I add “1PM, Wednesday, the 14th of January, 2009.”
A last will and testimony of sorts. If anything happens, and my bag survives, the paper might be found, my handwriting deciphered and the message survives – we love life more than death. We want peace. We simply want to live in safety in our own country. It is our country. We will prevail.
On the Way to the Front Line
There is no question, I am on my way to the front. We reach Ashkelon. To get to my destination, the Holiday Inn hotel in the Marina, where the press conference is about to take place, I need to change buses. The fare is the lowest I have ever paid – the equivalent of one dollar for the combined bus ride. The driver drives fast, through open areas. I think of the radio broadcasts so often heard of a rocket falling (exploding) in an open area – this is where we are.
We arrive at a neighborhood and the driver shows me where to wait for the next bus. I am wearing my Press ID. The blue and white line around my neck, the picture on the ID is – as if by coincidence - the front line of Ashkelon, a resort area. I expect the ID to protect me. I say a silent prayer.
The neighborhood is empty. I look around for the nearest shelter – where will I run when the next siren is heard? Just next to the bus station a three story building. There is a sign in Hebrew and Russian: SHELTER. The door is unlocked. I check. The door opens. There is a shelter, its door also open. A sigh of relief: I am protected. Not for long, since the bus arrives and we start a twenty minute scenic ride around the city.
A lady sitting in the front sit talks with the driver. I listen. She is just coming back from the market. She could not sit at home all day long so she went to the market. The gentleman at the booth where fresh eggs are sold showed her where he hides. She laughs again – the rocket may fall through the roof – the structure is not protected. Another lady boards the bus, greeting her friend, the lady in the front sit. They exchange their experiences of earlier in the day – where were they when the sirens sounded, where did the rockets fall, what did their daughters do, what can be done – and may God save the soldiers in the front – just miles away.
As we drive, I promise myself I must try to explain the feeling, holding a population hostage, subjected to a barrage of rockets only because it is Jewish, only because its country exists. You have done no wrong other than your mere being, and that my friends is something the enemy is trying very hard to abolish.
I must admit I felt safe when I entered the Holiday Inn. Surrounded by foreign reporters and cameras, surely the rockets will not hit us?!? Nonetheless, I went to the organizer greeting us at the door and asked: To where do I run when a siren is heard? “The General Manager will lead us in case of a siren.” Of little faith, I do not trust that the GM will be available to lead us. The auditorium has glass windows and glass doors. It definitely looks unsafe to my untrained eye. “You will have to go down through this stairwell to the shelter in the basement.” I spend a minute and check the evacuation route.
This is No Way to Live a Life – A Press Briefing
Having my exit route covered, I returned to the Israel Defense Forces’ briefing. IDF Spox (Spokesperson) Unit’s Major Avital Leibovich, IAF Brigadier General (Res.) Relik Shapir and a moderator from The Israel Project (TIP). Some thirty reporters, all the major networks present. TV cameras, focusing on us – the foreign press – as if roles have been reversed. Sitting in my sit and taking notes, I am silently starring in half a dozen broadcasts. At least I know where to run, and will be able to lead the other reporters, at the sound of the next siren. It is not only “outside, turn to the right and then to the left.” I walked these same steps just moments ago.
“The Operation continues as planned. There is no Third Phase (reference to my reporting for the past several days we are in the Third Phase). Israel has targeted over 300 militants fighting on the ground. The launching capabilities have decreased tremendously to 20 – 30 a day, about one tenth of the number originally anticipated. Thus far, Israel has been targeted by 700 mortars and rockets. We have attacked launching sites and some of the underground storage facilities. Over all 60 - 70% of the hundreds of tunnels dug over the last three years along the 14.5kms border with Egypt (Philadelphi Corridor) were attacked and destroyed.
The briefing continues. A map drawn by Hamas showing the locations of road side bombs, barrel explosives, anti-tanks weapons and sniper stands. This whole neighborhood is detonated. A civilian neighborhood turned a military camp for terrorist needs. The AP representative sitting behind me (an American Jew or possibly Israeli son of Americans) keeps laughing, sniggering at the presentation. I think of a video game in which Hamas is the main actor. The AP representative plays with the dials, the world stands and watches the report.
I concentrate on the next presentation – the Air Force General zooms in using satellite imaging. We now look at the building in which we are sitting. Zoom out. We see icons shaped like airplanes showing what is currently in the air. The cameras roll. It is interesting. We zoom again, in and out.
The General reminds us that 60 rockets hit the inside of Ashkelon, the city we are visiting. “Remember, you are 25 seconds away and can be the target of this launcher.” We do not comprehend the real, imminent danger. It still looks like a game, especially to the sniggering AP reporter sitting behind me.
“More than 640 rockets were launched at us during the last 18 days of the operation. We made over 2000 fighter sorties. The 660 rockets (including those fired this morning) are in addition to 9,000 rockets fired mainly on Sderot (a city half a mile from Gaza) for the past eight years. We are now experiencing 20 – 30 attacks per day, down from 60. The civilian population is showing exceptional resolve. It is learning to cope. But this is no way to live a life. The moment Hamas recognizes Israel and stops firing – this war is over!”
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