15 seconds. When the siren goes off the people of Sederot have 15 seconds to run to the nearest shelter. Sederot is a city on the northeast corner of the Gaza strip, and faces many challenges with security and even economy. Although Sederot has challenges, Sederot has a very strong community, and has so much much to offer.
Our first stop was a playground. We met Danielle, who has lived in Sederot her whole life, and learned about life in this city. We learned about the life in the shadow of rockets being fired from Gaza since the year 2000. After a short time our class noticed two large snake sculptures, and almost as quickly we learned these serve the purpose as bombs shelters in this area where the children play, and gave a quick access to safety. Sederot does not life in sorrow, but this city takes the negative and uses it to make its people stronger. Along the road there are beautiful statues made from parts of rockets, gardens, and people.
We then went to a look out, and saw Gaza. We learned from Amit (Ariella's husband) about the security situation. I learned about how many misconceptions I had about what Gaza would somewhat look like. I though I would see smoke and destruction, but it seemed like any other city we could see out in the distance. In our view was also a Kibbutz and agriculture growing, and far enough out the sea. Were you surprise at the nof we had of Gaza? What were some misconceptions you may of had about Sederot and Gaza?
Our day continued at a community center in which we heard about making peace from Roni Keidar, a member of Kibbutz Nativ HaAsara just outside of Gaza. She is one of the founders of "Other Voice". This lady had shared about how in bombings her friends in Gaza would text and ask if she is alright after, and how she would help take members in Gaza to hospitals. I was very moved by her words of peace and education, and all the stories this woman had told. As she was sharing, I noticed myself crying. I could not say I was sad or why I was crying, but I just felt so touched by the words of friendship, love, and care being more powerful than hatred. What was your response to this woman actions and words shared with us?
We had around an hour of free time for lunch. Me and a few other students went to a hummus place. The restaurant had many young people dining and lots of cool music in the back and decorations. I felt so welcomed dining there and loved seeing so many happy Israeli strangers. The food was amazing, it was the type of hummus and fallafel you could only get in Israel. Free time was a great way to see culture and life in this community. We then visited our "guide", Danielle, and went to the student village where she she lived, not far from our lunch spot. The apartments were made out of shipping containers, and connected 2 apartments in the middle with a bomb shelter. The student village was a very large and close community for students going to college in Sederot from all over the country.
Overall, the day changed how I saw this conflict and what is happening around, to a more positive one. Even though we were in peace, I thought that Sederot would be a torn down city covered with IDF members everywhere. Now is see Sederot as a strong part of Israel with great culture (and hummus).
How were you influenced by the places we saw and the people we met with?
I was definitely surprised at our view of Gaza. From news stories detailing the rudimentary and underdeveloped nature of Gaza's weaponry, I formed a misconception about the level of industrialization in the strip. From our viewpoint, we were able to see smokestacks and high-rises, which I had not expected.
ReplyDeleteLike Lissie, I was incredibly touched by our encounter with a woman who was both a proud resident of Sderot and a peace advocate. Her stories of friendship in Egypt and in Gaza gave me a lot of hope for peace through simple human connection. Her word re-emphasized the importance of dialogue groups, which I believe are one of the most important and simple ways we can promote peace from the ground up.
Danielle's love of her city, as well as clearly strong community of Sderot, strengthened the message we heard earlier in the day, that people on both sides of the border have a love for their homes and a right to exist there. It is easy to think that leaving the border area would be a straightforward decision. However, my time in Sderot showed me that people's connections to home run deep. I was reminded of my love for my own home and of how strongly I feel about Israel's right as a whole to exist.
I was very surprised of the view of Gaza. As much as I try not to make prejudgements about things but I often do. I was most surprised by the big buildings. I always pictured Gaza very run down. I was also surprised by Sderot. I didn't expect a city so close to Gaza to have such a prospering community, especially like what we saw at the college. I was very touched by what the woman we met with said. She answered the question I have always had: why not move? very well. I loved to see how optimistic she was. After going to Sderot I am much more hopeful for peace. This has also influenced me to find more ways to look at the conflict.
