From 90210 to Sderot

My flight to England (where I'm going to study this upcoming semester) boards in 10 minutes. I've officially left Sderot for now (much to my parent's happiness), but there's no doubt in my mind, I will be back. I dreamt last night of Qassams; thought I heard a boom as I woke up. The alerts in the airport as you wait for security sound like the alert before the "Tzevah Adom" sounds. I wonder how long it will take for me to forget the daily booms and alerts that were apart of my life for the last month. I wonder, will I ever? Sderot will always be with me in my heart, and it should be for you too. My plight to help the people down there has only begun, for now I'm ready to engage the world, to spread the word of the constant horror and terror of life in Sderot. In the coming week, I'm starting a blog with a Palestinian student at George Mason University (20 minutes from GW, my university in the states) workings as a freelance journalist in Nablus and Teh...

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Today I went to the hip-hop dance class for 10-12 year olds in Sderot. Not only was I the only high school graduate in the class (besides the teacher), I was the only boy. As many of my good friends at home - including my wonderful 18 year-old sister, Gaby - are hip-hop stars, I was pretty familiar with the dance moves. See below – I’m rocking out (focus on the last 15 seconds, really see the extent of my skills). The dance studio looks like it could be from L.A. Mirrors, rails on the side of the room (for ballet?), hardwood floors, a sweet stereo – it’s got it all. I could see Britney in the 90’s using this facitily to practice her moves before the Oopps I Did it Again music video. In the studio, an alarm goes off when “Tzevah Adom” occurs, and the class runs to the shelter near by. That withstanding, dance class seems to be the greatest escape from the constant sound of “Tzevah Adom” and the daily landing of Qassam rockets into the city. You’re completely isolated from the...

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...

Shimon Bouskila, also known as Shupan, grew up in Sderot and has been a hairstylist for twenty-three years. Five years ago, a Kassam rocket landed right in front of his barbershop, breaking the glass windows and causing damage to his shop. He was the first person to see the Kassam and as soon as he laid eyes on the rocket, the idea came to him – the “Kassam hair-due”. Free of charge, anyone can get Shupan’s specialty. He said besides the time he did the hair-due for a local model, one person asked him to give him “the Kassam” for a costume in celebration of the Jewish holiday Purim (customary to dress up for this holiday). Shupan doesn’t stop with the Kassams. He can also fashion your hair into a Menorah and a Shofar, the trumpet-like biblical instrument made form a ram’s horn. Shupan also did a promotional hair-due for the German based hair product company, Wella. The Sderot hairstylist uses Israeli supermodels to show off his specialties, with Miri Boadana pictured with the ...

After the presentation with the WUJS (talked about it in prior entry), I saw some kids outside the cinema playing soccer (futbol). I've never really enjoyed the sport, you know, it's for Europeans. That withstanding, I still joined on in and played a little. I got in the action, starting kicking the ball around. Then I proposed an idea to the kids. Let's play a game. And of course the 11 year olds were like, hell ya we want to play a game. This was the game. I was the goalie. Each player (11 year old kid) got three penalty shots on me in goal. Whoever made the most - obviously - would be the winner. In 3rd grade, I was the best goalie in the Macabee League (Jewish league in L.A.) - or so I like to think. So I brought my "A" game - 110 percent baby. I shut Shaked (one of the kids) down - 0 for 3 - sorry buddy. But the other two kids, they got one goal on me. I was just being nice though. After the game, we just played with the ball for a while. Then I...

Today the Sderot Media Center did a presentation for 120 students from around the world on a trip to Israel with thel World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) - great networking opportunity if you know what I mean. We started at the police station and ended up at the Sderot Cinema to watch important videos and hear from important speakers on the situation in Sderot. We heard from Tal, one resturaunt-bar owner in the town. She retold the story of when a Qassam landed thirty feet outside of her eatery, while she and her cook were preparing the grub an hour before opening. Someone in the audience asked: "So what did you do right after the Qassam fell?" Tal responded, "Drank a cup of Whiskey - relaxed - and then opened the resturaunt on time - with the broken windows and all". Someone else asked why she opened a resturaunt-bar in Sderot. The eatery owner said people here in Sderot also have lives; they like to eat, drink, go out on dates, do things you guys do. It...