Gaza: The Disengagement that Didn't Take
Sometimes 24 hours is a lifetime in the Middle East, and sometimes, it is almost as if time stands still; seemingly intractable conflicts rage on year after year after year. The crude rocket fire lobbed by Hamas and Hamas-supported groups from Gaza cross Israel's (internationally recognized) border into the periphery town of Sderot and the surrounding kibbutzim and moshavim, is one of those intractables.
Two summers ago, I went to Sderot and a friend took me from street to street to show me the kassam rocket damage. We sat in her safe room, where she goes when the alarm sounds, and I met with the Mayor, Eli Moyal, whose fierce chain smoking seemed justified by the craziness of life for his townspeople under siege.
Two years later, the rockets are as fierce as ever--even moreso, and there is, seemingly, no ability by the Israeli government to defend its population, which in Sderot, is mostly a vulnerable and poor population with little resources.
