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By Michael Jeser and Brian Tauber
SAN DIEGO — The past week has been a difficult one up and down our State. Communities in Northern and Southern California are literally burning and need our help. Three major fires have devastated entire communities, leaving people displaced and homeless.
Our sister Federation in Sacramento is 90 miles south of the Butte County Camp Fire, the most destructive fire in California history. As of today, 29 individuals have lost their lives and the homes of 6,500 families have burned to the ground. The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, of which Butte County is a part, is collecting material goods for the victims and is also asking for donations to help recovery efforts.
Closer to home, as in the north, the Los Angeles wildfires have been burning for days. Thousands of individuals and families have been evacuated and displaced, and a number of Jewish institutions have been destroyed or damaged. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has opened an LA Wildfire Relief Fund – 100% of all funds raised will go to individuals and institutions affected by the fires.
Across the ocean, our Israeli brothers and sisters in Sha’ar HaNegev are under fire. Since Monday, more than 400 rockets have been fired into Israel, triggering an endless stream of sirens, and causing hundreds of thousands of civilians to spend the night in shelters.
In the worst incident, a residential building in Ashkelon was hit by a rocket, killing a 48-year old man and severely injuring two women. In total, at least 55 Israelis have been wounded by the effects of the rockets since the attacks began on Monday. In Sha’ar HaNegev, the San Diego Federation’s sister region, one Israeli teen was seriously injured when a bus he was standing near was hit by what appears to be an anti-tank weapon.
While Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System successfully intercepted more than 100 rockets that were headed to populated areas, 8 residential buildings were hit in Sderot, 6 in Ashkelon and 2 in Netivot. Footage of incoming rockets and Iron Dome interceptions can be seen here.
Residents of the region have been instructed to remain close to shelters, public gatherings have been banned, and kindergartens, elementary schools and high schools have all been closed with classes cancelled for some 200,000 students, in cities and towns including Sderot, Be’er Sheva, Ashdod and Ashkelon.
Israeli television stations are broadcasting round-the-clock coverage of the situation, and both television and radio are interrupting their broadcasts on a regular basis, announcing (or displaying) Red Alert sirens and their location. Several communities in the center of the country have announced that residents are opening their homes to those from the south who feel the need to escape from the current tension, danger and uncertainty of their home towns.
Outgoing Sha’ar HaNegev Mayor, Alon Schuster, said, “We are praying for quiet, but we are preparing for the worst.”
We are monitoring this situation closely and hope for an end to all fighting.
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Tauber is board chair and Jeser is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee issues this comment on the Israel-Gaza warfare:
Over the last 36 hours, terrorists in Gaza have fired more than 500 rockets at civilians across southern Israel. The Israeli Iron Dome system intercepted almost 100 rockets, and the Israel Air Force hit dozens of Hamas military targets. But at least 20 projectiles struck Israeli populated areas, causing significant damage, many casualties and one death. The United States must continue to support Israel’s right to defend its citizens from these indiscriminate attacks, and Congress must complete action on legislation targeting Hamas’ use of human shields.
Hamas Targets Israeli Civilians
On Nov. 12 and 13, Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza fired more than 500 rockets and mortars at Israel. At least 20 rockets struck urban areas, resulting in the death of one person when a rocket struck an apartment building in Ashkelon. More than 70 Israelis have been wounded in the attacks.
On Nov. 12, terrorists in Gaza fired an anti-tank missile at a bus across the border in Israel, seriously wounding two individuals. A group of 50 Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers had left the bus just minutes before.
The latest round of rocket fire has forced more than 1.5 million Israelis into bomb shelters, as southern Israeli schools were cancelled and life was brought to a crawl.
Israel Targets Hamas Terrorists
The attacks on Israeli civilians followed the death of an IDF soldier and the wounding of another during what appears to have been a routine intelligence gathering operation in Gaza on Nov. 11.
Israel responded to the rocket fire from Gaza with more than 100 targeted strikes on Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including its command and control centers, weapons storage facilities, tunnels, rocket firing squads and naval vessels.
As always, Israel took great care to avoid civilian casualties by using precision munitions and providing advance warning of strikes using leaflets, texts and phone calls. The Israeli Air Force even fired warning munitions at certain targets in a procedure known as “knocking on the roof” to encourage individuals to leave the area before a forthcoming strike.
