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Most of my classmates at NYU School of Medicine choose to live in Manhattan, but I am very happy living at home in Scarsdale.
After many years of dorm life, I am happy to come home every day to my family among the lush green trees, beautiful homes, and safety of this neighborhood. When my sister called me, panicked from a bomb shelter in Israel last week, I realized I taken so much of my life in this beautiful community for granted.
This month alone more than 1,200 rockets have rained down on Israel from the Gaza Strip They send my sister, who is in Israel on a study abroad program run by MIT, into the bomb shelter at least twice daily.
“Fifteen seconds,” she told me. When the siren sounds, what the Israelis call a “code red,” civilians have just 15 seconds to run into a bomb shelter. I know I haven’t been to the gym as much as I should, but even at my best that is not enough time.
That is why I am so grateful for Israel’s Iron Dome, a highly sophisticated air defense system that intercepts and destroys rockets fired from Gaza in mid-air.
If you have not seen a video of Iron Dome in action, do a Google search for it. What makes the system so incredible is it can discern which rockets will land in empty areas, and which are headed for populated ones, and only shoots down those that will be damaging.
Iron Dome has been instrumental in keeping Israeli casualties to a minimum. I owe the American government a "thank you" for making it possible. In light of the recent Palestinian terror attacks, the United States' investment in Iron Dome was a wise decision and right now is saving hundreds of lives.
Everyday, the newspapers are filled with horrible stories from across the globe. The saying “no news is good news” ringing true. I think for many Americans, it is not until these stories have a personal impact that they really are internalized and take on meaning.
How many of us rapidly flip through headlines on the train, only to throw out the paper on the platform a few minutes later? I know I am guilty.
I hope all of us, from the safety of Scarsdale, will be able to take a minute to think about the millions of Israelis and Palestinians being terrorized by Hamas. Hopefully, Operation Protective Edge will be successful at destroying the Hamas terror organization and its infrastructure, freeing both peoples from oppression.
Rachel Bandler
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