Getting used to the air raid sirens
We are in the 28th day of the war and Haifa (where my beloved Irit and I live) has experienced air raid siren alarms for most of the last 24 days. I have written before http://hezbisraelwar.blogspot.com/2006/07/air-raid-experience.html about the air raid siren experience but it's time to write again. These alarms (and the occasional rocket explosions we hear) are the way in which we personally are experiencing this war. There have been a few days that have been completely quiet, on other days we have had 8-9 alarms a day.
First of all, to get a feeling of what a real-life air raid siren sounds like, click on http://www.airraidsirens.com/mp3/uvfrsd10.mp3 . I don't recommend doing it near someone anxious or someone who's been in a war - Irit's daughter (who lives in Tel Aviv) turned as white as a sheet when she heard it, even though I told her it was just me. Israelis have a lot of fear.
When we hear the air-raid siren at home, Irit and I rush down to the shelter we have in the basement with our dog Sushi. In the first week, we kept Sushi's leash on during the whole day so it would be easier to lead her down. This is no longer neccessary - she has become perfectly conditioned and waits at the door to the basement as soon as the siren starts. Yesterday we visited some friends here in Haifa who told us that their dog is the first in their protective space when the alarm sounds. The alarm is supposed to give us up to 1 minute warning and we stay in the shelter for a few minutes after the alarm stops.
The alarms are a very mixed blessing. On the one hand, they do give warning although there have also been many cases of false alarms. Everybody who has taken refuge in a shelter has escaped injury even when there has been a direct hit . One couple were in a protective space (with concrete walls) when a Katyusha rocket hit and completely destroyed their home -apart from shock they were OK. There have been tragic cases where people were in a shelter, heard a rocket explosion, left the shelter to see where the rocket landed and were caught outside, and killed by a second rocket attack a few minutes later. So every sensible person with common sense takes shelter when they hear an alarm. That does not include those macho Israelis who think it's cissy or pointless to take shelter. They will say (and they have a point) that -on average- only 2 Israelis have been killed by 120 rockets each day over the small whole of northern Israel so the absolute risk isn't that great. Some people are fatalistic and say that if a rocket has their name written on it, then it will find them shelter or no shelter.
Fatalism or not, the alarms do have one major downside - they are in themselves very scary. Imagine if you heard a certain , very definitive loud noise several times a day bearing the message "Look, mate, you may die in a minute or so if you don't take shelter". One elderly lady already died from cardiac arrest on her way to the shelter. It's not surprising that some people prefer denial. The residents of Kiryat Shmona , an Israeli town of 20,000 people only 10 km from the Lebanese border who have suffered the worst Katyusha shelling by far in the last 10 days have only had alarms since the last few days. Before that they had no warning -residents there are supposed to stay in shelters 24 hours a day. But you can go crazy having to sit around all day in a confined space and probably more and more people have been going out for a breather. The army used to say that they couldn't provide warnings for the short-range Katyushas (like those that hit Kiryat Shmona) but now they do, and the locals are hearing 20-30 alarms a day as well as the deafening explosions when the rockets hit the ground or a house and the incessant artillery barrages from Israeli guns. God knows what this is doing to their sanity.
In Haifa, where the situation is much much easier, we are getting used to the alarms. Human beings are remarkably adaptive and somehow we are accepting these alarms as part of our current daily lives.
First of all, to get a feeling of what a real-life air raid siren sounds like, click on http://www.airraidsirens.com/mp3/uvfrsd10.mp3 . I don't recommend doing it near someone anxious or someone who's been in a war - Irit's daughter (who lives in Tel Aviv) turned as white as a sheet when she heard it, even though I told her it was just me. Israelis have a lot of fear.
When we hear the air-raid siren at home, Irit and I rush down to the shelter we have in the basement with our dog Sushi. In the first week, we kept Sushi's leash on during the whole day so it would be easier to lead her down. This is no longer neccessary - she has become perfectly conditioned and waits at the door to the basement as soon as the siren starts. Yesterday we visited some friends here in Haifa who told us that their dog is the first in their protective space when the alarm sounds. The alarm is supposed to give us up to 1 minute warning and we stay in the shelter for a few minutes after the alarm stops.
The alarms are a very mixed blessing. On the one hand, they do give warning although there have also been many cases of false alarms. Everybody who has taken refuge in a shelter has escaped injury even when there has been a direct hit . One couple were in a protective space (with concrete walls) when a Katyusha rocket hit and completely destroyed their home -apart from shock they were OK. There have been tragic cases where people were in a shelter, heard a rocket explosion, left the shelter to see where the rocket landed and were caught outside, and killed by a second rocket attack a few minutes later. So every sensible person with common sense takes shelter when they hear an alarm. That does not include those macho Israelis who think it's cissy or pointless to take shelter. They will say (and they have a point) that -on average- only 2 Israelis have been killed by 120 rockets each day over the small whole of northern Israel so the absolute risk isn't that great. Some people are fatalistic and say that if a rocket has their name written on it, then it will find them shelter or no shelter.
