Israeli family witnesses McCain’s compassion

On a recent quiet Wednesday afternoon, a helicopter landed in Sderot, Israel, with two U.S. senators on board. Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, who toured Israel for two days, made time to stop by this rocket-battered town in the western Negev.

They were received with typical small-town warmth. “We are happy that they have come. They were brave to come,” one Sderot mother said of the American visitors. She stopped to watch the security vehicles and black sedans race by as McCain and Leiberman, accompanied by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, rushed to visit the Amar family, whose home was hit by a rocket three months before.

“I truly appreciate McCain coming to see our life here,” said Shula Sasson, the next-door neighbor of the Amar family. McCain spent 20 minutes in the home of the Amars, asking questions about the wreckage and their situation. He was concerned about the children during the attack. “Where were the children when the rocket struck?” asked McCain.

Pinchas Amar, the father, explained that his three children managed to take cover in the hallway. His wife, Aliza, who uses as wheelchair, was not so lucky. “She flew off her chair, slamming into the kitchen wall,” said Pinchas. “There was no time to react.”

Sderot families have 15 seconds to escape to shelter once the “red alert” siren sounds. The Amars’ home, like many homes in Sderot that were built in the 1950s, does not have a bomb shelter.

“We use our neighbors’ homemade bomb shelter when we can,” said Aliza.

Indeed, their neighbors the Sassons built their own shelter two years ago out of family savings.

“Barak requested to use our bomb shelter during McCain’s visit should the siren have sounded during their visit at the Amars,” said Shula Sasson. The shelter was built by Shula’s eldest son, who was concerned for the family’s safety before he entered the army. “There would have been room for all [the visitors] – the shelter fits 20 people,” Shula Sasson said proudly.

McCain also expressed shock that the Amar home had not been repaired since it was hit back in December 2007. Sunlight pours through the gaping holes in the roof as wooden beams hang loose and the ceiling is about to cave into the kitchen.

Barak explained that the Israel Tax Authority has a limited budget and therefore cannot immediately begin to repair homes damaged by Qassam rockets. It may take six to eight months before the government can send workers to repair the home, said Pinchas Amar.

“I’m sorry this happened to you,” said McCain.

“If they were to fire at residents of a town in Arizona, the U.S. would respond. The residents would definitely ask for a response,” McCain had said at a news conference earlier.

McCain’s visit was a fact-finding trip facilitated by the U.S. Senate in order to assess the Middle East situation. Joining him were two other senators, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. The senators are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Although there were no rockets or sirens on the day McCain visited, the rocket fire against Sderot and the western Negev has dramatically escalated in recent months. Since December, close to 1,000 rockets have been fired by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations at Israeli communities in the Negev.

McCain said it was difficult to expect Israel to “negotiate with a terror organization who is dedicated to Israel’s extinction.”

Indeed, a recent poll cited in the New York Times noted that 64 percent of Palestinians support the firing of Qassam rockets against Negev towns. In addition, the poll showed that three-quarters of the Palestinians were in favor of terminating talks between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The residents of Sderot hope that McCain’s visit to their town will not be the last. “He is always welcome back for tea and cookies,” said Shula Sasson in the typical Sderot fashion.

Anav Silverman is a 2004 Calais High School graduate. She works in the Sderot Media Center and is a student at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel.