The quiet serenity of Sabbath afternoon in the Negev city of Sderot was abruptly shattered when the rocket warning system began to drone: "Color - Red!  Color - Red!"  Men, women and children all over the city ran frantically for cover, and some 20 terrifying seconds later, they heard the crash.  The Kassam rocket, fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, had hit an empty parked car.  No one was physically hurt, and almost immediately the people began returning to normal life - worrying when the next crash might come.

Contrary to a certain public perception, Kassam rocket fire at Sderot and the Negev has not stopped.  Today (Sunday), two rockets were fired, causing a fire but no casualties.  And just this past Thursday, seven rockets were fired at Israel - and one of them hit and heavily damaged the home of Meir and Fanny Timsit.  Two family members were treated for shock. 

It was the third time their family has been hit - and Meir's brother house was hit once as well.

"Two and a half months ago," Fanny told Arutz-7 this morning, "I was in my car when a rocket landed several meters away from me.  I was knocked briefly unconscious, and was hospitalized for several hours.  Just a week or two before that, my husband's brother's home was hit, and his wife was seriously wounded, though now she is doing better."



Symptoms Reappear

"Six years ago," she continued, "my daughter, who was then 4, was one of the very first victims of the attacks on Sderot when a rocket landed near her.  She was not physically hurt, but immediately afterwards, she contracted a severe case of psoriasis.  After many treatments, mainly in the Dead Sea, we finally seemed to get rid of it - until two days ago.  Right after our house was rocketed, the symptoms of her psoriasis returned."



"Living here has become a nightmare," Fanny said. "No one who doesn't live here can really understand it.  It's true that it's been relatively quiet of late - but that makes it even worse, because you never know when the lull will end and the next rocket will smash down... We all sleep in one room, and we always push off errands, and it's just not a way to live.  Why can't the country put an end to this - just cut off their electricity for 24 hours after every rocket?  Why is that so difficult?"



The family is being offered an alternate apartment to rent while their house is being repaired. 



School Year Endangered

Meanwhile, the educational system in Sderot is in danger, because of the large numbers of city children who are planning to attend school elsewhere this year.  Only 3,400 pupils are presently registered for this coming year - compared to 4,100 last year. This represents a drop of 17% - and the numbers are not yet final. 



Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal has announced that he will not approve any of the dozens of additional requests to transfer children out of Sderot, for fear that the city's educational system will totally collapse.



The drop in registration has already forced four schools to merge into two.  The Rabin and Gil elementary schools will unite, as will the religious Roeh school with a new school.



Minister of Education Yuli Tamir met with school principals in Sderot on Friday, in a meeting interrupted by distraught parents who stormed in.  Tamir decided that the school year would open a week from today as planned, and promised to provide the necessary protection, in various forms, for all the pupils.  Reinforcement work will continue on schools, shelters will be revamped, and solutions for bus stops will be considered.