ReplyDeleteI was quite surprised when we saw the nof of Gaza. I never expected something so beautiful to be such a violent-oriented place. It struck me that it looked just like other parts of this beautiful country, yet so different. I had misconceptions like there aren't any real communities near there with such nice houses, and I did think that it was the poorer community who lived in Sderot. It was so nice to find out that it looked like a normal Israeli neighborhood. It actually reminded me a lot of Evan Yehuda, a nice neighborhood outside of Tel Aviv that I stayed in for a couple weeks this summer. To hear the women talk to us about living so close to Gaza and all that she does gave me so much hope. Much of what she said had never crossed my mind before, and it gave me a lot to think about. She made me smile the whole time as she talked about her desire for peace with the other side. I was very influenced and touched by all we talked to. It gave me a whole new perspective on the situation, and made my motivation to make peace much stronger.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see how peaceful and and normal Gaza looked from where were standing. It looked so similar to any other city in Israel and it is hard to believe that we still have so many conflicts with them. I thought that it would look more destroyed and chaotic instead of being just a normal city. When we got to see the woman speak, it gave me a lot of hope for future relations between Israel and Gaza. Gaza and Israel have the possibility to have very different relations if more people had the same mindset that she had while speaking with us.
ReplyDeleteWhile I've seen Gaza in photos, it is not a fair comparison to real life. Gaza is a beautiful place, at least the north from what we saw, and I saw myself wondering, "hmm I wish I could go there" before realizing that would not be the smartest idea. For the city of Sderot itself, I would have really expected it to be more crowded, we only saw a few people, and most of them were kids on bikes. While I appreciated the woman who spoke, I couldn't help but think about how naive she sounded. While I'm sure there are stories of Arabs who acted badly to her, she did not talk about them with us, except for one that ended well for her. I think that if we have too many people like her, we will be trampled upon as a nation. While I'm all for peace and equality, when missiles are flying, I believe that we (as a nation) need to take care of our own people first, and then help others.
ReplyDeleteIn the media Gaza is falsely portrayed as an undeveloped country, low industry, and low cultivation of the land. I was very surprised to look upon the nof of Gaza to find out that these perceptions were wrong. It was startling how close we were because i saw Gaza before as a state of true evil. I thought the woman who spoke to us had so much passion and wanted nothing but true peace with the Palestinians. After all the recent conflict it was weird to think that Palestinians had just as much right to the land as we do. It made me think about being in he shoes of an ordinary Palestinian hoping for peace. Im very moved by what I saw in Sderot. The people there are truly stronger then any people in the world to be constantly shelled by fire and in the end want nothing but peace is a truly beautiful message. I hope to take everything I learned and advocate what I think is the right way for peace.
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t really surprised at the view we had in Gaza, I didn’t really know what to expect. I don’t think I had any misconceptions. I really appreciated what the woman who spoke to us said. I appreciated her advocacy for nonviolence and her passion for her work. I think that she is incredibly strong and brave. I think that I was amazed at the dark beauty that is Sderot. I think that it is unfortunate that there has to be multiple bomb shelters on a playground just in case. I think that it is a harsh reality for me to wrap my head around, even after seeing it for myself. I do appreciate, however, that every time a rocket falls, the people in Sderot make something beautiful out of the destruction to symbolize the fact that they will persist through it all.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Coleman
I didn't really have an expectation for what it'd look like so I can't say that I was shocked with the view that Gaza had. I was however surprised with how Sderot and Gaza functioned so close to each other. I personally thought that it'd be a much different type of place with a very different vibe. Seeing as Sderot is so close to Gaza I was expecting much less in terms of the community and environment there, especially with the college there. I really enjoyed what the old lady who spoke to us had to say, that after everything that's happens she can still advocate for peace and believe in what she does. It really shocked me how despite so much turmoil the community in Sderot was still rather strong and how the people there seemed so nice and friendly given the situation. I think the college thing we visited was really cool especially given how the housing was created. Other than that the other impression I had gotten was when we went out to eat for lunch. Everything seemed so lively and like nothing bad had ever really happened around the area. It was amazing. One last thing, in their acts to turn something destructive and horrible into something beautiful for the community, is the thing that will have the most lasting impression on me.
