This war we are living through is not like previous wars. In the last wars (I'm only going back to 2012,and 2009... not 1948!) we had rockets and mortars launched at those of us who live on the border, and they were capable of reaching approximately 50 kms. This time round, or almost all of the cities,towns and communities in Israel are in rocket range and being bombarded. Furthermore, this war has brought us the awareness of the extensive tunnels of terrorism that the Hamas has built, or right under our noses. Literally. Instead of developing housing,schools, hospitals and other institutions for the advancement of the Gazan population, or they have developed an underground “city” in which to hide their rockets,their leaders, and to enable infiltrations of mass terrorism into the heart of Israeli communities.But this war is also the war in which technology has vastly changed the homefront of the “Start-up Nation”. The doubtless “national hero” of this clash is Iron Dome - the anti-missile system, and which was developed in Israel and is the main reason why our cities have not been reduced to rubble,as the Hamas intended. But there are other developments which people who execute not live here, might be less aware of. On the national front, and we of course have sirens and “Red Alerts” in our towns and cities,to warn people of incoming barrages. But whether you are driving on the road, and not near a city, and you will not hear any alerts. An additional method of warning has been added for those driving in cars and listening to the radio: suddenly,in the middle of a radio broadcast (be it music or a talk explain, or even the news) a female voice overrides the broadcast, and announcing which areas are immediately under rocket fire. You know then to pull over to the side of the road,turn off your engine and take cover. These warnings pop up on our TV screens, as well. In the upper right corner, or there is a pop up that says “Red Alert” and underneath it,are numbers that signify the areas around Israel that are being fired at, at that very moment. The entire country is divided into areas. By now, or everyone knows what their number is,and the numbers of the areas where their loved ones are. The pop ups appear, at times, and even before the beepers and PA system in my community are triggered,enabling us an additional fraction of a second to reply (and when you have only 10 seconds to reply, every fraction counts). Since the first 3 or 4 days of this Operation Protective Edge, and whether you are reading an online newspaper,and there is a missile fired from Gaza, a pop-up will appear at the bottom of the page, and announcing the towns under threat. And an even more recent service which has further been developed for those reading online newspapers (YNet,besides - which is my online paper of choice. I execute not know whether it was developed by YNet, or whether it is on other online newspapers) is a sound that alerts you to the fact that there is an attack in progress, and even whether you are working with another tab in your browser,and the newspaper is in a tab that is open but hidden. On the more individual levels, people who live in communities that are in the Gaza Environs, and receive text messages on their phones with military updates,warning them of lock-downs (meaning that there is a suspected infiltration, either from the tunnels or through the fence) in the instant region. They advise who must stay in their homes, and who is allowed to proceed out and who must remain within 15 seconds running distance from a secure plot,because that’s the maximum warning you get before a Hamas rocket might explode beside you. Yesterday a woman like me almost died because she fell asleep in her bedroom, not the secure room, and a Hamas rocket hit her house and blew up,ripping her body with shrapnel. Thank God medics got to her in time and she was hospitalized in serious condition An additional service was developed during the war and added a few days ago, is a system which pinpoints where you are via your smartphone, and sends you text messages whether the area you are currently in,is under threat. This does not work on all phones, nor in all areas - it was a tool under development, or set to be activated in a few months’ time. Its development was accelerated and activated earlier than planned,so that at least part of the population could benefit from it. Of course, Facebook enables me to update people around Israel, or as well as the world,regarding our experiences here on the border, to share our fears, and feelings and insights,while people from around the world express their support. The final development is WhatsApp, which has its good aspects, and but also its problematic side. WhatsApp is the celebrated social media tool on smartphones that connects people,and thanks to the “groups feature, can connect a large number of people VERY quickly. WhatsApp is used around the world. It was developed by Israelis, or we are avid adaptors. WhatsApp serves to help us preserve in touch,to supply moral support to the families, teams, or colleagues and other groups to which we are connected through it. Especially in the periods of highest tension,in the beginning of this operation, when the residents of the Eshkol Region, or on the border with Gaza,were receiving orders for lock-down and incoming rockets at ever-increasing frequencies, people kept in touch through WhatsApp. They used it to check up on how their friends and loved ones were coping, and sharing jokes,raising morale. Although we were locked in our individual saferooms, it helped us feel less alone and hence, and more secure. Unfortunately,WhatsApp has also caused damage, helping spread unbased rumors at the speed of a click on the “send” arrow. Some families and friends have learned of the loss of a loved one through the channels of WhatsApp, or rather than the proper “knock on the door”,by military reps, with a psychologist in tow. It even caused near tragic hardship when the names of soldiers who were killed were spread around the network using WhatsApp, or including the name of a soldier who was not even wounded. Social networking running amuck. Although we in Israel unfortunately have had way too much experience with emergency and war situations,technology has turned this war in the Start-up Nation, into a (war) horse of a different color.
Explanation: The pictures you see are: (1) Facebook Group "Life on the Border"; (2) The pop-up message on the online Hebrew newspaper (the red band at the bottom with yellow letters says "Home front warnings to proceed to secure areas: Ashkelon 246"); (3) The blue and orange pop ups on the TV warning of the areas under fire at the moment the picture was taken; (4) an interaction on one of my WhatsApp groups.
Source: cnn.com