Shabbat rocket - Damage to School

We now have the information about where this morning's rockets fell. One of the rockets fell in an open space in a highly populated residential area (another miraculous escape), but one of them hit a school. On Shabbat morning all the students were at home ... (yet another miracle).

The rocket caused a lot of damage to the school. Classrooms were destroyed. This is one of the schools that has no proper protection or safe shelter - the "safe area' that pupils were supposed to gather in, in case of a rocket attack, was badly hit by many pieces of shrapnel. The rockets are full of ballbearings and sharp shards of metal that slice into anything in their way. You can see the result in the photos below.

Municipality service teams that were on standby because of the stormy weather, are now out on the job, sealing windows of apartments in the area, that were blown out by the blast or hit by shrapnel.

Obviously, the school that was hit will not be open tomorrow (Sunday of course is a regular school day in Israel) and other solutions will be found for the students. At the moment, the order is that the other schools will open, but the situation can change, and a meeting will be held after Shabbat to decide if other schools will open.

We hope that the next hours (and days, and weeks, and months) will be quiet.

(this photo AP on ynet)

Shabbat rocket attack

This from Maxine:

Here i am, 8:45 a.m., in a deep sleep when all of a sudden, I hear a siren. I thought I was dreaming until I realized it was real...Shani came bursting into our room, Rafi and iIjumped up, I ran for my sweater which had been strategically placed when all this started months ago (in case I am in my p.j.s and have to evacuate the house), Yehiel, shani's boyfriend, half asleep and not used to this because he lives in Jerusalem, following behind. This siren was a double one and we all ran, dogs following.

Before we got to our "safe place" (a hallway downstairs), and before my mother-in-law could get out of bed, there was a tremendous "boom" followed by a softer one; we knew it was close, thinking it might have been a few blocks behind us. Tal is usually the one to find out first where it fell but he was already on his way to work about 20 minutes north of here. The softer boom fell in the industrial area of the city, on the southern side and not close to us.

Just for good measure, and as instructed by homefront command, we stayed put for about 2 more minutes (they say 5 but who has the patience?) and then the phone started ringing. The grad fell on the campus of the school i used to teach at - a 10 minute walk from here and a 3 minute car drive. According to the news, there's been some structural damage and 7 people are being treated for shock. there are apartment buildings all around the school. nice ones.

We heard the sirens of the emergency vehicles and then everyone, but me, went back to sleep which is what they're all doing now. Lucky them!

I don't know if this is the start of hostilities all over again, although there have been 101 missiles shot in the area from Gaza up to ashkelon (but always up to the outskirts of the city) till now.

Upper echelon municipality workers were all called in to the city's "war room" (an underground, protected room with computers, maps, phones to the army, etc).

Who has the strength to go through all this again?

Well, better get the Oreos ready.

Not again !!!

Saturday , 8:45 in the morning... Last night was very stormy , strong winds and thunder. This is why I was sure I was dreaming ..... it must be the wind again when Gily , my 7 year old daughter , opened the bedroom door and screamed : "Mom , quickly , a siren !!!" ... I grabbed her , knowing we don't have time to run outside to the bomb shelter , both of us screaming to Shir , my oldest , who came running from her room. We went to our safe place in the house - under the stairs. Ron , my son, is sleeping at my in-laws house , not far from us. The siren was long , longer than I remembered . Once it stopped we heard 2 loud booms. They definitely hit somewhere near us, in the neighborhood. I called Anat (the municipality spokewoman) , after 10 minutes. She was getting ready to go to the municipality control room. She checked with Shlomo (deputy mayor) too. On information where the rockets fell ,maybe it's good , no one reported anything yet . I'll let you know once I know. I just got a text message from Anat: 2 grad rockets hits in the city both in open spaces in our neighborhood. The municipal war room is re-open till further notice.

Reading Encouragement Project - Opening Ceremony

Rainy Weekend

This weekend was really stormy, windy and rainy. This is why in our neighborhood the rocket alert siren in the southern area wasn't heard - we all had our windows tightly closed against the weather. On the news we saw that at 10:20 last night a kassam rocket fell in an open field in the southern part of Ashkelon.

This weekend kassams and mortars were fired on the western Negev. ( http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3675270,00.html )

Meanwhile we still have no prime minister. Bibi is trying to form a government that will include Kadima, we wish him good luck!

