Regards from Gaza!


Today I met Nicol Alchazov, a Russian immigrant to Sderot over 13 years ago. She was in the firefighters unit in the army, and upon her withdrawal, was admitted to be tested to be the first firewoman in Israel (that year Israel decided women could be firefighters). According to Nicol, two of the four women had what they call in Israel - "protexia" (connections) - so she didn't get the job.

A few years after the army, she became a manager in a textiles factory in Sderot. One of the owners of the factory is Palestinian and the other is Jewish. Before the disengagement, seven of the workers there were Palestinian. Nicol made friends with the Palestinian workers and still keeps in touch with one today.

Here's what's really interesting:

The Palestinian owner's brother - who lives in Gaza - calls Nicol to see how she's doing on days when lots of Qassams land in Sderot.

How crazy is that? Someone from Gaza calls a friend in Sderot to see how she's doing from the rockets fired a few villages from him...insane!

I asked Nicol to call her friend in Gaza to see if it's okay with him if I give him a call to see what's up. Wouldn't that be cool - talk to someone in Gaza. No, I haven't become a crazy lefty. I just think it would be pretty sweet to make a friend in Gaza, wouldn't you?

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