Thousands of families across southern Israel had to hide in bomb shelters due to rockets and mortars fire attack.

Hamas terrorists in Gaza bombarded southern Israel with over 200 rockets and mortars. That was a heaviest rocket fire attack since 2014 (the end of Operation Protective Edge). One of these rockets hit a Synagogue and another hit a children’s play area in Sderot. Luckily both were empty at the time and no one was seriously harmed.

But a number of Israelis were injured in this attack and were forced to use bomb shelters. The only reason there were not more victims is that Israel invests a lot of money in "Red Alert" advanced warning systems fortified bomb shelters. Red Alert system notifies people about the dangerous situations within fifteen seconds and bomb shelters project is something that the government spent millions at it totally worth it. That helped to save thousands of lives. 

Following this huge tragedy, we are facing a big problem that is far bigger than the attack itself. And that problem is the lack of the world reaction to the occurred situation. Just imagine if such terror happened in London, Brussels, Paris or Berlin? Or if a rocket was fired on your local church or kid’s playground? Of course, there would be a worldwide condemnation, outrage, and immediate response. The new would be full of speeches and public reaction. Social media would be floundered with constant reactions and updates. Yet we can nothing mentioned above in the current Israeli situation. Over 200 rockets and mortars were fired during 24 hours and the international community responded with virtual silence. 

Vladimir Sloutsker, the President and Co-Founder of The Israeli-Jewish Congress, wonders why there is no outrage from the United Nations. As recently the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly held a "Special Emergency Session" to condemn Israel for "excessive force". Again, huge silence, with the exception of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, who called on everyone in Gaza to step back from the edge. But that is a drop in the ocean and that is something that should be talked about.

The international community is only empowering, encouraging and emboldening the terror group to make the same by refusing to hold Hamas to account. Meanwhile, Brussels and some EU Member States are usually quick to slam Israel over settlement building, but they are yet to break the silence about the Palestinian rockets and bombs. It seems like it is easier for the international community to stay partly blind to the situation than to react, accept the problem and find ways to help to deal with it.

Vladimir Sloutsker urged everyone to ask themselves if a "peaceful protestor" fire 200 rockets and mortars against a civilian population. Is it fear to target kid’s playgrounds and Synagogues, as the Jewish community has their holy Sabbath day? Such things cannot be accepted and silenced in the modern world.

Israel is an equal and sovereign nation that has the inalienable right to take whatever action necessary to defend its citizens. All nations have this right and there should be no exemptions. An effective way to eliminate national intolerance on religious or ethnic grounds is to admit and give a specific definition to the existing problem. Then you need to take all possible ways out of this situation and take actions. Modern society should leave prejudices, xenophobia, and hostility in the past. And all such acts should be treated very severely and people who take part in them should be punished. We cannot allow them to grow roots in our society.

The international community must start taking Palestinian terror seriously. They need to hold groups like Hamas to account, if not they will only be helping in every mortar fired and rocket attack at the Jewish state. We all should remember that we were born the same way: as humans, and therefore deserve the same acceptance and rights.  In our world, there is no place for any disclosures of racism, discrimination, and hatred. We must find peaceful ways to deal with it, to speak up and make the world a safer place for future generations.