Sigal Ariely says she had a foreboding, queasy feeling on the morning of Thursday, May 20, the day on which Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire after 11 days of intensive fighting.
“The morning was very quiet in Ashkelon, but my stomach was turning and I thought something would happen,” recalled Ariely, director of the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership, a program of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore. “We all know that the last hours of a ceasefire are the most intense.
“But I didn’t know that a rocket would fall on my house.”
A longtime Ashkelon resident well known in local communal circles, Ariely spoke May 24 during a briefing presented by the partnership and The Associated’s Insight Israel Forum. She was introduced by Harriette Golub Wienner, a director-at-large at The Associated.
Also speaking at the virtual gathering of approximately 150 attendees was Avi Melamed, founder and CEO of Inside the Middle East: Intelligence Perspectives.
Ashkelon, which has a population of approximately 144,000, is a southern Mediterranean coastal city located eight miles north of Gaza. Ashkelon and Baltimore have been sister communities since 2003, participating in collaborative projects to build relationships between Israel and the diaspora. Ariely has served as the partnership’s director for the past 17 years.
“We have spoken to Sigal and she and her family are strong and resilient,” The Associated posted May 20 on Facebook. “We, her Associated family, stand ready to assist in any way needed as they recover. We ask that you keep Sigal and her family in your thoughts.”
At 3 that afternoon, Ariely said she was about to participate in a Zoom conference call with an Associated professional when a red alert siren sounded off in Ashkelon, warning of an incoming rocket attack from Gaza. Only she and her 26-year-old son, Ron, were in the house at the time.
Residents have only about 30 seconds to run to the nearest bomb shelter or a reinforced room once a siren goes off.
Ariely, 59, said she immediately ran to the nearby bomb shelter while her son took cover in the house’s stairwell, which is the designated safe area in the residence.
While in the shelter, Ariely, a married mother of three, said she “heard a boom that was closer than I’ve ever heard before.” When she left the shelter and ran immediately to the stairwell, she found her son under bricks and other debris, holding the family’s dog, Nola.
“He said, ‘Mom, take a deep breath, I’m fine, I’m OK, take a deep breath,’” she said.
Ron Ariely, who works as a security guard, was slightly injured and later taken to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center. He still suffers from some hearing loss in his right ear.
Sigal Ariely said that when she and her son looked around their home of 19 years, they discovered that the rocket had landed in the middle of their living room.
“Everything was black, gray and dust,” she said. “Nothing survived. Everything is broken. I couldn’t believe it. You can’t live there.”
Soon, her neighbors and others came running over to her house.
“I went from being just another person in Ashkelon to having a hundred people in my house and in the yard – the mayor, reporters,” she said. “I had to collect myself and be professional, and my message was, ‘Stay near a shelter. It saved my life.’
“I still can’t believe I’m the picture of the last person hit in Ashkelon.”
Ariely said rebuilding her home will require at least a year, but she is getting an outpouring of support from friends and family, as well as from The Associated. She said the Israeli government will soon send inspectors to assess the damage of her house.
“It will be a long process, but in a year or so I hope I will have my home again and you all can come and visit and stay with us,” Ariely said. “Thank you so much for your support and for everything you do.”
For information about the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership, visit associated.org/what-we-do/israel-and-overseas/bap/.
For information about a GoFundMe page to help the Ariely family rebuild their home, visit gofundme.com/f/9tupza-help-the-ariely-family-rebuild-their-home?utm_campaign=m_pd%20share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer&fbclid=IwAR0mNmG9Ki-R0vsKgNYY_KAhUi6uq8btNvaUGIRS2iop0x_wzVq008gM0Jo.
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