As proven in Alex Klein's film God Went Surfing with the Devil, surfing in Israel has brought people together. The dischord in the area challenges that. Photo: Alex Klein
Surfing can be dangerous for many reasons. But there is nothing more dangerous than surfing when rockets are falling everywhere around you. And this is exactly what is going on right now in Israel.
The surfing community in Ashdod, a large city that is located on the South Coast of Israel and about 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, is connected to surf culture just like any other surfing community around the world. Think San Clemente. Think Haleiwa. Think Cape Hatteras. But today, the city and the ocean is shut down.
Kids are not going to school. Adults will not go to work. Everybody must stay fifteen seconds away from the shelters in their homes. Surfers will not surf today. Not in Ashdod.
I think that it’s important that surfers around the world know what’s going on. Israel is under attack!
Update: We are OK. Tel Aviv was bombed today twice, and it looks like it will get worse before it will get better. Thank you for letting the surf community around the world know what we are going through.
For more on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, read Rockets Target Jerusalem; Israel Girds for Gaza Invasion by The New York Times.