Fatalism or not, the alarms do have one major downside - they are in themselves very scary. Imagine if you heard a certain , very definitive loud noise several times a day bearing the message "Look, mate, you may die in a minute or so if you don't take shelter". One elderly lady already died from cardiac arrest on her way to the shelter. It's not surprising that some people prefer denial. The residents of Kiryat Shmona , an Israeli town of 20,000 people only 10 km from the Lebanese border who have suffered the worst Katyusha shelling by far in the last 10 days have only had alarms since the last few days. Before that they had no warning -residents there are supposed to stay in shelters 24 hours a day. But you can go crazy having to sit around all day in a confined space and probably more and more people have been going out for a breather. The army used to say that they couldn't provide warnings for the short-range Katyushas (like those that hit Kiryat Shmona) but now they do, and the locals are hearing 20-30 alarms a day as well as the deafening explosions when the rockets hit the ground or a house and the incessant artillery barrages from Israeli guns. God knows what this is doing to their sanity.
In Haifa, where the situation is much much easier, we are getting used to the alarms. Human beings are remarkably adaptive and somehow we are accepting these alarms as part of our current daily lives.
posted by David Lisbona | 2:03 PM
6 Comments:
I can not imagine what it must be like to live with that kind of anxiety and fear. I must admit that I am thankful that I live in the US, but I do feel a strong push to be there with you. I know many Jews who have visited Israel despite the war. I applaud them and can't wait until it my chance to visit my second home.
On a different (and more frustrating note) Queen Noor of Jordan was interviewed on television this morning and she had the nerve to say that the "military wing" of the" legitimate polical party of Hezbollah" would cease their aggression if only Israel would pull out of Lebanon. I almost threw the TV on the floor while I screamed at her that Israel had been out of Lebanon for six years, all the while Hezbollah was rearming itself, planning to attack Israel as some future point. The interviewer didn't try to challange her either. I am so disgusted by most of the media's treatment of Israel I can not watch.
May Israel like in peace and security very soon.
Since when, according to Queen Noor's statement, has Hezbollah been elevated to the position of being a "legitimized political party" with a "military wing?" And by whom were they legitimized?
Okay, if I heard correctly there are two Hezbollah representatives in the Lebanon cabinet, or whatever it's called? Therefore, am I to assume that a total of "two" call all the shots for Lebanon? Seems that Labanon has forfeited knowingly, or unknowningly, their own sovereign country. They have allowed the systematic invasion by Hezbollah for decades. (Shades of what Mexico is doing in the U.S. comes to mind.)
Why is it that people such as Queen Noor, seem to skip over the the fact that Israeli soldiers were killed and two kidnapped on their own land, by this "military wing" of Hezbollah in the first place?
Right now, Sirens aren't going off in Jordon. With a cancer like Hezbollah spreading, (and it's here in the U.S. too as well as So. America) it's only a matter of time before Queen Noor and the rest of the middle east as well as ourselves, will be shaken to the core of our beings as well.
I agree, news media always seems to slant their points of view. Fair & Balanced is hardly ever present. And I wish to high heavens that they were made to keep their mouths shut when it comes to Israel's military's plans! American reporters don't need to know, we don't need to know, and Hezbollah sure as hell doesn't need to know.
I have yelled at my T.V. too. So many times our "freedom of speech" seems appropriate for American journalists/reporters (embeds) to report our troops moves in Iraq! I've yelled so many times, "well why don't you just tell the enemy ...here we are, come and get us? Some are over there in Israel and Lebanon now, as I overheard this morning, "trying to find out what Israel's next move will be." Personally, I don't think they should be told squat! Or, play the "disinformation game" with them, pat them on their little backsides and send them on their way.
There are oh so many ways the news media are out of line. Too many to mention.
I pray for Israel every single day. I pray for America's survival as well. Survival is exactly what we are all facing.
Dear David,
I thought long and hard about including this entry but felt I had to. I do not mean it to diminish what you are experiencing. I know from your entries that you are not prone to extreme comment and I hope you are aware from mine that I do not condone in any way violence as a means to end conflict. I advocate dialogue, but that dialogue has to be faithful to all sides, and I hope this comment is read with that in mind.
