Sderot: Red Dawn changed to Color Red
Homefront Command answers requests from western Negev kids named ‘Dawn,’ who asked to change name of Qassam alarm system because they were being made fun of at school; meanwhile, Palestinians fire two more Qassam rockets Sunday evening
Just moments after the decision was made, two more Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza, landing in open areas south of Ashkelon. No one was wounded and no damage was incurred.
The girl asked the army to consider changing the name of the alert. Soon it became evident that this was a widespread phenomenon, when additional children from Sderot also contacted the army saying their friends mocked them every time the Red Dawn system was activated.
The mother of a boy named Dawn said: “When my son wore red pants or a red shirt, the school kids would all call out ‘Red Dawn!’ he felt harassed and hurt. As if the rockets weren’t enough, he has to deal with the insults too.”
'We would prefer rocket attacks to stop altogether'
The Homefront Command was not indifferent to the children’s pleas, and chose to find an alternate name. An official in the Homefront Command explained that they decided to keep the word “red” in the name, since it was familiar and recognized by all, but to replace the word “dawn” in consideration of the children’s requests and in order to help them as much as possible.
The relevant officials in the Magen David Adom rescue services, the police, and Sderot municipality, and all other officials involved in the matter, were already been updated on the change of name, and within the next few days the new alert will go into effect.
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said: “The army asked me to change to name from Red Dawn to Color Red. I have no objection, and according to my understanding, within two weeks the system will start operating with the new name. I told the army that I have no problem with changing the system’s name, but we would prefer that the rocket attacks stopped altogether.”
Shmulik Hadad contributed to the report
