Mobile Shelters and the Iron Dome: A Firsthand Report
Mobile Shelters and the Iron Dome: A Firsthand Report

 

"Do you know the fellow who works in the pizza shop?" a friend asked.

"Of course" I answered.

"Well" my friend continued, "he's ordering a mobile security room. It's costing them quite a bit of money but they have no choice. It's impossible to run with five small children, especially in the middle of the night, into the sewer pipe shelter. He says his kids are terrified. They're wetting their beds, clinging to him and his wife, and afraid to go to sleep at night. 'What will happen if you can't get all of us into the pipe on time?' his oldest kid asked."

We only have ten seconds from the sound of the siren to get into the concrete sewer pipe in our cul de sac. Hence the mobile shelters. Last week, with the sirens wailing, I watched grandparents running into the sewer pipe clutching their grandchildren wrapped in blankets. An infant was held by her pregnant mom.

"Where are they going to put the security room?" I asked my friend.

"They'll cut out parts of the plasterboard wall in the children's room and attach the shelter to it. If there's a night of heavy bombardment they'll put mattresses on the floor and the kids will go to sleep their directly after their baths."

Bath time is always frightening. One always wonders if the siren will wail while one is all soaped up. "At least I'll die clean" my husband says.

Last Sunday morning we had the first real experience of the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. The sound was horrific. Pieces of shrapnel from the exploded missile fell close to a nearby housing area.

Is Iron Dome a blessing or a curse? So many missiles have been fired at our western Negev area. Only two or three were intercepted by Iron Dome, which we hope is because it is able to instantaneously predict their destinations and choose which to intercept, as we have been told.

A mother came in to the Community Center as I was talking to the director. "My daughter is afraid to go outside after school. Could you recommend an after-school activity for her? She really trembles from fright."

"How about tae kwan do? The children learn self defense and it's twice a week" the director said. "The children feel empowered. It just might work."

The mother said she would think it over. She was embarrassed to admit the activity was too expensive for her.

Over forty rockets fell in the south on one weekend a few weeks ago. Friday night is a favorite time for Arabs as they know it will destroy our Shabbat rest. The sirens wailed and the loudest, closest explosions were heard at 11:20pm. Our sleep was over.

Late that Shabbat afternoon the children of Nitzan began their annual month-long organization festival for the Bnei Akiva youth movement. They marched through the neighborhood banging plastic bottles while singing Israeli folk songs. The sirens sounded. Joyous voices turned into shrieks as the youngsters ran into the sewer-villa safety zone near our home. There was no room left for me or the neighbors. The children, at least, were protected.

After Shabbat the television was filled with the scenes of devastation across the entire southern region of Israel. Houses and cars were burning in Ashdod, homes were shattered in Ashkelon. The new Grad missiles are packed with explosives. Their range and destructive power is frightening. Israel is warned not to retaliate, lest the fighting escalate.

Sunday morning, 6am, no siren accompanied a deafening explosion nearby. I jumped out of bed and run to the front door. Do I head for the sewer pipe? Are there more missiles falling close by? I'm shaking. I turn on the radio. No mention of our explosion. An hour later we learn the 'iron dome' defense system had hit an incoming missile directly over us.

Two of our grandchildren had planned on spending next Shabbat with us. We were looking forward to the visit. When we spoke to their parents, our children, we agreed to delay the visit until the fighting "calmed down". One missile had hit a classroom…

I take a walk with Moshe this morning. I need some sunlight. We have been cooped up long enough. The sight of refuse, weeds, discarded furniture and deserted caravillas turns my stomach. Families have moved up the hill to Nitzan B into their new homes. We who are left behind feel frustration, desolation. Some, like us, are in waiting mode. Some will never build.

Moshe returned from morning prayers, greatly agitated. "I watched a missile flying over Nitzan minutes ago. It seemed to burn out just overhead." There had been no siren. After all, there is a cease fire brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas. It was later announced the missile was fired by us. Moshe's reaction: "Their [expletive deleted] missile. Our [expletive deleted] missile. Who cares…"

It is at moments like this that Operation Dignity steps in. See our website – www.operationdignity.com – for further details.