he is said to dwell in the castle of Kronborg, his beard grown down to the floor, and to sleep there until some date when Denmark is in mortal danger, at which time he will rise up and deliver the nation
In a study by Natal, a trauma center for the victims of war and terror, it was discovered that 70% of the kids residing in the town that has been on the receiving end of thousands of rockets in recent years are suffering from at least one symptom of posttraumatic stress. A third of all Sderot's residents suffer from anxiety, and have trouble functioning normally.
Among children this comes in the form of PTSD and Depression.
Shaked and Maor Harush, 11-year-old twins from Sderot, saw a Qassam rocket explode a few feet away for them, setting a car ablaze. Since then, fear has become an everyday presence in their lives.
Shaked suffers from the worst of the trauma. She refuses to leave home without her parents. A slamming door makes her jump. Any conversation about the security situation is out of the question when Shaked is around, and her family knows to avoid words like Qassam and Color Red altogether.
Shaked's young cousin, who lives in the center of the country, was not aware of this little detail. While the two were playing in the yard recently, he yelled out "Color Red, Color Red," sending Shaked running into the house. She locked herself in her room and could not stop crying.
"Her cousin didn't think of it, he didn't know, but Shaked took it hard," her father said. "She is in bad shape. She suffers from anxiety all the time."
Shaked is not alone.
Qassam damage in Sderot in April (Photo: Ze'ev Trachtman)
Maor Harush is doing better than his sister; he speaks about his anxieties. Shaked never does. She has been in therapy for three years, but it hasn't helped – the situation only seems to be getting worse.
"We can't laugh about the situation, we can't talk about it," the twins' father said. "Most of the time she's at home, watching television. The television is her connection to the outside world."
She doesn't visit her friends, her father said, and her school work has slipped; she suffers from attention disorders.
According to the Natal report, 50% of Sderot's kids relive the trauma, and 41% suffer from over-excitation – they are constantly alert, ready for danger, and every little noise shakes them up. Twenty percent of the kids suffer from all the symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and 12% have severe trouble functioning.
"They stop playing, stop being interested in their surroundings, detach themselves from their friends and school," explained Professor Marc Gelkopf, who heads the Natal research team. "One of our newest and most interesting findings is that there is a connection between the symptoms that the parents experience and the ones their children experience. It underlines the importance of family therapy."
Rocket destroys house in Sderot, 2006 (Photo: Amir Cohen)
The study, which followed 518 adult and 570 kids, showed that one in three residents suffers from the disorder, and that one in seven is having trouble functioning due to anxiety.
"When we're talking about people suffering from posttraumatic stress, we're talking about people who wake up in the middle of the night because of nightmares," Gelkopf said. "People who are over alert… who are afraid to go far from their fortified rooms or visit places that remind them of the danger."
Despite the recent calm, Natal has found that nearly 30% of the residents feel threatened. Another 23% take anti-depression or anxiety drugs, or use sleeping pills.
Esther Itiel, 56, has been living in Sderot for 30 years. She is another victim of posttraumatic stress.
"Life in this town was beautiful before the Qassam fire started," she said. "Since then, there hasn't been one night when we could sleep normally. All aspects of life have been disrupted.
"I managed to survive somehow for years, but when a Qassam fell a few meters near my house, I broke down," she said. "I took my daughters and moved to Givat Shmuel, leaving my husband and three other kids behind in Sderot."
In the central town of Givat Shmuel, Itiel received therapy from Natal and the municipality, and graudally managed to regain some of her former self. She agreed to return to Sderot after a shelter was built in her house. Back at home, anxiety hit again.
Qassam hits building in Sderot, 2010 (Photo: Ze'ev Trachtman)
"Any noise from an ambulance, bus or plane makes me jump and triggers the anxiety," she said. "I can't listen to the news, this whole story about the fly-in made me anxious. I'm not happy, I don't laugh, I don't joke. I'm not the mother I used to be."
These days, Itiel rarely leaves home. Sleep evades her. She showers only when there is someone else at home with her – and even then, she does it quickly.
