The effort is the first time since World War II – when the Germans bombed London, and London children were sent off to families in the countryside to be cared for until the German assault ended – that a "people-to-people" campaign has been organized to remove children from a war zone. Sadly, indeed embarrassingly, the children are those of S'derot, an Israeli town of 19,000 near the border with Gaza that has been under a missile barrage since the Israeli retreat from Gaza in September 2005, with thousands of missiles to date. These have causing damage to property and injuries and death to residents.
The national government of Israel has basically averted its collective eyes from this tragedy, leaving the citizens of S'derot and potentially other towns to fend basically for themselves.
Into the breach now has come www.SaveIsraelsChildren.com, a Brooklyn-based non-profit that matchmakes between "families wanting to send their children abroad, and families who are willing to provide a temporary ‘home' for these children."
Comment: The need for such a private initiative points to the moral and operational bankruptcy of the Olmert government in Israel. (April 3, 2008)
