"Tchelet, the two-year-old, sustained shrapnel injuries to her leg, and her mother suffered from shock. Twelve-year-old Yardena was injured in the shoulder. They were both taken to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment.
Gladis Za'arur-Fishbein, Tchelet's mother, said she had just picked up her infant daughter from the children's quarters in the kibbutz when the Qassam landed.
"We were walking on the road with the playground to our left; it's usually packed with kids at this time of day," she recounted. "Suddenly I heard a whistling sound followed by an explosion and fire. I was thrown back by the force of the blast. Tchelet was also thrown back and I heard her call for my help. I picked her up and noticed that she was injured in the leg; her shoe was filled with blood."
Gladis' friend then took the mother and daughter to her home until the paramedics arrived.
"There were times in the past when we heard the 'Color Red' alert system and then quickly ran for cover," Gladis added, "but this time the rocket fell without warning; it just exploded right before my eyes."
Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin, whose daughter attends the kibbutz's kindergarten, told Ynet "the rocket landed at a time when all of the children usually play outside, especially on a beautiful day like today. This is also the time of day when some parents come to pick their children up".
Another rocket barrage of 12 qassams hit Sderot as well. A 14-year-old girl was moderately injured by shrapnel and three people were lightly hurt from smoke inhalation after a rocket made a direct hit on a house.
`Moderately wounded' in Israeli parlance can mean anything from serious cuts and contusions up to blinding or losing a limb.
In response, the Israeli Air force took out a couple of the launch sites near Beit Hanoun today as their crews were preparing to launch a fresh qassam barrage, the usual limited - and ineffectual- response from the Olmert government.
I find it difficult to fathom how the Israelis continue to live like this, or why they allow a government to stay in power that is willing to allow it to happen.
Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that, for now, it's Sderot and small towns and kibbutzim in south Israel, rather than Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Call me cynical, but I have the feeling that if qassams were landing in Olmert and Livni's front yards or endangering their families, the Israeli response might be very different.
Sarajevans wouldn't turn a hair.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. Certainly they were screaming enough about it at the time, if the dinosaur media is any indicator.
ReplyDeleteBTW,you get the prize today for the silliest comment on the board.
serb artillery says
ReplyDeleteThey certainly had something to scream about. Compared to what happened in Sarajvo these Qassem rockets are utterly trivial; and even less than what the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade would hope to achieve.
As for, "BTW,you get the prize today for the silliest comment on the board."
Considering the pro-Israeli bias on this board, I'll take that as an honour.
So, I guess we can take it that you approve of targeting kids with rockets - at least as long as they're Jews.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, this board tends to be pro-Israeli, just as most of them, myself included were willing to stand against what was going on in Sarejevo because they're decent human beings.
BTW, did you know that those Israelis you despise so much took in a number of Bosnian refugees..unlike their Arab co-religionists?
But of course, they're still Jews right? So that doesn't matter.
Pathetic.