Part 2: ARay of Hope

Recently we ventured south to the Western Negev region, with our friend Herb Levine, to assess the situation. Herb is the director of youth-at-risk in our town of Alfe Menashe and has amassed decades of experience helping kids to achieve meaningful experiences through the informal education process. He's currently selecting a group of 10 potential young leaders from the Sderot area who will be hosted for 18 days by the Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade, the largest Jewish youth movement in the UK. As the first part of what the JLGB views as a continuing and expanding mutual relationship, the kids will participate in the JLGB annual camp, and tour London intensively, constantly interacting and communicating with their British peers. Then they will be given the opportunity to explain first-hand to the community what it's like to live under the daily threat of rockets.

First, we stopped at Kibbutz Mefalsim, which is a secular kibbutz of 180 families in the process of expansion. Mefalsim maintains a cooperative form of life, but alongside the kibbutz members there are the residents of the communal neighborhood who use the services and educational facilities of the kibbutz. Herb took us to the home of Avraham and Claudia, who are originally from South Africa and Argentina, respectively. They live in a medium size modern home in the communal section of the kibbutz. One of their four children still living at home will be accompanying Herb to the UK this summer.

Avraham and Claudia gave us a good idea of what it's like to live within firing range of Palestinian rockets. They apologized for their unkempt garden and for the smell of dog droppings in the yard. This had resulted from their inability to spend much time outside doing mundane tasks like caring for their gardens or walking the dogs. Nor do their younger children get out of the house much - except to attend school. Avraham mentioned their "good luck" in being between Sderot and the Gaza border, just a few hundred yards away (close to where the Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, was captured). Because of their proximity to the terrorists' launching sites, most rockets pass over their heads on the way to the much more populous Sderot, a "better target" for the terrorists.

While Avraham and Claudia have good jobs as English teachers in a nearby boarding school for new immigrants, they suffer from the fact that "poverty is the business of southern Israel," as Avraham put it. He feels that politicians such as Amir Peretz of the Labor Party (a former Defense Minister who was once mayor of Sderot), the Shas Party (comprised primarily of relatively poor Sephardi immigrants or their descendants), the 24 local amutots (non-governmental organizations), and some socalled "wonder rabbis" are all doing quite well on the money doled out to the region by the government. He feels that those with vested interests benefit by keeping the status quo. As a result, many residents in the south of Israel are forced to go hat-in-hand to the local big-wigs to get the help they need to get along. (There's a similar situation in the north.) In typical Israeli fashion, Avraham, who immigrated to Israel more than 30 years before, maintains a lively interest in politics and is steadfast in wanting to remain in the Western Negev. He and his wife only insist that the country get a government that will stand up for all its citizens.

We drove to nearby Sderot, whose population of about 25,000 has fallen by up to 25 percent since rocket firing from Gaza began in 2001. Herb pointed out how few buildings are protected against rockets - and lately mortars, as well - and the fact that not all of the homes have built-in shelters. We saw only a few metal super-structures constructed over the roofs of buildings. When the "Color Red alert" sounds to signal a rocket, people have a scant 15 seconds to find shelter. Of necessity, that means standing under a stairwell or even crouching by a masonry wall (on the side away from Gaza). It's no wonder that many residents of Sderot with means have abandoned their homes and fled further to the center of the country. We did notice some new, public shelters scattered around the town, each about the size of a large elevator.

We had come to visit Yigal, the activist municipal youth director and head of the Keren Or [Ray of Light] program for youth-at-risk in Sderot, which includes about 150 children. Most of the kids are from the former Soviet Union, while about a third are of Moroccan or other parentage. More than 35% of the youth are school dropouts. Yigal told us about the many initiatives of Keren Or, which include a very successful DJ (disk jockey) program, horseriding, pre-army preparation, a group bar mitzvah project partnered with the IDF, educational tours around Israel and to Poland, "get and give" programs allowing the kids to help others, individualized tutorials, and more! Yigal's skill and tireless devotion have brought him local appreciation and national acclaim - all accomplished in a poorly protected building one fourth the needed size.

Yigal told us that he is determined to raise the $1 million needed to secure the first floor and to construct an adequately protected second floor for the Keren Or building. We shared Yigal's frustration that despite all the hype and media coverage of the need to help Sderot and all the local and national government agencies which are tasked to assist youthat risk, they can only count on the government to provide a small portion of the needed funds. Keren Or's only major contribution ($25,000) has come from a Christian organization. And like Yigal, Avraham, Claudia, and Herb, most of the remaining residents of Sderot, want to know: "WHERE AND TO WHOM IS THE MONEY GOING?" Questions about fiscal propriety and governmental neglect have forced Herb, and organizations like the JLGB, to work under the radar to "get things done" quickly and with a minimum of expense.

Recently, the government negotiated a cease-fire or "calm" period with the terrorists in Gaza. That means rockets are only fired once or twice a day! Many, including me, are sure that this "calm" only postpones the inevitable battle with the terrorists while allowing them to regroup and increase their armaments. Regardless, the strong residents of the Western Negev, like Avraham, Claudia, and Yigal, aren't going anywhere. People like them, and the 9,000 students of Sderot's Sapir College, are the Western Negev's greatest resource. As the desert regions of Israel inevitably gain population due to Israel's high birthrate and lack of living space, the hardy and idealistic residents of the Western Negev will demand treatment from the government equivalent to that of the majority who live in the country's center. We need a change of government, and soon, to make that happen.

Stephen Kramer resided and worked in the Atlantic City area until 1991, when he moved to Israel with his wife, Michal Langweiler, and two sons. He can be reached at Sjk1@jhu.edu.