Sabine Sterk – The Shelter
Last night and during the day the Red Alert application on my phone went off again, not one time, hundreds of times. I had to close off my phone to get some sleep. How lucky I am that I am able to switch off the phone and go to sleep….
Going to sleep and knowing that 3000 km further in the country that I love, it is raining mortar shells and Hamas rockets. 3000 km away my friends are brutally awakened from their sleep and have to run for their lives to the shelters and safe rooms… sleeping? No, I can’t. I open my phone once again to open Facebook, looking for a sign of them in my beloved Israel. No messages and the alarm sound continues to fill my room and it’s disturbing my inner peace.
3000 km further and in the middle of the night, I know already more or less what will happen tomorrow.
It will go like this: The entire night and day it will rain rockets in southern Israel, The commanders of the IDF will gather and debate their strategic plans. Then as a preparation of the retaliation, the people of Gaza will be warned that there will follow airstrikes on certain locations very soon.
Israel will strike back, bomb the hell out of Hamas areas and buildings and will leave Gaza as if nothing happened. Probably by mistake some people will get killed, even women or children, because Hamas uses them as human shields. No matter how sad it might be, it is the collateral damage of a country in war with terrorists.
Then the media will wake up.. “The zionist dogs, the cowards, the demons of Israel did it again”…. No word about my friends in the shelter, no words about the traumatized children in Southern Israel, no word about who started this in the first place, who is the aggressor…no word about the truth. Israel gets the blame.. as usual.
In the very early morning, I go to sleep with a heavy heart; I have 2 hours before I go back to work. Here in the streets no sirens, no panic, everybody is living his or her boring life. I arrived at my work and I get a message via Whatsapp, my friend from Ashkelon, I asked him how are you? I receive a voice message from him.
Quote “He Sabine, yes, one hour ago we were still in the shelter, we did hear rockets in the air but I think it will not get worse today ” Unquote….
I answered him back, listen if here in Holland we hear a “little” bomb the whole country will be in chaos and panic. His answer; Well this is the reality of Israel, our government doesn’t do anything while listening to the world and we are living a big part of our life in the saferoom or shelter.
Iron Dome in action
If you did not know better, you would laugh at his laconic words; however it touches my heart. The whole world is condemning Israel and yet you don’t hear the truth, you don’t hear how much it affects normal life, how children grow up in fear. I just can send all my positive energy to my friends in the shelter. But my heart keeps crying.
World wake up for the truth about Israel please, take the necessary measures to prevent subsequent attacks.
It is Time To Stand Up For Israel, the truth must be told.
