Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Miriam and my family and I are former Hamiltonian. Fourteen years ago, we made Aliyah. We live in Netivot, Israel, in the Western Negev, located 10 kilometers from Gaza and are on the receiving end of kassams and grad missiles. In another word ‘rockets are raining.’Hamas, the terrorist group, has been attacking Israel with rockets for over eight years from Gaza. These rockets have killed, maimed, caused mental aguish, destroyed private homes, cars and businesses.
 
Children have been too terrified sleep, eat, go to school or play outside. My grandchildren’s school can receive several rockets a day. They have to learn in fortified classrooms. Bomb shelters are all over the playground. The children know when the red alert siren goes off, and they are playing outside, they have only 10 seconds to get into a shelter or their classroom. This is no life for a child.
 
Children in North America and other countries have fire drills. Israeli children have kassam drill.
 
In Netivot we have an air raid warning siren to let us know that a rocket or rockets are coming over our city. There are public bomb shelters on the street for people to take cover.
 
It is very hard to explain the stress one feels living under the threat of the air raid siren going off, rushing to the safe room and waiting for the boom.
 
Since 1990, the building code demands that every house or apartment built must have a private safe room in each apartment or house. If a contractor fails to build a safe room, the property will not be registered,  the electricity will not be turned on and the contractor will be prosecuted.
 
What is a safe room? This is a room that is built with special reinforced concrete. The walls are at least 10 inches thick. In front of the glass window is a heavy metal window. The glass window is made of thick glass that closes air tight and is bomb proof. The door is a very heavy metal door with thick rubber all around. It too is air tight when closed.  The room can not have any holes or drains. While to room is being built, inspectors from the government will come a take samples of the cement to make sure it meets all regulations.
 
Inside the safe room you must have a land phone, computer or television, battery radio, food provisions in case you are ordered to stay in the safe room for several hours. Toys, books, games for children are a must. Many people have blow up camping mattress in case you have to stay at night.
 
When the air raid siren rings, we in Netivot have 15 seconds to get into our safe room. Think of what you can and can’t do in 15 seconds. The truth is not very much.
 
My daughter lives in a split level house. Her safe room is in the basement. She was in the basement doing the laundry. Her baby was sleeping on the top floor. The siren rang. She ran up 20 stairs to get the baby out of the crib and started down again to her safe room to join her other children who had gone by themselves. She didn’t make it. By the time she came down from the bedroom to the first floor the siren stopped and she heard two booms. Had the missile hit her house, I shiver to think what could have happened. A missile did land three doors away from her house the other day.
 
If you live in an older house then you need to go to a public shelter on your street. If running back and forth is difficult for you, remember you only have 15 seconds. Then you have to stay in the shelter for hours or days on end.  In many older apartments there is a bomb shelter in the basement for all the tenants to share.
 
The mental anguish I feel is the anticipation of when the next rocket will be sent. You are a prisoner in your own house. It is like waiting for the other shoe to fall. Every day life is not natural. You can’t plan your day, whether it is going shopping, doing the banking, going for a walk for pleasure or exercise, visiting friends or just waiting for the bus.
 
There are instructions for going to shul. How many people are allowed in a minyan at one time?  When you shower an everyday occurance becomes a dilemma. And forget about a good nights sleep. It’s impossible!.
 
Children’s lives are also not natural. School was cancelled for 10 days. Now they are slowly going back part time if their school is fortified. My grandchildren go to school 15 minutes away and have to travel in an army troop bus, as the road they have to take has had many missiles.
 
Mail delivery is also been erratic. If there are many rockets landing in your area, then the mail person can not walk the street to deliver the mail. Medical clinics are opened, but people are afraid to go outside to fill their prescriptions and take medical tests.
 
Doctors who look after patients that are suffering from stress and other mental conditions and are overworked. Young and old, help is needed by everyone.
 
Everyone wants peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but not at any cost. No one likes or wants war, but sometimes war is a necessary evil.
 
When terrorists attack innocent people for many years, with their main goal to drive them away, then the government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. When diplomacy doesn’t work, the next step is war.
 
Israel has given Hamas many opportunities to clean up their act, but their answer was always more kassams. We moved out all 8,000 Israeli citizens living in Gaza to live in Israel proper. We left them our community centers and greenhouses. The world countries sent millions of euro, dollars and pounds so that Hamas could build high rise apartment buildings, schools, medical clinics and what did Hamas do? They built terror training camps.
 
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when Hamas attacked the southern Israel communities two weeks ago with 100 mortars, kassams and grad missiles in one day.  
 
Our government answered them in a responsible manner.