Western Negev Councils Send Rocket Complaint to UN

February 14, 2012

Mr. Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-General

United Nations

Dear Sir,

This is an official complaint about the firing of rockets and mortar bombs targeting innocent Israeli civilians in the Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev regions during the year 2011. We are lodging this complaint in the name of the 20,093 residents of the Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev regions who are the objects of terror attacks sponsored by governmental elements in the Palestinian Authority and who suffer from these violent terror acts that endanger their lives.

During the year 2011, a total of 382 rockets and mortar bombs were fired at the residents of Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev. These projectiles were aimed with the purpose of killing and injuring innocent civilians. Clear proof of this intent was the firing of a Kornet guided missile aimed directly at a yellow school bus that was transporting children in April 2011.

Photos by: Rafi Babyan, Eshkol Council Spokesperson 7/04/11- Exploded yellow childrens’ school bus

During this same period terror organizations acted to harm our residents by initiating several attempts to infiltrate into our residential communities.

The people of Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev like all other human beings have fundamental rights to quiet and safe lives, to raise their children, to educate them in the value of peace and to earn enough to support their households. All of these rights have been violated by the perpetrators of these attacks.

To our good fortune, most of the rockets and bombs have fallen in open fields adjacent to the villages and thus far, the number of killed and injured has been minimal. However, the ongoing attacks, the sound of nearby explosions and the sounding of alerts, compel the children of these areas to contend with the effects of anxiety and post traumatic stress.

The civilian population greatly suffers from these terror attacks directed against average innocent residents, whose chief desire is to lead normal lives.

We request that you forcefully condemn the continuous attacks targeting our innocent civilian residents.