By Sarah Sheafer
<[email protected]>

In the summer of 2005, Israel, on its own accord, evacuated all of the Israeli citizens and its last military outpost in the Gaza Strip. It hoped to ease the tension with Palestinian forces in Gaza. However, on June 25, 2006, Palestinian terrorists crossed from Gaza into Israel and kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israel responded on June 29 with an invasion of the Gaza Strip. A cease-fire was established that November. However, thousands of Palestinian rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel, hitting Israeli civilian targets since the pullout.

People do not understand the full situation occurring in the Gaza Strip. I have heard many of my friends question Israel’s reasons for beginning to attack Hamas this past December. I do not blame anyone for seeing Israel as the aggressor because it is portrayed this way by the media. Much of the mainstream media has misconstrued the information coming out of the Gaza Strip. I only ask that individuals listen to the Israeli citizens’ point of view, who have been under daily rocket attacks from Gaza against southern Israeli cities such as Sderot since the Israeli pullout of Gaza.

Since Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians, it received rocket attacks on its civilians in exchange. The rockets began falling on the small city Sderot, Israel, and life changed forever for its residents. Death, terror, the sound of daily air-raid sirens, families running for the bomb shelter, children with post traumatic stress syndrome: this is what Israel has received in return for its attempt at peace when it pulled out of Gaza in 2005. The world had remained silent. However, in Dec. 2008, when a six-month cease-fire expired (even though Hamas had been continually firing rockets but at a lower rate), Hamas increased its rocket attacks. Israel could no longer ignore the situation and finally counterattacked by targeting terrorist positions.

Although the media reports deaths on both sides, it does not explain why Palestinians are being killed. Cameras in Israeli aircrafts have captured footage of Hamas firing from or near homes, mosques and hospitals with Palestinian civilians in the vicinity. Hamas has sometimes prevented its civilians from leaving the premises. This has forced Israel into a position that makes it appear as the aggressor because it cannot avoid hitting these civilians. However, Israel has made an effort to warn the citizens to escape by dropping leaflets and placing calls to mobile phones owned by Gazans to tell them to leave the line of fire. Even though this has been done, the civilians are sometimes prevented from leaving by Hamas. The media has not reported very much on Hamas’ strategy of using human flesh as sandbag bunkers.

What other nations in the world (besides Israel) in the midst of war, allows the shipment of hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies, to be given to their enemy daily? None. Gaza’s wounded are even being treated in Israel’s hospitals, yet we hear accusations of “human rights violations” leveled against Israel. Israel also supports a two-state plan: an Israeli state and a Palestinian state. Why would Hamas call for the destruction of this nation? Israel has never intended to occupy Gaza, so why should Hamas continually fire rockets at Israel’s innocent civilians?

When I was in Ashkelon, Israel in 2007, my family and I stopped at a shopping mall. A few days later, after we had left Ashkelon, we heard that a rocket from Gaza had hit the shopping mall. If we had been there just days later, my family and I may not have been here now. This realization of never being completely safe runs through the minds of Israeli citizens every day. I only ask that individuals support Israel’s efforts of peace and no longer judge the nation only by what the media portrays.

If the United States had been attacked by rockets from border nations, it would never had refrained from responding militarily for over three years and after thousands of unannounced attacks. Israel upheld the cease-fire, but when it expired, it finally did what it should had done years before: defend itself. Sarah Sheafer is a Feature editor for the HiLite. Contact her at [email protected].