been under Syrian fire. It hadn't seemed
worthwhile going to war to ensure the safety of a relatively small
group of citizens. Thus, year after year, children in the upper
Galilee spent hours and days and sometimes weeks in bomb shelters
while the Syrians shot down from the Golan Heights onto the
defenseless villagers. It was only in June 1967 that the position
changed radically and Israel took control of the Heights. I well
remember my weeks on Kibbutz Dafna in June and July 1967 speaking to a
whole generation of innocent people who would still look up to the
mountains and wonder when the next alert would be sounded and the rush
to ensure that their children were safe, waiting quietly in the harsh
concrete bunkers until the all clear signal was sounded.
In many senses, life in Sderot was more difficult. There were few bomb
shelters, despite continuing government promises that they would be
built. As nuclear families populate this southern town, they didn't
have the same kind of caring community and infrastructure that was of
such importance to their northern brethren.
In 2005, during the painful unilateral disengagement process whereby
several thousand Israelis were forcibly removed from their homes in
the Gaza Strip, most people were convinced that now, with Gaza back in
the hands of the Palestinians, everything would be just fine. And I
was one of those optimists. However, on the second night after the
Israeli withdrawal as I saw the Palestinians destroying the
greenhouses and hacking at the water pipes, I realized my dream was
ludicrous. I had so hoped that this was the first stage of Palestinian
independence and slowly but surely, they would build their
infrastructures - hospitals, schools and roads and that life would
really become better for them.
The skeptics were correct. The Egyptians also quickly recognized that
a Hamas controlled Gaza was a threat and so closed the border between
them. Israel was troubled by the realities on the ground. Iranian
military equipment was flowing into the area and it were designed for
one purpose and one purpose only-to be used against the innocent
residents of Sderot and the other small towns and villages in the
area. The Israeli government decided to control the entry into Gaza of
military equipment but permitted food and humanitarian supplies to
flow in. However, tunnels built from Egypt were effectively developed
and soon the attacks on Israeli citizens increased. The government
stated again and again that it was responsible for the well-being of
its citizens and thus could not allow a significant area of the
country to be under constant attack. Israel's politicians appealed for
understanding and asked global leaders a simple question- "What would
you do if there were continuous attacks on your sovereign territory?"
More recently Israeli society came to a harsh realization. The attacks
were not merely on Sderot, but some one million citizens in cities
like Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and even Beer Sheva would find
themselves threatened. The government had no alternative but to take
stern action. It was clear that Israel would be widely condemned for
defending itself. It is hoped that civilians in Gaza would not unduly
suffer but one can never ensure that in military conflict, innocent
people won't suffer.
Israel's goals are clear and simple. Allow our citizens to live in
peace and the people of Gaza can live their lives undisturbed. Few
Israelis ever want to occupy Gaza again. There are too many good
things happening in Israel itself and still numerous challenges before
us. Now the time has come to try and establish a new reality.
As far as I'm concerned, the people of Gaza can live their lives as
they want. The type of government system is up to them. How they
behave towards their women is no longer my concern. Their relationship
with other Arab countries is an issue only between them and the Arab
world.
I hope our goals are rapidly attained. I have no wish to cause
suffering to the Palestinians but there has to be an understanding
that we, Israelis, are not just going to sit on the sidelines and
allow ourselves to be decimated. We've worked too hard to build what
we have and no-one, but no-one, is going to destroy us.
http://rehovnahum.tumblr.com/post/67821999/the-little-town-of-sderot
----
"una facile scusa per dimenticare il presente" (Luca Logi /
rodewalder / Golda Meir)
cfr 
http://raionim.blogspot.com/2008/12/una-facile-scusa.html

 changed radically and Israel took control of the Heights.
quindi Israele dovrebbe riprendersi Gaza? Lo faccia, con tutti gli
annessi e connessi.