“You’re the next in line Avi,” the whole Sderot fire department joked around with their most prized firefighter Avi Maman. All the homes around his home had been hit by Qassam rocket fire from Gaza the past week and the other firemen were joking with him that his home was to be the next. It was December 29th, 2008 three days into Operation Cast Lead and Avi did not take the jokes lightly. Like many homes in Sderot, Avi’s was having a bomb shelter connected onto it....

When the president of the United States spoke yesterday at the UN about the girl from Sderot who shuts her eyes in fear that a rocket might kill her, he probably was referring to Shavit Amar, aged 15, a girl he met in the course of his visit to the town ravaged by Qassam rockets last year. In July 2008, in the midst of his presidential election campaign, the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, came to Israel for a visit. In the course of a tour of Sderot Obama stopped in at the Amar...

It is true that there were no direct physical casualties from last night's rocket fire- but that doesn't explain what happened here in Sderot, Israel last night. My family lives in Silver Spring, Maryland- thousands of miles away from where I live and work. I spent the family oriented holiday Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, with amazing families in Sderot, Israel where I work and live. After a long day of eating, drinking, and celebrating I arrived home to take a relaxing shower and...

The Malka Family Carmit Malka and her husband, Oshri were born and raised in Sderot. Carmit recalls a wonderful childhood, where she was free and happy to play on the streets of Sderot. “My parents were poor, hardworking individuals. I remember growing up, feeling safe and secure in Sderot. I was happy.” “Why can’t my kids have that kind of childhood? Carmit asks. Their sons Noam and Idan, ages six and four respectively, were not home when a rocket hit their home,...

It isn't a secret that the citizens of Sderot are the most experienced and trained citizens in the country of Israel, when dealing with rockets. It isn't a secret either that the children of Sderot can brief the children of the other parts of the country, that have just joined in the line of fire. After 8 years this is understandable. The sights, horrors and non-conventional experiences they have had, that are so different from those of children living in the rest of the country. The way they...