Noam Bedein, a photojournalist who was born and raised in Israel, spoke about the Sderot rocket firing to a crowd of about 20 people Sunday night.
When a Code Red alarm goes off in Sderot, Israel, people have 15 seconds to get to safety before the rockets start raining down.
Noam Bedein, a photojournalist who was born and raised in Israel, spoke to a crowd of about 20 people Sunday night about his experience living in and documenting the often-targeted city.
“When you walk around (Sderot), you will be amazed to realize that everyone has experienced a rocket exploding by,” Bedein said. “I have personally experienced hundreds and thousands of rockets.”
President of Bobcats for Israel, Rebecca Sebo, was in Israel over winter break as part of the Hasbara Fellowship, and heard Bedein speak. After hearing him speak, Sebo talked to him about coming to speak at OU.
The speech, titled Code Red, was sponsored by Bobcats for Israel at OU and Israel on Campus Coalition. Ohio University Police Department officers checked bags and stood guard during the speech.
Sderot has been hit by over 12,000 rockets from Gaza since 2001, according to the event’s Facebook page.
Bedein showed a video from Sderot Media Center, which he is the director of, where children were playing in a park when the Code Red alarm went, causing them to abandon their activities and run for their lives. Once the rockets went off in the video, homes and buildings were ravaged by the rockets.
The mission of Sderot Media Center is to generate global awareness and empathy with the residents of the city through media coverage of the rocket attacks, according to their website.
The people of Sderot are targeted because they are considered Israeli and are under constant fear of when and where the siren will go off, Bedein said.
The sirens will go off at anytime of the day, including morning hours, Bedein said.
During his presentations, he showed a handful of drawings by school age children, including one that depicted a house, a tree and rockets in the sky.
“Nine years old don’t know any other reality besides running from the rockets,” Bedein said.
Children are trying to be optimistic, Bedein said, noting that children are acclimated to the rockets.
Another video from June 8, 2007 was shown of a kindergarten that was highlighting the precautions that are put in place when the Code Red alarm goes off. During the video, as a teacher was explaining what happens when a Code Red occurs, the sirens went off.
“Was this planned?” the teacher inquired as the children ran inside. While in the rocket shelter, the children started singing.
“The kids start singing out loud so they won’t hear the explosions going off next to them,” Bedein said.
Bedein said he doesn’t have enough fingers on his hand to count how many times a school was hit.
“(The speech) went really well,” Sebo said, who noted it’s hard on a Sunday night to get students to attend.
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