Despite being attacked from Gaza, Israel has continued to facilitate the delivery of fuel and other goods to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Nearly every day, hundreds of trucks enter Gaza from Israel carrying food, medicine, construction materials and other commercial goods.
Hamas alone bears the responsibility for any suffering of Gaza’s residents. It continues to place its rockets in urban areas and use civilians as human shields.
Hamas—which took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, after Israel withdrew all of its citizens and soldiers—is an Iranian-backed terrorist organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
The United States must continue to stand by Israel and sanction Hamas.
The United States must continue to support Israel’s right and ability to defend itself. In the last fiscal year, the United States provided $500 million for Israeli missile defense systems and $47.5 million for anti-tunneling efforts. This funding has helped save countless lives and must continue.
Congress must also complete work on the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (H.R. 3342). This important bipartisan legislation mandates sanctions on members of Hamas responsible for the use of human shields. Hamas routinely fires rockets from civilian areas and hides its military infrastructure behind the people of Gaza.
Doug Seserman of the American Associates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev sent the following message:
As I’m sure you know, Gaza militants have fired more than 460 missiles and mortars into the south of Israel in 25 hours. In consultation with the Homefront Command of the Israel Defense Forces, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has canceled classes today (Tuesday) as well as the honorary doctorate ceremony scheduled to take place tomorrow on Ben-Gurion Day.
Fortunately, Beer-Sheva has not been targeted. Our hearts are heavy for the destruction, loss and tragic death that has befallen neighboring Ashkelon. Our students and faculty are safe and are very well informed on security protocol. And thanks to generous contributions from many of our supporters, BGU has been able to upgrade its security infrastructure.
We are very proud that Ben-Gurion University has the largest number of reservist students of all Israeli universities, and pray that they will be able to remain students and not be forced to become soldiers once again. We are hoping the ceasefire that was supposed to have gone into effect at 3:30 p.m. Israel time today will take hold.
Here is a comment from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, taking Gaza’s side against Israel:
he American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) condemns in the strongest terms Israel’s recent airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. On November 12, 2018, Israeli military aerial attacks killed at least seven Palestinian civilians. Additionally, Israel has bombed and destroyed several civilian buildings in Gaza, including family homes, a hotel, the office of the human rights organization Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and a T.V. station office. ADC firmly calls on Israel to immediately stop its military air campaign against the Gaza Strip and to halt targeting and killing Palestinians. Israel continues to commit human rights violations against the Palestinian people with impunity. ADC condemns attacks on all civilians.
Since March 30, 2018, Israel has killed over 200 Palestinians in Gaza, including children, humanitarian aid workers, and marked members of the press. In 2018 alone, Israel has killed 46 children in Gaza and 53 children throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). ADC calls on the U.S. administration together with the international community to hold Israel accountable for its repeated gross human rights violations against the Palestinian people.
Additionally, Israel’s eleven-year illegal siege of Gaza has created what the UN defines as “one of the world’s largest open-air prisons.” Over 95% of the water in Gaza is deemed undrinkable, electricity is limited to only 3-6 hours per day, and the deteriorating health care system in Gaza operates in a constant crisis mode. The U.N. reports that the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is so severe that Gaza will be unlivable by the year 2020. ADC support the UN’s repeated calls on Israel to lift the siege on Gaza.
We call on the U.S. administration to uphold its domestic laws that stipulate the U.S. must immediately halt financial aid and training to foreign military units that commit gross violations of human rights, as it is stated in the U.S. Leahy law. The U.S. has a responsibility to uphold the values of human rights, peace, and dignity for all people. The Palestinian people are not an exception.
The Israeli-American Council had this comment:
Over the past two days, the Hamas terrorist organization launched a horrific attack on Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip, firing more than 400 rockets targeting cities and communities in the Southern part of Israel.
In these attacks, one person was murdered, many were severely injured, and numerous homes were damaged. Tens of thousands of Israeli families were forced to hide in shelters with their children. Thanks to Israel’s technology and the Iron Dome, an untold number of human lives were saved.
Our hearts are with the families who lost their loved ones, and we pray for the full recovery of the injured.
The IAC’s coast-to-coast family stands shoulder-to-shoulder with our brothers and sisters in Israel as they continue to be confronted with this terrorism. They wake up every morning knowing that this danger lives in their backyard – and yet they face it with strength and courage on behalf of Israel, the Jewish people, and the free world. We pray every moment for their safety and for the Israel Defense Forces.