Israel: Two Sderot Kids Severely Injured by Hamas Missiles · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

Every day the Hebrew blog portal Israblog hosts a discussion on a new topic, called the hot topic. This encourages bloggers to take part in the conversation around a specific topic. From politics to personal matters, submitting an entry tagged with the hot topic raises its readability, and places it on a relatively seen page; an incentive for people to participate.
The hot topic this week described the dire situation in Sderot, especially after the recent missile attacks which severely injured two Israeli children. This is how the topic was defined:
Ever since last week, the city of Sderot and other settlements near the Gaza border have been under heavy Qassam attacks, such that have not been seen for a while. An outstanding asymmetry between these settlements and the rest of Israel were prominent this past week when two kids aged 8 and 19 were severely harmed from a Qassam missile on Saturday, as the rest of the country was enjoying the blossom and sun. Today, outraged and angry residents of Sderot have blocked the main road leading to Jerusalem, aiming to gain attention to the situation in their city. They ask the government to raise the intensity of its response and to physically harm the leading political figures of Hamas.
What do you have to say.
Following are a variety of blogger's responses:
reaction1:
Its very easy to say: “if this had happened in Tel Aviv we would immediately react”. The truth is more complex. I imagine there are secret talks, intelligence information, secret activities in the depth of Gaza or some form of plan, on the government's desk. Perhaps there is restraint in order to finalize an agreement for Gilad Shalit's release. Perhaps we are waiting for the right time to react. Maybe this very moment a plan is crafted to attack which we are not aware of.
From being a primitive rocket that could only reach a short distance, the Qassam has turned into a concise missile, reaching relatively far, event harming a strategic factory in the north of Ashkelon. The blood is spilling and national morale becomes only a minor damage. Its time we stopped referring to these missiles as buzzing flies, and we provide the topic its deserved attention. Congratulations to these bands of terrorists! They have succeeded to wake us from our winter sleep…
The following blogger describes a personal story, when passing through the Honduras-Nicaragua border. He was stopped and interrogated solely for the fact that he held an Israeli passport. He describes feeling thankful for always having a home to return to – a country and family; a place he truly belongs to. He continues:
I am sure that every person who served in the army, or even just lives in Israel, understands what I'm writing about. Disgraceful treatment of soldiers towards residents of the occupied lands, belittling, destroying property and performing other actions not directly related to security measures. These are all a big shame for any country that defines itself a country. These complaints are not directed against our 18 year old soldiers, who are placed in a hostile, alienated environment, concerned for their lives, an so react accordingly. The address, obviously, is the State of Israel, in its entirety, which is not able to shake off a movement which started 31 years ago. A whole nation (referring to the Palestinians) cannot lead a respectful life, it has no authority to be called a state, and is constantly humiliated. This nation has no basic freedom, and cries out to us: Stop the Occupation!!!
reaction3:
Sderot is under fire and pressure, and the government does nothing. Everything is nonsense, dirty politician wordplay, spreading promises with no grounding. Everything else is more important; everything other than Sderot. International flights will not be postponed because one city down there in the south is in a state of war…
This post is hurtful and full of anger. But I still believe in the deep ideology of this country. Many will agree that the current situation is extremely bad, but this situation relates to all of us, and we all have to deal with it. The current lack of leadership should teach us the importance of education, and having good leaders.
reaction4:
What is happening to the world? Children's legs are amputated before they have a chance to taste life. Yesterday, news channels showed ambulance workers wiping children's blood off the street. Olmert should be the one wiping. What would the powerful nations have done if their children's legs were amputated because of their neighbors? They would not stop to think for a second. And we? Too scared of public opinion, we give up the lives of our residents…