Noam Bedein, Director of the Sderot Media Center, has been tireless in his efforts to bring out the reality behind the headlines of life in southern Israel today. When the rest of the country has grown used to hearing sterile, daily reports of Kassam landings in Sderot and other Israeli communities near the border with Gaza, Bedein hammers home one vital point: when you and your family are being targeted for death, there's no getting used to it.
There is no greater travesty than this: the Israeli government has essentially given up on protecting the lives of its citizens. It makes no difference that the missiles being fired out of Gaza are innacurate, and have claimed "only" a few Israeli lives. The fact is that tens of thousands of people have been reduced to lives that are not worth living. And no one seems to care.
Miracle on the Ninth Day of Channukah (Exerpt)
by Noam BedeinPinchas, the father, was chain smoking and walking through the ruins of his kitchen as I opened the door to his home. There is a gaping hole in the roof. His kitchen has been shattered. Here is a father in his own home, the place he feels most secure, where he kept a normal Jewish life. His family is not with him.His wife, Aliza, just recovering from a stroke as a result of a previous attack, is back in the hospital being treated for trauma and injuries.
The camera tries to grasp details that say everything: The different Jewish Symbols that in some miraculous way have survived the explosion. The Hamsah good luck charms, the pictures of Rabbis, Sabbath candles, an untouched collection of holy books in a glass case that remains intact, and the menorah that the family had lit for the past eight days, lying unscathed on the mantle overlooking the entrance to their home.
The Sasson family, their neighbors, came by while we were there.
"How is Shula's condition?" I asked Moshe, her husband, remembering Shula was also injured on Thursday night.
"She's still pretty shaken up, in the hospital, with high blood pressure, probably going to stay there for the Shabbat, to be watched over. She might have serious brain damage, from the trauma and anxiety".
I remembered their son Avidan, and his words the night before, still wearing his army uniform: "I got a phone call while I was at the base telling me that my mother has been evacuated to the hospital, unconscious. I started to run towards the nearest junction to catch a ride".
Avidan was discharged from the Israeli army only 2 weeks ago.
This was Avidan's first Shabbat at home since leaving the army. How absurd -- joining the army to serve and protect your country, while not being able to protect your own mother and family?
Our first visit to the Sasson family was two weeks ago, when we accompanied the Euro News to their home, to experience a night at a Sderot home.
The Sassons have been living in their living room for the past year, the parents and 5 children.
The Sassons have a beautiful home, with two floors, but they don't have enough time to run downstairs from the second floor in 15 seconds.
Their son Rafi built a protected shelter for his younger brother in the middle of the living room with money that he got when he was released by the army, since the Sassons do not have a protected room in the house.
"Rafi has a very close relationship with Aziel, ever since Aziel was 8 years old and experienced the kassam rocket land nearby, while playing in the soccer field. He always felt the need to protect him," Shula told me. "5 years later, Aziel is still in therapy".
Shula was pointing out to the small swimming pool that Moshe and the boys built in the back yard. "We don't go outside anymore, so we try living as much as possible at home. The truth is I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep on like this."
"Why don't you leave your home, leave Sderot?" I asked her.
"We have no where we can go, with 5 children? Real estate went down over 50%. Who would be willing to buy or rent a home in Sderot, and with the money we get, can we offered any home to go to? This past May, after a kassam barrage, we and ten families from the neighborhood bought tents and went camping on the Kinneret for a week. How long can we live in tents?"
Read the whole report at 
