And life must continue on as normal...

This past week has been one of the most uncertain weeks in Israel's security in the last few years.
More than a week ago Gaza started launching more and more rockets into the south of Israel. Israel then took out Hamas' military leader as a response to the attacks.
Israel's citizens in the south have been living with rockets for many years now. Eyal's cousin and her family live not too far from Gaza in southern Israel on a beautiful kibbutz. In this past year the kibbutz did a major construction job to provide every single housing unit with a safe room. This safe room is the room that Eyal's cousins children sleep in and the room the whole family runs to when a Red Alert is called to warn of incoming rockets.

After Israel took out Hamas' military chief rockets have continued to rain down on southern Israel, Tel Aviv and even as far as Jerusalem. As of now, no rockets have reached our part of the country and for that I feel very blessed. Still, the whole situation is frightening. What's even more frightening for me is the world's response to this situation. As I check news sources from the U.S. and Europe I find a huge lack of information about what is actually going on here. I feel my country is being threatened by these rockets. I want to be protected. Do I not have a right to be protected by my country's military just as every other country does? Does Israel not have a right to fight back against terrorists who are sending rockets into my family's kibbutz? Would any other country in their right mind every stand by and tolerate rockets being launched onto their citizens? Absolutely not. I am never in favor of war and violence. And I sure as well do not want Hamas' finest (who pledge to the destruction of Israel and Jewish people...oh and the USA) to be firing rockets at my friends and family in this country.

I had a nightmare last week that rockets were landing here and woke up in the middle of the night to ask Eyal if we were at war. He just laughed and told me to go back to sleep. That's Israel for you. When I told this to his brother and sister they said, "Now you are officially Israeli." That's Israel for you. And still, life goes on as normal. People sit in cafes, go to school, and live on usual.