{"id":3816,"date":"2012-11-21T00:41:35","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T06:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=3816"},"modified":"2012-11-21T00:41:35","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T06:41:35","slug":"under-fire-tel-avivis-dont-let-rockets-burst-their-bubble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/under-fire-tel-avivis-dont-let-rockets-burst-their-bubble\/","title":{"rendered":"Under fire: Tel Avivis don&#8217;t let rockets burst their bubble"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By BEN SALES<\/p>\n<p>TEL AVIV (JTA) \u2013 The siren had sounded, the rocket had struck and Tel Aviv\u2019s cafes were still full. It had been 21 years since Tel Avivis last heard the pulsating blare foretelling an imminent explosion in their city, when Saddam Hussein fired Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.<\/p>\n<p>When the first boom of the latest conflict with Hamas sounded in the Tel Aviv area on the evening of Nov. 15, area residents got a taste of daily life in Israel\u2019s South, where missiles have fallen constantly for years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3817\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3817\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3817 lazyload\" title=\".\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway.jpg 724w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3817\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3817 \" title=\".\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tel-Aviv-stairway.jpg 724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3817\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israelis taking shelter in the stairway of their Tel Aviv apartment building as an air raid siren is heard in the area, Nov. 17, 2012. (Yehoshua Yosef\/FLASH90\/JTA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Israelis from elsewhere often refer to Tel Aviv as \u201cthe bubble\u201d &#8212; insulated not just from the dangers of Hamas rockets but from a lot of what goes on in the rest of Israel. For a moment last week, it seemed the bubble had popped.<\/p>\n<p>Then Tel Avivis began re-inflating it. They sat at restaurant tables under the porticos of Ibn Gvirol Street, a central boulevard here, and drank at swanky wine bars. Their cars jammed the roads, even as the Home Front Command said they should have pulled over.<\/p>\n<p>Since the first siren, five more missiles have targeted Israel\u2019s largest population center while the Israel Defense Forces carried out its offensive in Gaza, Operation Pillar of Defense. One of the Tel Aviv-bound missiles landed without causing any injuries or significant damage; five others were shot down by Israel\u2019s Iron Dome missile defense system.<\/p>\n<p>Hamas has fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Israel from Gaza since the operation began last week, with the vast majority landing in southern Israel and a few aimed at Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3818\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3818\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3818 lazyload\" title=\".\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover.jpg 724w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3818\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3818 \" title=\".\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/children-cover.jpg 724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3818\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Young children practicing taking cover in the event of an air raid siren in the Tel Aviv area, Nov. 18, 2012. (Gideon Markowicz\/FLASH90\/JTA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPeople are under pressure,\u201d said Roni Dallal, manager of Shenkin 17 cafe in central Tel Aviv. \u201cI have no customers, no people. They\u2019re watching TV and staying at home with their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Ricky Danon, who manages the Bella Vintage clothing store on King George Street, said Tel Aviv residents are \u201ctoo far away, both in mind-set and geographically\u201d from Gaza to stop living their lives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople kept walking on the street during the siren,\u201d she told JTA. Tel Avivis think, \u201c \u2018I\u2019m on top of the world. I have culture, pubs, cafes. Nothing will stop my fun.\u2019 You can\u2019t put Tel Aviv in the bomb shelter. It\u2019s still not Sderot\u201d &#8212; the embattled Israeli city near Gaza\u2019s border that has become synonymous with rocket fire.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, many Tel Avivis chafe at the idea that they are disengaged from the country\u2019s problems. They\u2019re quick to recall that 10 years ago, their city was at the center of the second intifada, when Hamas terrorists carried out suicide bombings in the urban heartland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t call Tel Aviv a bubble,\u201d said Edan Ozana, who owns a flip-flop store in central Tel Aviv. \u201cDo you know how many terrorist attacks we\u2019ve had?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tel Aviv\u2019s municipality has prepared for missile attacks, outfitting parking garages as bomb shelters and retaining 500 employees to assist firemen and paramedics should a missile hit.<\/p>\n<p>Many Tel Avivis experienced missile attacks in the Gulf War, but Ozana and Danon said that for better or worse, this round of explosions is different.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were alarms all of the time,\u201d Danon said of the Gulf War. \u201cIt was an atmosphere of war. Everyone got gas masks. We were stuck to our radios and there were tons of missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ozana recalled how during the Gulf War he left for Jerusalem, which Saddam\u2019s Scuds did not target. \u201cBut now they\u2019re also sending missiles there,\u201d he said of the rocket crews in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>The chairman of the Tel Aviv City Council\u2019s security and fire department committee, Moshe Tiomkin, said that although southern Israel is suffering much more damage than Tel Aviv, people act the same during a missile attack no matter where they live.<\/p>\n<p>You only have a moment to \u201cget to the best-protected place,\u201d Tiomkin said. \u201cA reinforced room, a stairwell, an underground parking lot, an interior room in a building. If you want to live and not get hurt, what\u2019s the difference between Tel Aviv and not Tel Aviv?\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Under%20fire%3A%20Tel%20Avivis%20don%27t%20let%20rockets%20burst%20their%20bubble\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[8781,8790,8795,8788,664,412],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3819,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3816\/revisions\/3819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}