Shinshinim Visit Home

Our "Shinshinim" (Young Emissaries), Tal Bouhnik and Liron Menashe, are spending a year volunteering in the Baltimore Jewish Community.

Midway in their stay, they came home to Ashkelon for two weeks to spend time with family and friends and catch up with all the news and new projects in Ashkelon. They will be meeting with the Youth Council, with the Diller Leadership Teens, attending the opening of the Reading Encouragement Project and generally running around seeing everyone and everything!

Today they were at the Municipality to see Sigal and meet Mayor Benny Vaknin, who was elected while they were away. (Nicole)

Daphna Biton, Avner Maimon, Liron Menashe, Mayor Benny Vaknin, Tal Bouhnik, Sigal Ariely, Yakov Attias

Baltimore Girls boost LEAP Sales !

Our Ladies Ethiopian Art Project (LEAP) women work on their embroidery all year round but they do not get paid unless their challah covers and wall hangings are sold.

On Tu Bishvat last week our LEAP women were doubly happy to celebrate as they each received a check. Their happiness was due to Olivia Mauer and Alexandra Hyatt of Baltimore who have been helping to sell LEAP embroideries as their bat mitzvah project.

Anyone interested in helping Ashkelon's LEAP ladies by purchasing a gorgeous challah cover can contact Olivia and Alexandra via Jonathan Strausberg at The ASSOCIATED in Baltimore: 410-369-9242 or jstrausberg@associated.org

(nicole)

Mrs T proudly shows off her vivid fuschia and scarlet elephant embroidery, which would look wonderful, framed, and hung in a child's room.

LEAP Challah covers are finished off with satin borders and backing and are sold together with the LEAP sales tag and a photo of the particular artist who made that cover.

The Zager Family of Baltimore support LEAP and went home with two beautiful challah covers

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LEAP, PLEASE WRITE TO LEAPASHKELON@GMAIL.COM

Election Update 2

The situation is still up in the air. President Shimon Peres is probably going to have to decide who gets to try and form a government. At the moment it seems Mission Impossible!! (Our election system is to blame and needs to be changed!!) 61 Mandates are needed to form a government. It seems Bibi can gather 45 mandates from the rightwing parties and Tzipi has the 28 mandates from Kadima and a big problem - the parties on the left (the would-be allies of Kadima) won't sit on a Kadima government with Avigdor Lieberman. The best solution would be if Tzipi and Bibi combined forces for a national unity government but that would mean rotation of the Prime Minister - something which Bibi refuses to even consider. It's not over till the fat lady (or whoever) sings....

Election results ?

Wednesday: Almost 24 hours after the elections, and the results????.....

Kadima -Zippy Livni 28 KM (KM=Knesset Members),

Likud - Bibi Netanyahu 27 KM,

Israel Beytenu - Avigdor Liberman 15 KM ,

Avoda -Ehud Barak 13 KM.

But it's not over yet. Bibi is doing everything to prevent Zippy from forming a government . As Yediot Aharonot said : " Zippy Livni is the big winner of these elections, but Bibi Netanyahu has the key ...."

From lagging behind with a 10 KM difference she won and passed the Likud. A lot of women voted for her . In Kadima there are KMs that some of you may know, old and new : Avi Dichter, Ze'ev Beilski , Nachmam Shai , and Shai Hermesh.

To see how each city, town, kibbutz or settlement in Israel voted: http://www.politico.co.il/election_results.asp (Hebrew)http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061917.html (English)

As a reminder of our reality a siren was heard and a Kassam fell in the Western Negev last night at 10:00, and a mortar bomb fell 3 hours ago in the same area .

Who will win?

Election day today. The polls show a close race between Bibi Netanyahu (likud) and Zippy Livny(Kadima). The weather is really bad , rain , strong winds , as if it meant to make it more difficult for the voters. I took my 2 daughters with me. Shir , just turned 18. This is the 1st time she is voting for the governement . Big excitement .I took the little one Gily, 7 years too. I want her to grow to be a good citizen . We'll have to wait till tomorrow to see how next Pime Minister will be ...

• [As a matter of interest, the short piece above was quoted in an article on the elections on the BBC news site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7880487.stm (Just before half way down: You can click EDIT (the menu along the top of your browser), FIND, Ashkelon and find it)]

Solidarity Mission

Marc Terrill and Jessica Bronfein were in Ashkelon to meet with Mayor Benny Vaknin, see first hand the effect of the war on the city and its residents, and visit some of the projects supported by The Associated.

