above my head..

i was hoping id get to work before the rockets started to come our way from gaza this morning.. and while i did get closer the sirens broke out just as i hit the stretch that offers nowhere to take cover..

 

quickly all the cars pulled over and people poured out of their vehicles as well as public busses and we all hit the ground and covered our heads..

 

a few metres away from me a middle aged woman lay on top of her child covering her head with her hands.. this is also as per the instructions of the defence authorities.. the child cried..

 

as we waited for the explosions to indicate that the danger had passed my mind went into flipcard mode.. i was imagining awful things.. i peeked towards the sky between my forearm and bicep and then i closed my eyes thinking that i didnt really want to see a rocket at any distance..

 

finally the explosion(s - i couldnt really tell how many) arrived and with them the cocktail of relief and confusion.. youre supposed to stay in your safe zone - but outside we're not really safe so i looked for the smoke of the interception and couldnt see it.. 

 

it was above my head.. i immediately urged the mother to return to the car with her child and drive and not to wait (as usually instructed) in case pieces of detonated rocket fell our way given our proximity.. [there must have been a few rockets in this attach because reports later came in of rockets over other parts of town at around the same time and you could kind of hear them]

 

the sirens hadnt stopped yet but i preferred to head to the nearby highway and take cover under its overpass at that stage.. by the time i got there they stopped so i just drove to work - all the while scouting places i could seek cover if another siren went off..

 

i called home to say that everything was fine and got an earful for not having brought my work laptop home last night.. she was right - my mistake..

 

i know it doesnt look like much.. and i know its nothing compared to the 70 reported dead in gaza.. and i know that once the ground operation starts (and ill be surprised if it doesnt) there will be carnage and that people would give everything to have a rocket intercepted over their head or even just to be afraid.. my heart is with the people who are copping the harsher reality that this conflict has to offer on both sides and particularly the children of gaza..

at least for us in telaviv - you cant really call this a state of fear.. our interception systems are holding up for now and touch wood theyre keeping us safe..

i am so greatful for amir peretz's foresight and the investment made by the government in the development of these missile interception systems back in 2006-7.. a topic that had long been discussed but was subject to monumental foot dragging until he kicked it up a notch..

in any event - oh how we mocked this guy.. for his poor english and upper lip black forest..

turns out you dont need english to save thousands of lives and keep millions of us safe..

i cant wait for this stupidity to end.. i really dont understand how such violence is still relevant in 2014.. we wont talk to eachother (which is free of charge - let them skype) because we're sworn enemies.. ok.. but we'll spend millions of dollars bombing eachother? dollars needed to alleviate poverty and heal the sick and treat cancer and build homes for people?? really? no - really????