Yossi Haimov a Ten-year-old boy was playing in the yard of a friend’s home in Sderot Israel (25^th Feb 08) when a Kassam fired by Palestinian Arab militants in Gaza landed nearby. The shrapnel from the rocket hit Yossi partially severing his arm. Last week a fourteen year old boy lost his leg after a rocket attack on Sderot.

Since 2001 over 4000 rockets have hit the town of Sderot killing fourteen people directly but injuring many more through shrapnel wounds and shock. 95% of the children in the town suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and many of the adult population suffer from diseases connected with high levels of anxiety and stress.

HAMAS and Islamic Jihad are responsible for the majority of the attacks and have made it clear that they want to kill Jews even if they are women and children.

You may ask what is all this about. The simple answer is that Islamic Fundamentalist groups based in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Lebanon simply want to destroy Israel and make it an Islamic state. This is what they have stated and their actions back up their words.

Between 1967 and 2000 Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza, Judea and Samaria had a better quality of life and more freedom than they do today living under their current Palestinian Arab leaders.

The ordinary Palestinian people are now oppressed by fundamentalists and are suffering greatly, not because the world is not sending help, but because their leaders are diverting it and keeping them poor in order to blame Israel for their situation.

Palestinian Christians are leaving as a result of persecution and as I have stated many Israeli’s living within firing distance of these terrorists are being maimed and killed.

I have just listened to the BBC news and nothing has been reported about today’s attack. That is not unusual as such incidents are often only reported when Israel responds to rocket fire and kills the perpetrators. The report often reads “Israel Defence Forces attack Gaza” and the rocket attack on Israel becomes a trailer and secondary to that story. This is one reason why we in the UK  don't see the full picture.

So please do all you can to pass on the truth about the situation and try to support those groups like ourselves who support Israel. If Israel were to be given authority to govern Gaza, Judea and Samaria life would be far better for everyone in the region.