Sderot
Hebrew transcription(s)
• Hebrew	שְדֵרוֹת
• ISO 259	Śderot
Arabic transcription(s)
• Arabic	سديروت
Public bomb shelter, Sderot
Logo
Sderot
Coordinates: 31°31′22″N 34°35′43″E / 31.52278°N 34.59528°E / 31.52278; 34.59528Coordinates: 31°31′22″N 34°35′43″E / 31.52278°N 34.59528°E / 31.52278; 34.59528
District	South
Founded	1953
Government
• Type	City (from 1996)
• Mayor	David Buskila
Area
• Total	4,472 dunams (4.472 km2 or 1.727 sq mi)
Population (2009)[1]
• Total	24,000
Name meaning	Boulevards/avenues

Sderot /sdɛˈʁɔt/ (Hebrew: שְדֵרוֹת‎‎) is a western Negev city in the Southern District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2011 the city had a total population of 24,000.^[1] The city has been an ongoing target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip for more than 10 years, almost every day.

Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza (the closest point is 840 meters).^[2] The constant barrage of rocket attacks on the city has killed 13 Israelis^[update], wounded dozens, caused millions of dollars in damage and profoundly disrupted daily life.^[3] The frequent air-raid sirens and explosions of incoming projectiles have caused severe psychological trauma.^[4] From mid-June 2007 to mid-February 2008, 771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were fired at Sderot and the western Negev, an average of three or four each a day.^[5]

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Economy 4 Local government 5 Education 6 Culture 7 Rocket fire from Gaza 7.1 Casualties 8 Solidarity gestures 9 Lawsuits 10 Twin towns – sister cities 11 Notable residents 12 See also 13 References 13.1 Bibliography 14 External links

  History

Sderot was founded in 1951 as a transit camp for Mizrahi Jewish refugees (including Kurdish, Morrocan and Persian) who had fled to Israel as part of the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries. They lived in tents and shacks before permanent housing was completed for them in 1954.^[6] It was built on semi-arid lands, that was farm land associated with the Arab village of Najd^[7] which was located a few miles to the south of Sderot. In 1956, Sderot was recognized as a local council.^[8]

Sderot received a symbolic name, after the numerous avenues and standalone rows of trees planted in the Negev, especially between Beersheba and Gaza, to combat desertification and beautify the arid landscape. Like many other localities in the Negev, Sderot's name has a green motif that symbolizes the motto "making the desert bloom," a central part of Zionist ideology.^[9]

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, December 2008.
By year
2001 · 2002–2006 · 2007 2008 · 2008 cease-fire Gaza War · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 2012
Groups responsible
Fatah · Hamas · Islamic Jihad PFLP · DFLP · PRC Ansar al-Sunna · Force 17 Army of Islam · Tawhid wal-Jihad Abdullah Azzam Brigades
Rocket types
Mortar · Qassam · Al-Quds Katyusha · Grad
Cities hit
Ashdod · Ashkelon · Beersheba Gedera · Kiryat Gat · Kiryat Malakhi Netivot · Sderot · Ofakim · Yavne
Regional Council areas hit
Hof Ashkelon (Karmia · Netiv HaAsara Yad Mordechai · Zikim) Eshkol (Nir Oz · Nirim · Yesha) Sha'ar HaNegev (Kfar Aza · Nahal Oz · Nir Am) Sdot Negev (Alumim · Sa'ad) Merhavim · Be'er Tuvia Bnei Shimon
Settlements hit (evacuated)
Atzmona · Dugit · Elei Sinai Gadid · Ganei Tal · Katif Kfar Darom · Morag Netzarim · Netzer Hazani Neve Dekalim · Nisanit Rafiah Yam · Slav
Actions by Israel
Civil defense in Israel Red Color · Iron Dome · ZAKA
See also
Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In the 1961 census, the percentage of North African immigrants, mostly from Morocco, was 87% in the town, whilst another 11% of the residents were immigrants from Kurdistan.^[10] In the 1950s, the city continued to absorb a large number of immigrants from Morocco and Romania. It reached local council status in 1958.

Sderot absorbed another large wave of immigrants during the Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1990s, doubling its population. In 1996, it was declared a city.

