Something I began to notice in the spring of 2007 when I came into contact with some newly discovered cousins is that the US coverage of events in Israel and Gaza seem to be lopsided. Maybe I was naive or maybe it just wasn't personal enough for me to notice. I saw it again this morning while watching the Today Show. The only news they reported was the details about Israel's bombing of Gaza, how many buildings were destroyed, how many people were killed. Not once did they mention that Hamas is still firing missiles into Israel, damaging property and hurting people there. In order to get the complete story, I follow the news on http://www.jpost.com/, the English version of the Jerusalem Post.
I have cousins in Ashkelon which is about 10 miles from the Gaza border, well within range of the Hamas missiles. My cousin Ella lives in Lod with her boyfriend Boris who is still in the army and received a call at 11:30pm on December 31 to report for duty at 7am the next morning. Ella told me that he is not part of the fighting force but will still be serving on, or close to, the border. His parents live in Ashdod, also within range of the Hamas missiles. When the warning sirens sound, they have 45 seconds to run from their 3rd floor apartment to the bomb shelter in the basement.
Ella told me this morning that she convinced her parents to move from their home in Ashkelon to her apartment in Lod. Her younger sister has already moved in with a friend in Rehovot. Ella's grandmother Rita and her boyfriend are staying with his family in Bat Yam. I'm glad everyone was able to move further north.
Unfortunately, terrorist groups like Hamas only seem to understand one thing...violence. They see the world in black and white (usually black) with no grey area, no middle ground. In my personal opinion, the only solution to this problem is for Israel to pound Hamas into the dirt and end it once and for all.
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