While they were in Ashkelon they also met with a family whose home took a direct hit from a missile. Luckily family members were in the bombshelter and escaped injury, while their home was destroyed.

See the video diary filmed during their visit HERE

A visit to the Teen Center to meet with Dafna Biton and the Youth of Ashkelon: AMEN volunteers, also a project supported by The Associated.

During the war AMEN teens entertained kids in shelters and the "Medical Clown" project was very active in the Barzilai Medical Center.

Notice the fabric quilt proudly displayed on the wall at the Teen Center. The quilt has messages of solidarity and support from the Baltimore Jewish Community to Ashkelon.

Dinner in Ashkelon with Mayor Benny Vaknin.

"Tu B'Shvat Higiya Chag Lailanot"

It has been a dry dry winter but the wild almond trees are starting to flower right on time, and Tu B'Shvat (15th day of Shvat) is a Jewish holiday that everyone loves. Everywhere, everyone is munching dried fruit and planting trees.

Some are out in the forests of the Keren Kayemet, some are planting in their gardens, and in the following pictures you can see young kids planting in the grounds of their kindergartens. Tomorrow (election day) there is a forecast for rain, which will be just what the new young trees need! (Nicole)

Yet Another ceasefire rocket fired on Ashkelon

We didn't really think it's all over , but the reminders are very scary. We were driving back from Sderot around 1 o'clock , coming back from Nihum Avelim (Shiva, mourning condolence call) , our friend lost her mother , and she lives in Sderot . Anat , the municipal spokesperson was in the car with us, she has a bipper that rings whenever there's a siren . We were far from Sderot, no sirens , so all we felt relieved. As we were driving through the industrial southern area her bipper annonced a siren , in the ... southern industrial area!!! We heard nothing (the radio was on , windows closed and we 4 were all talking). As we reached the municipality building poeple said that the siren was heard in the southern neiborhoods and so was the rocket that fell in an open field. Another one fell in the sea . I was happy that the siren wasn't heard all over Ashkelon , so the children didn't hear it , again... I called my "other kids"- the Otzma students. 2 of the girls were out, shopping, they ran in circles because they had no idea where to run. They are all ok. Tomorrow a psychologist is coming to speak with them .

Friday morning

Rockets again, but south of Ashkelon. Hoping for a quiet Shabbat!

Otzmaniks: An eventful first day

Our 5 Otzmaniks arrived in Ashkelon yesterday evening to start their two months of community volunteer work in Ashkelon. Emily, Jamie, Suzanne, Warner and Jared are full of motivation and energy and looking forward to getting to know Ashkelon and making their mark.

This morning they were woken by the rocket-attack siren, and ran for the stairwell, along with other Kalanit student residents. According to Alizka Yarden, charismatic head of Kalanit, the building is very strong, built of prestressed cast concrete blocks. There are two bomb shelters inside the Kalanit building, one of them houses a small gymnasium, and has equipment and a trainer.

Alizka, a warm and wonderful woman who looks after Kalanit's residents

After a breakfast meeting with Sigal & Nicole, and Dganit head of Otzma program, everyone headed out to see the volunteer locations.

Despite the early morning grad wake-up, it was a sunny, beautiful day today, and everyone in Ashkelon was out and about as usual. Together we visited Halperin Home for Senior Citizens, a number of "Moadoniot" (child care facilities for at risk children) and spotted the locations of the elementary schools where some of the Otzmaniks will be working.

Making friends at the Moadonit

The little ones, taking their mid morning nap inside the shelter

It was a busy morning but our Otzmaniks had the afternoon off to get organized at Kalanit, and will start working tomorrow.

See more photos of OTZMA Here (Nicole )

Grad for breakfast

This morning 7:10, a siren woke my kids. Together we all ran for our safe place under the stairs (no time to get out to the bomb shelter in the yard), and then we heard the boom. The grad fell in an open area near the road, not far from where we work .It's incredible how fragile the ceasefire is. My Gily said "You see mom, I told you there would be another grad". Schools are balagan. Some are open , very few kids showed up . Gily's school is closed. I took her to grandmother's for the day. The Arts school is open , in Shir's class 2 students out of 40 came... Ron is at a high school that is relatively new , and it has safe shelter areas, 11 kids showed up out of 35 in his class . Mayor Benny Vaknin said there will be a consultation with Home front command to decide whether the schools will open or not ...

Damage in a bus that was standing near the open area where the grad fell this morning