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Terrorism

Kindergarten children targeted by Kassam

Negev residents slam government's weak response to growing threat


By Ryan Jones
December 27, 2005

A Kassam rocket fired by Gaza-based ?Palestinian? terrorists landed meters from a kindergarten in Kibbutz Sa'ad Monday afternoon, bringing to an abrupt end a Hannukah party attended by local children and their parents.

Arab rocket and mortar crews operating out of the Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza Strip regularly target Israeli schools and other public buildings in the adjacent Negev region. Miraculously, few have been killed or wounded.

The seemingly divine shielding of these exposed civilians continued Monday.

?This was a big miracle, because the Kassam rocket landed at a very small distance from the kindergarten during the Hannukah party,? community director Sarah Evron was quoted as saying by Ynet.

Evron reminded everyone that local kindergartens and schools are still not fortified in accordance with government promises made before Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. A direct hit on these buildings would cause horrendous casualties among tens and hundreds of defenseless children.

?We've been waiting long months for a solution in terms of fortification,? Evron said, emphasizing that ?we have children growing up here on the border.?

Residents of other targeted Negev communities have decried their government's display of weakness in the face of the terrorist threat, and the deterioration of Israel's deterrence resulting from regular threats to unleash an unprecedented response to Arab rocket fire, only to back down when the moment of truth arrives.

Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week threatened that Israel would invade Gaza if the rocket fire did not end. But as the Kassams continued to land, the government predictably moderated it's tone and decided instead on a thin ?no-go zone? in northern Gaza enforced by artillery and helicopter gunships.

The buffer will not prevent rocket fire on towns closer to the Gaza border, such as Kibbutz Sa'ad.

Locals have lamented the fact that adherence to international dictates will continue to take precedence over protecting their lives until after the Arabs manage to kill numerous Jews in a single Kassam barrage.

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