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Sept. 14, 2007
Escaping harsh reality
JNF hosts time away for Sderot schoolchildren.
SIMON GRIVER ISRAEL PRESS SERVICE
At the start of September, Sderot's 2,500 schoolchildren returned
to their classrooms. But, with a constant barrage of Kassam rockets
raining down on the northern Negev city – fired by Hamas terrorists
from the nearby Gaza strip – it remains unclear whether the
school year can continue.
No sooner had the children sat down at their school desks on Sept.
2 than the sirens were wailing a "color red" alert, giving
those students learning in classrooms not yet adapted to withstand
rocket attacks 30 seconds to dash to nearby shelters. Despite direct
hits on a kindergarten and a day-care centre for infants, no injuries
were reported. Nevertheless, the psychological and the emotional
scars formed by seven years of ongoing attacks on Sderot etched
themselves a little deeper into children brought up in a war zone.
To help alleviate the situation, the Jewish National Fund has been
hosting families from Sderot for four-day breaks at the Nes Harim
Field and Forest Educational Centre in the Jerusalem Hills. JNF
Canada is currently raising funds for this cause. In its High Holy
Days appeal, JNF's goal is to help more residents of Sderot so that
they can benefit from a vacation at Nes Harim in the coming weeks,
said Aharon Lapidot, JNF emissary in British Columbia.
Ten-year-old Or Haddad and his family were among some 250 residents
of Sderot who were guests of the JNF at Nes Harim over the summer.
"At last, we can breathe a bit – both fresh air and peace
and quiet," said Haddad, while he was staying at the centre.
Coincidentally, Shimon Elbaz, the director of the Nes Harim Centre,
is himself a resident of Sderot and thus fully understands the emotional
needs of the Negev families.
"When I see our Sderot guests with a relaxed smile or carefree
laugh," he explained, "I understand that this is something
special for them. This is not part of their everyday reality. When
you ask somebody in the morning how they are and they answer, 'Very
well, I had a great night's sleep,' I understand that their usual
routine is to wake up at three in the morning and rush into their
shelter."
Nes Harim has 48 cabins, each capable of housing six people. Located
in the heart of the JNF's American Independence Park and with a
breathtaking view of the surrounding Jerusalem Hills, the centre
specializes in "ecological Zionism," teaching special
programs to Israeli and Diaspora students about the contribution
of the JNF to the country's landscape over the past century. It
is one of three such JNF centres around the country (the other two
are in the Galilee), but the only one with hostel facilities.
"I only wish that I could enjoy the same sense of relief when
I come to work here that my Sderot guests have," said Elbaz.
"But the beauty of these hillsides cannot erase from my mind
the fact that my wife, Ariella, and teenage sons, Omer and Yuval,
are back in Sderot, within range of Hamas missiles."
During their four-day stay at Nes Harim, the Sderot guests are taken
on tours of the region's verdant hillsides and forests. The itinerary
was first developed last summer, when JNF hosted northern residents
at Nes Harim seeking refuge from Hezbollah missiles fired on the
Galilee during the Second Lebanon War.
Overlooking the picturesque Valley of Elah, where it is believed
David felled Goliath with his legendary slingshot, Mazal Nazar from
Sderot enjoyed the view but worried about life after her JNF vacation.
"Look at the Ohana family over there," she said, "their
house has been hit twice by Kassams and they have nowhere to go.
It's lucky we've got a few days here now without fear, without worry
whether my husband or son is going to get hurt. We're on holiday
now, but what'll happen when we go home in four days' time? This
is no way to live."
Yet despite all the emotional suffering, the dead and the injured
from seven years of unrelenting rocket attacks and the round-the-clock
color red alerts, Elbaz is adamant that the residents of Sderot
cannot and will not abandon their homes.
"I was brought to Sderot when I was a baby in 1961, by my parents
when they immigrated to Israel from Morocco," he explained.
"Since then, the city has been my home. Despite all the dangers,
I am against evacuating the city, because that would be a victory
for the Hamas.
"But bringing Sderot residents here to the JNF centre at Nes
Harim," he added, "for breaks away from the conflict is
something constructive we can do to help the city's children get
through this situation."
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