I'm gonna get you, succa.
Posted on 09/29/2004 1:12:09 PM PDT by yonif
Natan Katanoff of Sderot believes the large new succa on his front patio saved his life and that of his family when a Kassam rocket landed across the street Tuesday morning.
"It's a miracle," said Katanoff as he pointed to the small bullet-size holes in the white floral cloth. Metal shards bounced off the metal frame, thus missing him as he sat drinking tea by the front window.
Thanks to the succa, the shards also failed to hit the gas canister underneath the window, thereby averting an explosion that would have killed the family.
"If it wasn't for the succa, we could have died," said Katanoff, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, who six hours later was still in his undershirt and boxer shorts. The explosion at about 11 a.m. so startled him that he dropped his teacup. Looking outside all he could see was smoke.
He checked on his elderly mother sitting on the sofa behind him and then went out to investigate his neighbors' fate.
While he was shaking his head at his good fortune, his neighbors on Rehov Rambam, where one of two Kassam rockets fell, were more despairing as they cleaned up the broken glass around their homes. The second rocket fell near a school. On Monday, three Kassam rockets landed in the Sderot area.
While many people in Sderot still shrug their shoulders in resignation at the mention of the rockets, Rehov Rambam residents felt they had survived one rocket too many.
"It's like living in a game of Russian roulette. You never know where it will hit," said Meir Zigzag, whose brother Herzl lives on the street.
"We can't continue living in fear," said David Azaran as he stood by the scarred wall of his parents' home, only a few meters away from where the rocket landed in their sandy yard. His mother, 86, was inside eating cereal with the help of a caregiver. His father, Solomon, 92, who was standing outside, was slightly wounded in his face and his shoulder.
Azaran said the attacks, which used to be a once-in-a-while occurrence, are more frequent and more accurate.
It's a situation he fears will only worsen as the date for disengagement nears. A lifelong resident of Sderot, Azaran now entertains thoughts of leaving.
Smadar Zigzag, 20, and her family already know they want to leave until the rockets stop for good. She had just gotten dressed when she heard the explosion and felt the house shake. "I thought it had hit the house. The windows shattered. I opened the door and all I could see was smoke."
She ran in and out of the house not sure where to find a safe corner. Her sister, Revital, who raced home from work after hearing of the attack, said, "I found her sitting outside, next to the wall of the house, quivering."
Their brother-in-law Rami Cohen, shaking his head at his own stupidity, said he regrets buying a home in the city only three months ago. "We thought the situation would get better." Now he wants to sell it and move.
Even his two-year-old son, Lior, who was playing in the living room, knows what a Kassam is. "Boom, boom," he said at the mention of the rocket.
Meir Zigzag said that he has two sons serving in a Givati unit in Gaza. In an odd role reversal they called him on Tuesday, concerned as if he is the one who lives in the midst of a battleground.
Even though he lives in a safer part of town, his 11-year-old son sleeps with him and his wife at night out of fear.
His brother Herzl, who owns the Rehov Rambam home, said that he doesn't feel safe sleeping there at all and is thinking instead of taking everyone to his brother's home for the night.
"We always say it's a miracle after the rocket falls and everyone is safe. But how long can one's luck hold?' he asked.
Herzl said at this point any noise, even the start of the washing machine, startles him. "I think it's a Kassam," he said. "I wake up at 6 a.m. worrying if a rocket will fall."
A lifelong Likud voter, he said he supported Prime Minister Ariel Sharon because he believed he was strong. It turns out he is weak, Herzl said. In the next elections, if the choices are Sharon or Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for prime minister, he prefers not to vote.
The government should be doing more, he said. For every rocket the Palestinians launch at Israel, 100 rockets should be sent in their direction. "It's not an issue of wanting revenge, I just want the rockets to stop."
I'm gonna get you, succa.
"I'm gonna get you, succa."
I love that movie.
Get over yourself.
It wasn't mockery.
It was certainly not my intent to make light of Jewish religious symbols or terrorist attacks on Israelis. I didn't even know what a succa is, nor how the word is pronounced, and when I saw the headline I immediately thought of the Robert Townshend movie. I apologize to you and anyone else who may have taken offense at my joke.
When I feel it's called for, and certainly not on demand.
If you truly feel such a statement was all those horible things, you are free to use the 'report abuse' link and let the moderator decide.
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