The population has declined as families leave the city in desperation. The mayor said in 2008^[update] that the population had dropped by 10%-15%, while aid organizations said the figure was closer to 25%. Many of the families that remained were those who could not afford to move out or are unable to sell their homes.^[11]

According to a study carried out at Sapir Academic College in 2007, some 75% of the population was suffering from PTSD in the wake of rocket attacks on the city, and 1,000 residents were receiving psychiatric treatment at the community mental health center.^[12]

In May 2011, the British Ambassador to Israel visited Sderot and met with Mayor David Buskila, who described the suffering of children in both Sderot and Gaza:^[2]

"Believe me that I feel bad for my children, for the children that live here in Sderot, but I also feel pain for the children that live in the other side of the border in Gaza ... This situation that the children from this place and the other place is because of the behaviour of the leaders of the terror organisations. We can create another quality of life, it is so close."

  Demographics

According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.8% Jewish, without significant Arab population. There were 9,500 males and 9,700 females. The age distribution of the city was as follows: 37% 19 years of age or younger, 16% between 20 and 29, 20% between 30 and 44, 14% from 45 to 59, 4% from 60 to 64, and 10% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2004 was 0.7%.

A number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were resettled in Sderot beginning in 1997 after cooperating with the Shin Bet.^[13]

  Economy

In 2008, the average wage for a salaried worker in Sderot was NIS 5,261.^[14]

Hollandia International, founded in 1981, a company that manufacturers and exports high-end mattresses, moved its sole manufacturing center to Sderot 11 years ago. Following the rocket attacks, Hollandia has been forced to relocate.

Sderot is the first location in Israel to offer WiMAX services, with a WiMAX service for educational institutions initiated on January 8, 2009 by the 012 Smile ISP and the communications ministry.^[15]

The Osem plant in Sderot, opened in 1981, is the region's major employer, with 480 workers. 170 products are manufactured there, including Bamba, Bisli, Mana Hama instant noodle and rice dishes, instant soup powders, shkedei marak, ketchup and sauces.^[16]

The Menorah Candle factory located in Sderot exports Hanukkah candles all over the world.^[17]

Nestlé maintains a research and development facility in Sderot,^[18] established in 2002. Its production facilities for breakfast cereals are also located in Sderot.^[19]

In 2012, the government approved nearly $59 million worth of economic benefits for Sderot to strengthen the economy, boost employment and subsidize psycho-social programs for the city's residents. ^[20]

  Local government

In 2010, after a decline in charitable donations, the municipality revealed that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.^[21]

  Education

According to CBS, there are 14 schools and 3,578 students in the city. They are spread out as eleven elementary schools and 2,099 elementary school students, and six high schools and 1,479 high school students. 56.5% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. Sapir Academic College^[22] and the Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot are located in Sderot. All schools in the city and 120 bus stops have been fortified against missile attacks.^[23]

  Culture

An unusually high ratio of singers, instrumentalists, composers and poets have come from Sderot.^[24]

Several popular bands have been formed by musicians who practiced in Sderot's bomb shelters as teenagers.^[25][26][27] Because Sderot is a poor, immigrant town with high unemployment experiencing a dramatic musical success as bands blend international sounds with the music of their Moroccan immigrant parents, it has been compared to Liverpool in the sixties.^[28][29] Among the notable bands are Teapacks ^[30] Knesiyat Hasekhel and Sfatayim.^[31] Well-known musicians from Sderot include Shlomo Bar, Kobi Oz, Haïm Ulliel and Smadar Levi. The winner of Israeli version of "American Idol" 2011 was Hagit Yaso, a Sderot local singer from Ethiopian origin.

Israeli poet Shimon Adaf was born in Sderot,^[24] as well as the actor and entertainer Maor Cohen. Adaf dedicated a poem to the city in his 1997 book Icarus' Monologue.

In 2007, documentary filmmaker Laura Bialis immigrated from California to Sderot "to find out what it means to live in a never-ending war, and to document the lives and music of musicians under fire."^[32] Her film Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone focuses on young musicians living under the daily threat of Qassams.^[33][34][35]

  Rocket fire from Gaza

Sderot lies one kilometer from the Gaza Strip and town of Beit Hanoun. Since the beginning of the Second Intifada in October 2000, the city has been under constant rocket fire from Qassam rockets launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.^[36] Despite the imperfect aim of these homemade projectiles, they have caused deaths and injuries, as well as significant damage to homes and property, psychological distress and emigration from the city. The Israeli government has installed a "Red Color" (צבע אדום) alarm system to warn citizens of impending rocket attacks, although its effectiveness has been questioned. Citizens only have 15 seconds to reach shelter after the sounding of the alarm. Thousands of Qassam rockets have been launched since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005.