The air sirens you are experiencing are experienced on a daily basis, to disastrous effect, by Palestinians, through sonic booms. They have been rightly condemned by Israeli human rights activists. A report by the Physicians for Human Rights group, a group which have won several Israeli awards for their work, filed an action in the Israeli Supreme Court in November 2005, and appealed again to the court in 2006,
http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=270&catid=41&pcat=-1&lang=ENG
These booms, are not just loud, they are loud enough to shatter windows, shake the ground and repeated over time, as they are, can permanently traumatize children. They take place at night, in the morning, unexpectedly and repeatedly. They do not target military, they are indiscriminate and have caused an increase in miscarriages in Gaza.
An article in YNEWS below gives far more detail:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3149531,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4402326.stm
To hear your own words spoken by a Palestinian read the blog below:
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/ and look for numerous blog entries on sonic booms.
I firmly believe that Israel’s security lies in giving security, to those within it borders as well as those in the occupied territories. Peace was only achieved in Ireland when the police force and security forces became a moral force of authority for all, a process still in the making. Your country will never be secure until all its citizens and those in the West bank and Gaza can join, respect and admire a controlled security force.
They said it was not possibly in Ireland, but it is, they will say it is not possible in Israel, but it is. The rule of law: blind, equal law for all, is the only guarantee peace.
I hope you stay safe,
Yael
Yael-Are you comparing Hezbollah or Hamas to the Irish? Is it possible that Hezbollah, a terrorist group dedicated to the DESTRUCTION of the state of Israel would have any insentive to stop the fighting? On the contrary, Hezbollah would not be sat to see the destructtion of Lebanon if at the samr time it could destroy Israel. What eveidence do you have to show that they have even tried to help the palestinian people ever. They are happy to keep the palestinians subservient.
If nothing else, the conflict in Ireland had two parties who had a stake in preserving the country. That is not true in this situation.
I too want peace in the middle east, but not at the risk of keeping Israel at the mercy of terrorists. Until the world can see Hezbollah for what it is there can be no peace.
Hi, found your blog while surfing - I was also in Haifa when the war started, on an ulpan at the University - was only in the shelters for three hours on the Sunday when things really started hotting up, then managed to get out to J'salem...(the rest of the overseas students were evacuated later that day). How you can have spent three weeks in those conditions, in what sounds like the city where the rockets have been hitting (we were up on the mountain, at least) humbles me.
Am now back in the UK and, crazily enough, missing Israel. UK media and public mood in general is rather anti-Israel, there is some mention of the rocketing in the north but not enough coverage for people to really understand what's going on in the North. One problem I think is that, unlike in Israel, most Brits under 60 haven't personally been in a war situation themselves so can't appreciate what you are facing now.
Stay safe, I only had a week in Haifa before the rockets forced us away, it's a beautiful city and pg I will return to see it one day in the future. Will keep checking to see what it's like for you...
shalom
Dear Anonymous,
Yes I am comparing the Irish, my own people, to the Hamas and Hezbollah. I do this not to cheer them on, but to show how to convert them.
In elections in Ireland in 1919, a parliament of Sinn Fein, that supported total independence of Ireland from England were voted in. They refused to go to London, and set up their own parliament in Ireland. The English sent in troops, arrested all parliament members they could find. A guerrilla war followed. The Irish parliament and representatives hiding, setting up their own courts, building a guerrilla army that attacked at night, carried out executions, etc. The driving force was a growing realization amongst the Irish population that peace gained you nothing. The English did not want to preserve the Irish, and the Irish wanted to drive the English into the sea. Does this not sound familiar?
Our democratic vote was ignored. Our right to self governance was ignored. We were dismissed as ignorant peasants, as vicious thugs. As to Hamas and Hezbollah not caring about the people, they are elected, not imposed, the same as Sinn Fein.
The English thought they could stop the rebellion with force, they were, at the time, the most powerful force in the world. They did not, because they did not understand that violence breeds violence. No one in the world will lie down after being beaten. Each pain inflicted becomes a source of strength.
Israel is killing itself by bombing Lebanon. It could kill every single fighter, it could remove every rocket, it could blow up every single road and building. But every single pair of eyes that is left will remember.
I know what Hezbollah is, they kill civilians, they want to kill off Israel, but that is not the point. The point is: How can you defeat them?
How in history have people like this being defeated? Logically, tactically, Israel is just building a new army of Hamas and Hezbollah. Stop the bombing, start a true, open dialogue, and you will drain them dry. They will grow small as Sinn Fein has, now holding only 3% of the vote, and then they will change their songs, as Sinn Fein did.
It worked here, it was the only thing that has ever worked. It will work in Israel.
Yael
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