A little tif in the Middle East

Hello Everyone,

Laurel has received a few worried emails regarding the situation in Southern Israel with our Neighbor to the East. We in Jerusalem are very safe. I am not sure what the news is saying in America, but Israel is finally retaliating against the attacks from Gaza. A quick update for everyone:

For seven years Israel has endured rockets falling on her from Gaza. Even during the recent ceasefire Hamas pelted Israel with Kasam Rockets, dug tunnels under the boarder, and shot at boarder crossings. Whenever a crossing was hit, Israel would close the boarder temporarily. This was then used against Israel to show the world that Israel was starving the people of Gaza by not allowing food to cross the boarder.

The IDF method of fighting is not one directed at hurting civilians. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Before the attacks, Israel dropped leaflets letting the people of Gaza know that there would be bombs falling on Hamas targets. This has reduced the amount of civilian. The news being broadcast from Gaza may depict otherwise, because the news is filmed by Hamas supporters. When the news shows homes being destroyed it is because Hamas uses civilian shields to hid behind as they shoot at Israel from houses, schools, and are currently hiding in hospitals.

Recently Gordon Johndroe, Deputy Assistant to President Bush said,"We don't want a cease-fire agreement that isn't worth the piece of paper it's written on. We want something that's lasting and, most importantly, respected by Hamas." It is horrible that there is fighting again, yet the fighting may scare Hamas into a real ceasefire agreement. This would mean that children of Sderot wouldn't have to play in their playground made out of bomb shelters.

This is my view on the situation, from living in Israel and taking classes on the Arab Israeli conflict for the past 4 months. to get more information please read Haaretz at www.haaretz.com, and the Jerusalem Post at www.jpost.com.

http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk shows Israel's humanitarian efforts, as well as Israel hitting Hamas launch pads from civilian homes.

As I mentioned, we are very safe. We were told to stay out of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Jewish quarter is fine, but the Christian and Muslim quarters have had some acts of violence against Jews by the Arab citizens. There is a little tension in the air, but life goes on as usual.