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Last update - 17:31 12/02/2008 Sderot protest / The Israel they don't belong to By Daniel Ben-Simon Tags: Sderot, Qassams In search of the nation's attention, a wandering tribe of Sderot residents has embarked upon an odyssey, tramping from one center of influence to another. On Sunday it was Jerusalem, yesterday Tel Aviv, tomorrow some other place. In Jerusalem, the seat of political power, they saw from up close the helplessness of a state with no direction, whose politics have gone bankrupt. In Tel Aviv, a financial power on a world scale, they saw an opulent, surging Israel, and realized how much they did not belong. Apart from Israeli identity cards and a similar language, they have almost nothing in common with that hyper-capitalistic gallop, whose central artery is the Ayalon Highway. Advertisement When Israel was troubled by the Iranian threat, it put together an impressive world coalition. It is doubtful whether any other country has such mobilization and persuasion powers as those that Israel set into motion against Iran. Yet when it comes to a godforsaken development town in the heart of the deserted, wounded Negev, the state has given up. The people of Sderot and the South feel that had this happened somewhere else, in the central region, for example, the country's energies would have burst forth just to solve the problem. Nothing can persuade the residents of the South that this is an unsolvable military or political problem. Those demonstrators in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, whose parents were sent in the middle of the night to settle the desert in the '50s, are convinced that they are doomed to this incessant hell just because they are seen as second- and third-grade citizens. Their feelings of deprivation are such that they have stopped believing the state when it says in its defense that it has no solution. Why should they believe a state that has turned the Negev into its backyard? Why should they believe a state that robbed their self respect and stuck them at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder? The town they live in is falling apart before their eyes. They built it from scratch and turned it from a peripheral township to a sort of desert pearl. But in recent years it has retreated into the despair that had been its lot in its early days. Thousands have left, the local economy is collapsing, the streets are deserted and there is no hope in people's eyes. Just a one-hour drive separates two extremes of the new Israeli zeitgeist. It divides those who knew how to stake their claim from those who were dispatched to a remote wasteland on the desert's edge. The failure to stop the Qassam rockets is to a large extent a metaphor for Israel's incompetence regarding the southern communities. Had their residents a sense of mission, they may have found the fortitude to cope with the military threat. But in a reality of soup kitchens, closing factories, fleeing residents, growing unemployment, economic distress and a bleak future, it is doubtful whether stopping the fire would bring joy to their lives. Bookmark to del.icio.us   The black sheep The U.S. freezes Assad's cousin's assets for trying to weaken Iraq and Lebanon. Pristina, Ramallah Yasser Abed Rabbo called on the West Bank to declare independence like Kosovo.   1.   The best solution for Sderot 14:22  |  Natallie Durson 12/02/08   2.   to Natallie Durson 16:40  |  Harry 12/02/08   3.   re: Natallie Durson 23:22  |  Efox 12/02/08   4.   "They build it from scratch...Pearl" 15:22  |  Buzaglow 22/02/08

Today Online Bradley Burston: This November, I'm voting christian Responses: 43 Monopoly voting site drops country names after row over J'lem ownership Responses: 41 Ari Shavit: Time for Israel to show generosity toward Syria Responses: 33 Daniel Levy: Obama's change could be good for Israel Responses: 39 Iron Dome system found to be helpless against Qassams Responses: 122 McCain, a supporter of Israel with a 'Judeophile' brother Responses: 47 More Headlines 19:55 Nasrallah: We're preparing for war with Israel within months 19:34 IAEA: Iran not complying with nuclear program inspection 19:03 Hamas: We won't rule out any bid for cease-fire with Israel 18:06 Turkish army launches ground offensive into northern Iraq 14:59 McCain, a supporter of Israel with a 'Judeophile' brother 18:01 U.S. to announce new aid plan for West Bank, Gaza Strip 17:52 Iraqi Shiites rally against Danish reprint of Muhammad cartoon 14:52 Thousands show solidarity with Qassam-stricken Sderot 08:47 Iron Dome system found to be helpless against Qassams 14:58 Actor Will Smith receives damages over alleged praise for Hitler Previous Editions Select Day 21 feb 20 feb 19 feb 18 feb 17 feb 15 feb 14 feb 13 feb 12 feb 11 feb 10 feb 08 feb

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