In May 2007, a significant increase in shelling from Gaza prompted the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents.^[37] By November 23, 2007, 6,311 rockets had fallen on the city.^[38] Yediot Ahronoth reported that during the summer of 2007, 3,000 of the city's 22,000 residents (consisting mostly of the city's key upper and middle class residents) left for other areas, out of Qassam rocket range. Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak organized a series of relief programs for residents unable to leave.^[39] On December 12, 2007, after more than 20 rockets landed in the Sderot area in a single day, including a direct hit to one of the main avenues, Sderot mayor Eli Moyal announced his resignation, citing the government's failure to halt the rocket attacks.^[40] Moyal was persuaded to retract his resignation.

  Casualties

Name	Age upon death	Date of death	Notes
Mordechai Yosepov	49	June 28, 2004
Afik Zahavi	4	June 28, 2004
Yuval Abebeh	4	September 24, 2004
Dorit (Mesarat) Benisian	2	September 24, 2004
Ayala-Haya (Ella) Abukasis	17	January 21, 2005	Critically wounded on January 15, 2005
Fatima Slutsker	57	November 16, 2006
Yaakov Yaakobov	43	November 21, 2006
Shirel Friedman	32	May 21, 2007
Oshri Oz	36	May 27, 2007
Roni Yihye	47	February 27, 2008
Shir-El Friedman	35	Killed May 19, 2008
Source

  Solidarity gestures

In a gesture of solidarity, El Al (Israel's national airline) named one of its two newest Boeing 777 passenger planes "Sderot" (4X-ECE) (the other was named for Kiryat Shmona (4X-ECF)).^[41][42]

In January 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York organized a display of 4,200 red balloons outside the United Nations building.^[43] Each balloon represented a Qassam rocket that had been fired into Sderot,^[44] where for years the town and its surrounding area have been under near-constant bombardment by thousands of rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza.^[45] Consul David Saranga, who conceptualized the display, said he used the balloons as an opportunity to call upon the international community to stop ignoring what’s happening in Israel.^[46] The balloon display made headlines in New York City papers as well as international publications.^[47]

  Lawsuits

In 2011, a Sderot resident filed a million dollar law suit against two Canadian organizations raising funds for a Canadian ship to join the Gaza flotilla. According to the lawyers, "The Canadian Boat’s raison d’être is to aid and abet the terrorist organization that rules Gaza." The suit alleges that these actions violate Canadian laws that prohibit aid to terror groups.^[48]

  Twin towns – sister cities

Sderot is twinned with:

• Antony, France

  Notable residents

• Amir Peretz, former defense minister
• Miri Bohadana, model
• Erez Biton

  See also

• List of Israeli twin towns and sister cities
• Merkhav Mugan

  References

  Bibliography

• HaReuveni, Immanuel (1999). Lexicon of the Land of Israel. Yedioth Ahronoth Publishing. ISBN 965-448-413-7.  (Hebrew)
• Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. ISBN 0-88728-224-5. 
• Sasson, Avi ed. (2010). Sderot. Ariel Publishing and Makom Company.  (Hebrew)

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sderot

• Documenting life in Sderot project
• Sderot Media Center
• The Other Voice
• Humanitarian aid organization in Sderot
• Sderot; The Movie
• sderot portal-hebrew
• Sderot Information Center for the Western Negev
• The committee for a secure Sderot
• Sderot in The Washington Post
• SDEROT JOURNAL An Israeli Playground, Fortified Against Rockets

Southern District of Israel Cities Arad · Ashdod · Ashkelon · Beersheba · Dimona · Eilat · Kiryat Gat · Kiryat Malakhi · Netivot · Ofakim · Rahat · Sderot Local councils Ar'arat an-Naqab · Hura · Kuseife · Lakiya · Lehavim · Meitar · Mitzpe Ramon · Omer · Shaqib al-Salam · Tel as-Sabi · Yeruham Regional councils Abu Basma · Be'er Tuvia · Bnei Shimon · Central Arava · Eshkol · Hevel Eilot · Hof Ashkelon · Lakhish · Merhavim · Ramat HaNegev · Sdot Negev (Azata) · Sha'ar HaNegev · Shafir · Tamar · Yoav See also Beersheba metropolitan area · Negev · Arabah Other sub-divisions: Central District · Haifa District · Jerusalem District · Judea and Samaria Area · North District · Tel Aviv District