Illusions

*cross-posted from Monkey in the Middle*

From the Sderot Media Center

Sderot Student, 23, Addresses UN Human
Rights Council in Geneva

Liraz Madmony, 23 of Sderot,
grew up under Palestinian rocket fire for eight years of her life. Although a rocket has never directly hit her home, Liraz has experienced the terror of rocket explosions countless times. "We don't have a bomb shelter in our house," she recently told SMC. "Every time, the Tzeva Adom is set off, our family races to the shower, the only room that is most 'secure' from a rocket attack."

Liraz Madmony with Israeli
representative to the UN.

Liraz is a law student in a Ramat Gan college in central
Israel and is heavily involved with student organizations such as WUJS (World Union of Jewish Students). "Many times I've missed my law classes and student activities because of the rocket attacks. It's almost impossible to lead a normal life when you are forced to live under with warning alerts and raining rockets."

While Liraz admits that balancing life as a college student
and a resident in a war-zone can at times be very difficult, she recently found the time to share her story with the world community.
Thanks to a trip coordinated by UN Watch two weeks ago, Liraz Madmony addressed the UN Human Rights Council Special Session on Gaza in Geneva, on behalf of the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) on January 12, 2009.

View at YouTube

"It was a very moving moment for me," says Liraz. "Here I was standing in front of all these people--in Geneva, Switzerland--representing the people of Sderot and all our years of suffering and terror."

Read the rest here.

Liraz is just a normal person, leading a normal life, wanting only the rockets to stop. In the last 8 years dozens of UN resolutions were passed condemning Israel. Not one has ever been passed condemning Hamas. And yet Israel is suppose to accept all the resolutions passed by the UN.

From 90210 to Sderot: Get the Story Right!

I just returned from a two week visit to Israel. I spent
my last weekend in Sderot and the Western Negev. One year out from volunteering in Sderot, I have written this piece on the international media's lack of context in covering the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.


Hundreds of journalists from all over the world just left Sderot and
the surrounding areas covering the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. Where were they one year ago? Where were they four years ago, eight years ago? I spent six weeks volunteering in Sderot exactly one year ago, and I can tell you, the journalists were no where to be found.


Unfortunately for Israel, it took eight years for the international community to understand that innocent civilians in a western democracy live daily under the current threat of rocket fire. During this time, the range of the threat expanded from a tens of thousands to over one million innocent Jewish and Muslim Israeli citizens.


In these eight years, has the UN Security Council ever condemned
nearly a decade of rocket fire on innocent civilians of one of its member
states, Hamas’ use of human shields, and its use of schools, hospitals, and
mosques to store and launch rockets at Israel?


Are you laughing at me for even thinking to ask such a question? Well you should be, because why would anyone assume the international community to be, um, sensible?

Maybe they could be just a little rational? Nah, that’s just too silly!

Furthermore, has any news organization mentioned the fact Israel is the
only western democracy in the entire world that has a significant - let alone
any - part of its population living under the threat of daily rocket fire?...

The truth IS out there. There is a lot more that this young woman has to say, and even if the UN won't really pay attention to the reality, I strongly urge all of YOU to go read the rest of this piece on Monkey in the Middle here.