notfacebook:

I wrote a few nights ago that I just experienced the scariest thing of my life, and decided that now, after the terrorist attacks of last week, I decided to elaborate.

A few nights ago I was spending a nice relaxing evening with my boyfriend (catching up on some Entourage, aka my new favorite show), when at around midnight a siren started going up and down. I of course was frozen and bewildered as to what the hell was going on, but my boyfriend, who lives closer to the fuckwards than I do, realized that this siren meant that a rocket was one minute and thirty seconds away from landing in our vicinity.

He grabbed me from the couch, ran outside and didn’t stop until we were under the stairwell of a nearby building that was deemed as safe. With us were about 30 people, some from a nearby restaurant who were mid-meal, some who were holding their children that, like me, were snatched from their beds, and some crouching silently waiting to hear the boom.

Because that is the normal thing to do in Beer Sheva.

I can’t describe what was going through my mind those silent seconds when all you heard was a deafening siren splitting the air. I realized that these rockets you read about in the news are real, and there are no words than can describe the feeling of vulnerability and helplessness as you are crouching beneath the stairs in your pajamas waiting to hear an explosion, not really knowing where the rocket will land.

After what seem like eternity we heard an explosion and I started to stand up in my dazed condition, but was grabbed down by a little boy in pajamas who was obviously still in a sleepy state of mind

“You have to wait for the other booms”

And he was right. Ten seconds later there was a second explosion. This is knowledge no one should have to have - especially not a little boy who moments before was in his bed dreaming of power rangers and coloring books.

This is what living in Israel means.

And this is what the world doesn’t see when they pity the arabs.

I would have closed with a difference sentence, but I’m writing this from the safety of Chicago.

In all my trips to Israel, I’ve never heard a rocket siren go off, I’ve never dodged a bombing or a rocket. For so many people, so many children, this is a way of life in Israel. Listening for sirens, running for safety, listening for explosions and checking yourself.