"I'm afraid that it will be like it was during the Qassam fire period," she said. "Then, when the Color Red alarm went off while I was in the shower, I would run to the shelter without clothes on. About a month ago, the alarm went off again. I heard planes flying by and I fainted. They had to take me to the hospital."
Some 6,400 people who are suffering from posttraumatic stress are treated at the municipal mental health center in Sderot. Some 3,500 kids and 500 teachers and staff members get psychological treatment through the town's school system. The Resilience Center, which provides counseling, treats 400 people each year, most of them children and teenagers – and the waiting list for treatment is growing.
"Especially during times of calm, people start feeling the tumult on the inside," said Hila Barzilay, who runs the Resilience Center. "(…) We get kids with serious motor function disorders, kids who weren't allowed to play outside in groups for years. Many residents' relationships have suffered. The situation causes critical damage to all aspects of their lives.
What the Main Lame Stream Media is calling a successful ceasefire is in reality just a lull in the terror. There isn't a week that the rockets attack Israel or an attempt is made to fire into Israel. Yet the media outside of Israel is silent on this. In fact they are reporting that the EU, US, Russia and the UN will IMPOSE a solution upon Israel., A solution that will try to force Israel back to the 1967 borders, the borders Abba Eban called: The Auschwitz Borders.
Abba Eban
"We have openly said that the map will never again be the same as on June 4, 1967. For us, this is a matter of security and of principles. The June map is for us equivalent to insecurity and danger. I do not exaggerate when I say that it has for us something of a memory of Auschwitz. We shudder when we think of what would have awaited us in the circumstances of June, 1967, if we had been defeated; with Syrians on the mountain and we in the valley, with the Jordanian army in sight of the sea, with the Egyptians who hold our throat in their hands in Gaza. This is a situation which will never be repeated in history."
- Abba Eban, Israeli Statesman, in Der Spiegel, November 5, 1969
Borders that are impossible to defend the nation. With the deliberate separation into 2 halves of Jerusalem, the Arabs will gain everything they want without giving up any of Israel's demands.
The children of Sderot have only the people of Israel to help them. But that can change. Will you help them? Just a few dollars will give a child the psychiatric help he or she needs. The Sderot Media Center helps hundreds of the residents of Sderot and the Western Negev each day. From their newly opened "Ella Center" that helps the children with their studies in the sciences to the only indoor playground, the first concern of the Sderot Media is the safety of the children of Sderot. Their mission statement tells it all:
The Sderot Media Center mission is to provide Israeli and international news media with on-site film footage and reporting of the kassam rocket attacks and their psychological effects upon Sderot residents. In doing so, we hope to spur international and local involvement with the community of Sderot, both on a financial and social scale, in order to help out the residents of this war-zone region.
Other goals include the following four points:
To forge identification and empathy between the western world and the residents of the western Negev
To initiate community projects that will alleviate the economic and psychological condition of Sderot and western Negev residents
To improve the security situation of Sderot and the western Negev through international awareness of the rocket fire
To create a balance in the news coverage of Israel and promote a pro-Israel attitude in the western and international media
Statements such as "a rocket landed in an open area" or "no one was wounded and no damage was reported" permeate the news reports from Sderot.
But what happens when these rocket attacks result in death and serious injuries?
The Abekasis Family lost their daughter Ella four years ago. Seventeen-year-old Ella was returning from a "Benei Akiva" youth group meeting on a Saturday night when the "Tseva Adom" siren sounded. She lay on top of her brother when a Kassam rocket landed near them and saved his life. In doing so, however, she sustained injuries from the rocket and died a week later.
This Thursday, February 5, 2009, a memorial will be held in "Mishkan Ella,” a bomb-safe activity center in Sderot that was built in her memory.
Livnat Shauvi from the Sderot Media Center met her parents, Yonatan and Sima Abekasis, who shared stories about Ella’s unique personality and final heroic action.