ReplyDeleteWhile I didn't know anything about Sderot coming in, I wasn't exactly surprised by the nof we had of Gaza. I've seen pictures of the rubble of Gaza City, but I knew that it existed before the war, and as a result, there is advanced infrastructure, though it is crumbling as money runs out and Hamas allocates funds to purposes other than keeping buildings standing. Gaza is a state that has ~1.8 million people, so it's not surprising that there is an electrical plant. I wish I had binoculars while we were there, though since we couldn't see much other than an industrial city.
ReplyDeleteSderot was a really interesting place for me, especially because of the architecture of the city. It was utilitarian throughout, but purposefully to minimize damage from rockets. In that, there was a lot of beauty in its simplicity, especially the huge number of open walls. It's a kind of desert structure that we don't have in the states, though it's probably a lot more economical and environmentally friendly.
-Noah Arnold
Just to clarify, the power plant is NOT in Gaza. rather in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Israel supplies the civilians in Gaza with electricity.
DeleteI had never been to Sderot, and knew nothing about the area. I think I was surprised the most about the relative atmosphere of friendliness and relaxation that we encountered there. I was expecting a very tense area where people where uptight and frightened. I was pleasantly surprised and happy with our encounters with the people in Sderot. I think the fact that the people we met with were so desperate for peace speaks volumes to the relatively silent majority in Israel. I wish more people like the ones we spoke with could have a wider audience. Then maybe if the world saw the feelings of ordinary people, we could get somewhere on the road to resolving conflict.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post Lissie, thanks for volunteering! Great questions! I'm so glad to hear so any of you had such a meaningful day.
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised not at the view itself, but at the stories Amit told us of his time there, for example when he couldnt sleep because at any moment, one could sneak out from through the trees and attack. It was nice to be able to connect to a real-life story of soldiers in this area.
ReplyDeleteI loved speaking to the woman because she had such a unique story with so many different viewpoints. Her story of her daughter and her friend in egypt reminded me greatly of a story I heard from someone in the Ultimate Peace program I work with. When she first joined the program, her mother was very against it and almost did not allow her to join a program with any Arabs in it. Now, the children in this program are invited over to the house once a month for dinner, showing the ability of communication to change the perspective of someone.
I loved this tiyul because unlike many of the tiyulim we go on, we got to hear so many personal connections to the location, whether it is about the horrifying tension or the community that this tension has helped to create in which during a bomb siren, all doors of all houses are open for anyone seeking to find shelter.
Coming to sderot was truly very powerful. Not only did it give me a sense of what life is like for the residents of the city that is On the border to gaza but it also gave me hope. What amazed me was seeing the joy and life that was trying to be brought back to this place. Instead of it being abandoned because of the danger from rockets and tensions with Hamas, people are trying to get more of a population to come and live here. While we were there I did not once feel threatened in any way. I think that is truly important because it allows us to understand that the news may portray certain areas of the world in very biased manners which is not what sderot was like at all
ReplyDeleteStanding on top of hill, looking passed the road and seeing as far beyond as possible into the serene looking city just passed the fields. The view a beautiful sight, but full of despair. For as you gaze upon the ever peaceful looking city, you remember of the injustice and cruelty that roams around in there. How there is a ghost organization holding residence in there, forcing the option of hate upon its citizens. That is what I thought of the view of Gaza. It's like a rose, beautiful until you touch it thorns.
ReplyDeleteFor the woman who spoke to us, I thought her to be a bit on the crazy side. But from what I learned through my life, its the crazies that get it all done.
the places we saw made me wish I grew up in such a community. Not because of the rockets flying into the city like birds migrating, but because everyone there looks out for one another. I don't have that in my home community. I always have to be on the lookout for people, but in Sderot, they trusted one another. I'd like that option (to trust) in my life.
I was surprised at the not we saw of Gaza.I guess the entire time I have been in Israel people associated bad things with the Gaza strip and the west bank. I wasn't expecting there to be such a beautiful view of this amazing piece of land with something associated so badly. I felt really inspired to pursue careers with strong women characters. I feel that it is very important what she is doing for her society and her fellow women. I was greatly influenced by the places and people we meet because now I can share these stories so more people understand what life is like for someone who lives so close to the border and we they never leave and how they learn to love a place so dangerous so much.
ReplyDelete