Our bat Sherut, Erica Jacoby, gets a candid interview
with Corine Cohen, a resident of Sderot

Q. What’s the situation in Sderot now?
A. Sderot has always been a dangerous place, but now we are living in times of war. I fear to even step outside my bomb shelter (safe place). Never in my life have I told someone not to come to Sderot, but now I am telling everyone not to come. I am scared, for my family and myself.

Q. Describe what shabbos was like?
A. Shabbos wasn’t like your typical sit down shabbos meal. We ate in the bomb shelter. We even said Kiddush (Blessing on the wine) in the shelter. We were forced to eat with the sound of bombs in the background.

Q. Where are you staying to keep safe?
A. From the sound of the first bomb at 11 on Saturday morning, we went directly into the bomb shelter and stayed there. We even slept there.

Q. How are the kids coping with living under these circumstances now?
A. Well clearly school is cancelled. It’s hard for kids to sit in one small room with five people for a long period of time, not to mention hearing rockets in the background. Some kids don’t even understand what’s going on. It’s a hard situation for the parents too because we always need to have a smile on our face, for the children, it gets challenging at times.

Q. Are there sounds of war or is it quiet?
A. There is not a moment of silence. All we hear are rockets shooting back and forth from Israel to Gaza and visa versa.

Q. How long do you think this “war” will last?
A. In my opinion, one week. Not less, and I hope not more.

Q. Do you have the essentials like food and water to last you until things become quieter?
A. Well, it all depends on how long this will last. If we need something, either my husband or myself will run out to the Food store to get whatever is needed. Other than that, we all stay in the shelter.

Q. How does it feel that only now the troops have entered Gaza?
A. This definitely should have been done years ago, but what can I say. Better late than never. We hope after this mission, there will be peace and quiet.

Q. If you had the option to leave Sderot right now, would you?
A. Honestly, I would. But, my son won’t. He says its our home. We shouldn’t leave, because that’s what they want us to do.

Q. What can people that don’t live in Sderot do to help?
A. There is nothing they can do. Of course, make phone calls and encourage us to go on. But, mostly just pray.

Q. Are you frightened now more than usual?
A. I was always living with this fear inside of me, but now is different than usual. We are on the front lines here. I am definitely more afraid than usual.