Over three days now. Over 1700s missiles fired into densely packed civilian areas. I’m pretty sure that’s a war crime. Think about it: absolutely no military bases, storehouses, command centers have been targeted. I’m not quite sure what all that means.

I cannot begin to imagine the frazzled nerves. I spoke with a friend down in the Tel Aviv outskirts. She and her husband and three small children (the oldest is six)live on the fourth floor of an older apartment building. Every time there is a siren, which is all the time, she must get the little ones out the door, down the steps, and into the shelter. In the middle of the night. Kicking and screaming. they finally decided to lay down mats on the floor in the hallway of the first floor. At least there are no windows there. Then, there are the elderly. Those in wheelchairs or who are physically challenged. What do they do?

Imagine being under constant and continual rocket fire. I cannot. Where we are, there has been only one “stray?” or long range missile that came through at 1:18am last night. No warning siren picked it up. Thank the L-rd it landed in a field. My son texted us to ask if we had heard it. No, instead of missiles it has been rioting. Iran and the imams have incited the local Muslim population. Mostly young men. In Akko, Haifa, Tiberius, Kana, Nazareth, Kfar Manda, Madj al Krum, Sakhnin and other Arab villages (the North is dotted with Arab towns and villages)there has been widespread tire burning, rock and firecracker throwing, window smashing, and looting. Synagogues have been torched. Jewish people attacked. The police and IDF troops have been called in to secure the peace. Many of these towns have been blocked off and a curfew at dark has been imposed on al people throughout our area. Last night was the last night of Ramadan, and we could hear the firecrackers and shots far into the night. It really seems like total anarchy and lawlessness, reminding me more of Seattle or Portland than here in Israel. Some people are saying it looks like Kristalnacht in 1939 Germany.The anarchy is not just limited to the North. The city of Lod, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem has seen the worst of it.

I’ve seen no signs of disturbance locally, but when I went out to run errands today, it was like a ghost town. We live in a fairly large city which is usually bustling during the day. There were very few cars. No people out and about. The atmosphere was very surreal:it was almost like a Saturday (Shabbat/Sabbath) or holiday. All the schools, local businesses and clinics are open. There were just no people. It felt like a Twilight Zone episode. We had planned to go visit a dairy up the coast, but to get there, we’d have to travel right through four Arab villages. So my husband nixed that idea for a while. Better safe than sorry.

Still. I’m glad we are up here and out of the threat of imminent destruction. So far there has been absolutely no lull in the shelling. I pray it is over soon. I pray it doesn’t escalate in any way. I pray multiple fronts don’t open up. I pray for peace to reign-