Ella's story spurred President Shimon Peres to visit Sderot after a long absence from the city. Following his "kasam shmasam" remark two years ago in the media, Mr. Abekasis called him on the phone and told him that his mocking of the citizens of Sderot was a disgrace. Peres, who was not President at the time, told him that the mayor of Sderot did not invite him to visit the city. Mr. Abekasis told Peres that Sderot is not the mayor's kingdom and that he is welcome to visit. After Peres was elected President, he came to visit Sderot for the first time. There, the mayor introduced him to Mr. Abekasis. The President was impressed by the father’s story.
Yonatan repeatedly shares the story of Ella’s final, courageous act. Mishkan Ella was built with the assistance of "Mif'al HaPais"and houses a commemoration hall dedicated to Ella. Different photos of Ella from different periods of her life hang in the room. Also in the room are different papers she had written for elementary and high school. In the commemoration room, a short video is on display that describes the moments after rocket attack and the building of Mishkan Ella. Mishkan Ella hosts a variety of social meetings and gatherings, in addition to offering visitors from across the country an insight into Ella’s unique and selfless character.
A conversation with her mother Sima revealed a noble and extremely unique girl: "When Ella wanted to apply for "Ulpena" (religious high school) she went in for an interview. After a few minutes of conversation with the principal, he told her she was accepted and that she could return to her classroom. Ella did not have to take any exams, but rather her interview alone won her acceptance into the school. Her passion for study was so clear that there was no doubt she was fit for the school.
Ms. Abekasis recalled Ella sharing her feelings with her while talking about her girlfriends. "Once when another girl insulted her, she wouldn’t let me interfere with the situation. She would say each person has her way to express anger and that it is not her duty to educate them. For her, each person was responsible for their own personal growth."
Ella's heroic action shocked the entire country. With no regard for her own life, this brave teenager threw herself onto her brothers' body to protect his life. In that moment, fear ceased to exist and only the devotion and care for a young brother dictated her actions. Ella reacted in a matter that tells of a heroic story that cannot be forgotten. Since her death, the Abekasis family has been to different places in the country and around the world, and wherever they go they meet people who have heard the story and sympathize with the courageous act. In Italy, they went together to the "Benei Akiva" branch, where the relative introduced him to all of the people who already knew the story already. "In Switzerland we were in a hotel, and the daughter of the hotel manager came up to us and said we looked familiar. We told her that we live in Sderot and we lost our daughter. She immediately recalled seeing us on a television news report" said Yonatan.
In this painful week, the fourth annual memorial for her death will be held. The family members repeatedly tell all the things Ella achieved in her seventeen years. For example, they discuss her capability of multitasking-as if she knew she only had a short time to do everything she had planned. Her room remains as she had left it that afternoon before going to Benei Akiva. The same sheets, pictures, closet, and the same smell that has been missed for the past four years. Ms. Abekasis has not gone into the room since Ella's death because it is too hard for her to cope with the loss and the pain. Again this year, family and friends from all over will come to take part in the memorial service. In her memory, a few friends are planning to get together and have a monthly meeting in her memory, in which she will be remembered not only through words but also by deeds. The Benei Akiva branch will also be moving into Mishkan Ella. It is the youth group to which Ella devoted all of her time and to which she will never be able to return.
May her soul rest in peace.
Translated by Avital Mimran-Rosenberg
Just an average teenager, yet she showed exceptional courage in the face of danger. Disregarding her own safety, she saved the life of her younger brother. And in doing so became a symbol of the innocent Israeli civilians.
Already the Kadima government is preparing to agree to an 18-month truce with Hamas. During the last truce the rockets didn't stop. The people of Sderot can expect the same.
In late December Israel retaliated for the non-stop rocket attacks, the world pitched a fit. Yet the same world said nothing about the 8 years of rocket attacks on Israel.
The world will do and say nothing to stop the rockets, the Kadima government will do nothing to stop the rockets, and the people of Sderot will continue to suffer.
You can do something. You can sign up for Code Red alerts to be sent to your cell phone. You can call your Senator, your Congressman, the President to stop the rockets. You can pray for the people of Sderot and the South of Israel. And if you can, you can donate to the Sderot Media Center. Just click on the logo at the top or bottom of this post. The money you donate will be used directly for the people under attack. But get involved and do something.
