Hello, my name is Lior Tzur, I am 15 years old and I live in Kibbutz Beeri. I want to tell you about the influence of the Kassam on my life.

The Kassam rocket is a primitive home-made rocket for short range produced by the Palestinian terror organization Hamas. Everyday the Kassam rockets are shot from Gaza to Sderot and the surrounding settlements.

The rows of homes and fields in Kibbutz Be'eri, within kassam range from the Gaza border (from Google Earth)

In Kibbutz Beeri we also suffer from these rockets. When the "Red Color" alarm is heard, this is a sign for us that a Kassam has been fired and is going to fall. At this moment we must run to the nearest protected space.

The first time that the Kassam hit the Kibbutz, it fell down in front of the door of my classmate.

My school is also in the area where the Kassams fall. All around the school there are concrete buildings to protect from the Kassams. When the "Red Color" alarm is heard, we need to run into these buildings in 20 seconds.

In spite of our fear and the danger, I think that we need to stay strong and not give up. If we surrender they will see that we are weak and vulnerable and keep firing rockets on us. We must have faith that this situation will soon be over and there will be peace between us, the Israelis and the Palestinian people.