The mid-term orientation for EAPPI participants also includes a bus tour. Included in this tour is a trip through Israel on one of the major highways from as far South as we were allowed to the Northern region. As we rode on the smooth highway I noticed the difference in how these highways are constructed and maintained. There are more dollars to build and maintain systems in Israel than in Palestine.
We met with Eric Yellin who is the leader of “Other Voice”. He lives in the community of Sderot, Israel which is a village of 20,000 people living near the Gaza Strip. A few years ago this village was struck by rockets from Gaza and an 18 year old woman died from this attack while protecting her brother as they were lying on the ground.
Since that time her father has dedicated the building where we met as a memorial to her and it is used as a group meeting place. The purpose of “Other Voice” is to build connections with the people living in Gaza. He said: “we are connecting to the human side and know there are many who believe that way as well”.
A woman named Roni from Sderot gave her perspective on life in this area and how it has affected her own family. She gave us an example of building a relationship with another family when their two daughters were good friends from age 5. While there were many cultural and political differences, they eventually trusted each other enough to establish a friendship between the two families.
We took a bus tour around Sderot and the surrounding area. Eric shared with us a brief history of Sderot. Eric said: “people here remember Gaza as a wonderful place before 1987”. There were many Palestinians from Gaza who came to work in Israel. Then in 2001 the 1st rocket fell in the village of Sderot. As many as 20,000 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip over the past 10 years….sometimes as many as 50 in one day. Because the residents of Sderot did not want to leave the area it was important to have protection. They requested assistance from the Israeli government to “rocket proof” everything in the village.
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| Rocketproof school in Sderot |
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| School Playground in Sderot |
What that means is that every apartment, house, bus stop, public building, school, and playground has “rocket shelters”. When the loud siren goes off everyone knows they have about 5 minutes to get into a shelter. He told us his children slept in their own personal “rocket shelter” for 2 years before they decided it was safe enough to sleep in their own bedrooms.
We went over to an area close to Sderot labeled a Water and Military Area. From there we could see the Gaza Strip which was only a couple kilometers away.
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| Looking into Gaza |
There is no entry of civilians into Gaza and there only a few Gaza residents granted permission to travel outside of Gaza. Everything surrounding Gaza is controlled by the Israeli military including access to the Mediterrian Sea. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Eric said: “Hammas does not like Palestinians to be in contact with Israelis. It is also against the law for Israelis to go to Gaza.” It was very sobering to see the outline of Gaza and know how much the people of Gaza are suffering. It is a humanitarian crisis and will only get worse if there is no resolution to the current problems.
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| View of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea |
We stayed in Haifa, a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea to the far north of Israel. Is is a busy city and the views were stunning.Our lodging in Haifa is at the guest house of the Stella Maris Monastery.
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| EA's of Team 38 |
We were welcomed by a gracious staff who served dinner and breakfast. It was very comfortable and even the middle bed in the threesome who shared my room was o.k. too. We plan to overnight in Haifa a couple of days before heading back to Tulkarm for the second half of my volunteer experience.
Susanne
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