Reality of War

In Toronto there is tons of gang violence. I generally assumed that since I did not hang out in those areas late at night into the wee hours of the morning. I would be safe. Occasionally innocent by-standers would be hit but they were on very rare occasions. In Israel there are security check points, security guards and soldiers all over the place. People walk around with guns on their hip or stuffed down the back of their pants. I feel safer here than in Toronto.

I must admit that the war in Gaza is hitting home a lot harder than I could ever have imagined. We have put our names down to accept refugees looking to flee to safer ground. I cannot blame anyone for wanting to get away from such a horrible situation and we are more than happy to help any way we can.

We are out of missle range from Gaza. However the missiles keep landing closer and closer to places not that far away from us. Kiryat Gat was hit over the weekend. It is along Highway 6 (our 407) not that far South/West of us. To get to hockey I take the 6 North eventually ending up 500m from the Lebanese border. If Hizzbullah decides to stick there nose into this, the tournament in 3 weeks going to be cancelled. While we are still in the safe zone it is still too close to home.

I am more worried about the reaction on the street. I know the security fence is going to deter suicide bombers to a large degree. An Arab technician attacked 4 people in Kiryat Sefer (Modiin Illit) today before being shot by a paramedic. The paramedic then took him to the hospital. We have friends living in Kiryat Sefer. It is about 30 minutes North of us. Tonight there was stone throwing on highway 443. The highway goes from Modiin to Jerusalem traveling past Ramallah. It is the route I took to Jerusalem a few weeks ago after visiting the mall in Modiin.

Channah can sense the tension. We live near a top secert Air Force base. We hear the helicopters and jets as they head south. As it is the topic of conversation all around we have to do some explaining. She was telling everyone who called today that the helicopters are shooting at the bad guys to keep us safe. People around as are worried as friends and family have received or will probably be receiving their army call up papers.

I hope this war ends successfully and soon.