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Source: https://www.sajr.co.za/life-under-fire-for-south-african-olim-in-northern-israel/
Life under Fire for South Africans in Northern Israel
(South African Jewish Report) Claudia Gross - During the call with Kenny Struwig, a low boom is heard in the background. It won't be the last. For South African immigrants living in northern Israel, war is not an abstract headline. Struwig lives in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, in one of the most heavily targeted areas. "It's pretty much all day, every day," he says. "Rockets going over, aircraft infiltrations with drones." His children, aged 13 and 16, no longer attend regular school. "They're pretty much in the house most of the day." When the siren sounds, "you just go into one of the safe rooms and wait. Two minutes, maybe 10 minutes. Then you go back to what you were doing." That routine, repeated dozens of times, has reshaped daily life. "It's become very normalized. You just carry on as if nothing is wrong." There is also the noise from outgoing fire. Tanks and artillery stationed nearby fire into southern Lebanon throughout the day and night. Rockets aren't always intercepted. "One fell about 100 meters from me" while he was driving when a siren went off. He quickly pulled over, and the nearest place was a cemetery, where he hid until it was safe to leave. He speaks about shrapnel scattered across the kibbutz after interceptions. A young woman from his kibbutz was killed when a rocket struck near her. Yet, despite everything, Struwig doesn't speak about leaving. His children have grown up in Israel. Their lives are rooted there.