Real Time Drama: Four Terrorist Rockets Hit Sderot During Conference Call With Los Angeles Mayor

July 6, 2006

REAL TIME DRAMA: FOUR TERRORIST ROCKETS HIT SDEROT DURING CONFERENCE CALL WITH LOS ANGELES MAYOR

The daily reality of an Israeli town under siege from terrorist attacks was dramatically brought home today when a conference call between Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal was brought to a sudden halt by a barrage of four Kassam rockets launched by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza earlier today. Mayor Villaraigosa and Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss had placed a call to the mayor of Sderot to express solidarity for the beleaguered 25,000 residents of the immigrant working class community who have been the targets of over 800 rocket attacks from inside Gaza. Sderot, which is located inside Israel's internationally recognized 1948 borders is less than 2 miles from the Gaza Strip. “Our hearts go out to the brave people of Sderot,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “They are on the front lines in the struggle against terrorism and I salute their courage and the cool resoluteness of Mayor Moyal,” he added. Councilman Weiss, who is working on bringing an exhibition of children's art from Sderot to Los Angeles this fall, added that“a cordial, professional conversation was cut short by the suddenness and unpredictability of terror.”

Pictured participating in the conference call at Los Angeles City Hall are (L-R): Los Angeles Councilman Jack Weiss; Israeli Consul General Ehud Danoch; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who just returned from Sderot; Israeli Consulate’s  Deputy Chief of Mission, Yaron Gamburg.

Photo: Courtesy City of Los Angeles