Writing Research: War and the Home Front
Before writing about situations I’m unfamiliar with, I like to research how those experiencing them reacted and how they affected their interactions with the world.
Like anyone else, I’m also comprised of a unique combination of experiences. I’d like to offer some insight for anyone wondering “how would a person act and react” to any of them.
This time, being on the home front of war, in the Gulf Area (Israel) 1990–2025.
Cheder Atum (Sealed Room)
During the 1991 and 2001 Gulf Wars, we were instructed to stay in a Cheder Atum in case of an Iraqi attack.
Recap of the Gulf War: https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/838017
What is it
It’s a room, any room, with windows sealed with a tarp and duct tape to keep any gas attacks out. Usually a DIY job.
Usually, each person in the room will have a gas mask to be put on in times of need. Kids will have a “gas hoodie” (bardas) and babies a “gas crib.”
What types of interactions can happen in that space?
- After hearing the siren calling to enter the sealed room — panic.
- Questioning if the person who was in charge of the seal job did it the right way (either angrily or jokingly)
- Putting on the gas mask and just waiting with it on.
- Put on the gas mask, and then put your glasses on top of the gas mask.
- In 1991 — dying from putting on the gas mask and waiting with it on, but not removing the seal, and then stressing that the feeling of lack of air is because of the gas attack, eventually dying by suffocating yourself. Since people were dumb dumbs — the design has changed, and you now can’t put on the gas mask without removing the seal. The importance of UI/UX and what happens when it’s bad.
- Injecting yourself with the epi-pen found in each gas mask case. It’s meant to be used only in case of a gas attack, but panic can cause people to do everything all at once.
- In 1991 , the EpiPen wasn’t clearly marked as to which side should go in the tight and which button you click. Causing people to inject their fingers and not the target’s thigh. It has since then changed so blue is up (sky), green is down (grass), or anything similar to that color coding. The importance of UI/UX and what happens when it’s bad. Again.
- Stressing on whether the kid’s or babies’ gear is working or suffocating your child.
Merkhav Mugan (Safe Space)
What is it
Since 1951, new construction in Israel has to have this bomb shelter-type room. It can either be:
- a special room in the house (Mamad),
- one for an entire floor of a building,
- one for an entire building (similar to a bomb shelter but on the basement floor)
- A shared bomb shelter for the neighborhood
- Staircases or inner halls. It’s not recommended against Shihab-3 missiles, but it is good enough against basic rockets.
Mamad can also be used regularly as just another room in the house.
How / when do you use it?
The basic guidelines (or if you’re a stickler to the rules): Upon hearing a civil defense siren, one should go to a “Safe Space” and stay there for 10 minutes after the siren is over. Waiting for the 10 minutes gives the fallout time to hit the ground (and not you).
If you’re overly stressed or have mobility issues, you might:
- Camp out in the safe space
- Move to someone’s house if they have a safe room (like going to your in-laws)
If you’re not stressed at all, or too aloo,f or can’t make it:
- Continue watching TV while everyone panics.
- Stay put
Scenario examples
- Usually, a Mamad is used as just another room in the house. Like a home office, or if rooms are scarce, a teen’s room. Imagine your family invading your space every two hours during the night.
- Communal safe spaces can also be underground parking garages. Imagine camping out in an underground parking garage. Some people might bring tents and some pillows. You can have different status symbols.
- If there are multiple sirens during the night, imagine having a conversation continue only while in the bomb shelters (a couple who recently broke up and one of them brings their one-night stand, for example)
- It can catch you in different situations. What if some are wearing PJs and some are in their “walk of shame” clothes? What if person A said they’re not going out tonight, only to be caught wearing “going out” clothes or not making it to the expected shelter? “You said you’re home, so why aren’t you here in X shelter? Are you okay?”
- Hunkering down with the pizza delivery person, and then said pizza delivery person chooses to leave while the sirens are still going on, so they continue to deliver.
- Babysitting a large group of kids. The kids can either be nervous (trying to keep all the adults aligned on the lie) or clever (the adults try to lie, but the kids correct them)
- The state of the public safe space is an indication of the wealth of the area or its status. For example, a lack of safe spaces in Tamra (an Arab village in Israel)
Tzeva Adom (Civil defense siren)
Originally called “Shachar Adom” (“Red Dawn”), the name changed after little girls named Shachar (Dawn) were bullied.
What is it
An air siren sounds, telling everyone in the area they need to make it to a safe space ASAP because missiles or rockets are coming.
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Example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R5HOKBIEKdg
Variations
- TV and radio stations will also broadcast it.
- Originally, the siren would literally say “Sachar Adom,” but nowadays, it sounds like an air siren.
- Speakers are located in public buildings, like schools. Based on proximity, you might hear it louder or more softly.
- In 1991, the call sign was “Nachash Tzefa” (Viper Snake). “Nachash Tzefa” stopping radio broadcasting
- The “time to shelter” and “waiting in time” in the shelter are shortened the closer you are to the rocket’s source
Scenario examples
- Siren interrupts an important conversation.
- Being too tired of the siren’s frequency to move
- The siren clears everyone except two people who can then finish an important conversation in the short period of time before everyone returns (and assuming they won’t be hurt)
- Being certain someone is safe because they are not in that zone, but they were
- Some areas are not as used to sirens, and when those are heard there, it means an escalation. For example, the “State of Tel Aviv” — refers to the center of Israel as a different state when it was still out of range of Hamas’ rockets. Once it was, it meant an escalation in Hamas’ attacks.
Defense siren while driving:
- Guidelines: stop the car out of the way, find a designated safe space, or lie down on the road away from the car. The car itself is dangerous and flammable.
Scenario examples
- When the driver is the one stressed but has no rapport with the passengers and needs to get them to get out of the car and hide (for example, the passengers are VIPs, and there’s a status difference)
- When the driver is calm, but the passengers are stressed and trying to get the driver to stop.
- When the siren is over, cars honk as if it’s a regular traffic jam.
My mother: While driving, we hear the defense siren, stop to the side, and decide to hide in a garbage room. My mom sees other people on the other side of the street and invites me to shelter in their safe space
Gal Hashaket (The Silent Wave)
What is it
A public radio frequency that broadcasts only when there’s a siren. Useful while driving when it might be difficult to hear the sirens from outside.
First used in Israel on January 24, 1991, as part of the Gulf War: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%92%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%A7%D7%98
Scenario examples
- Shushing everyone in the car so one can hear the silent wave leads to a situation in which everyone is awkwardly silent or speaking in a hushed tone
- Avoiding a conversation by shushing everyone so one can listen to the silent wave
- Not trusting the silent wave and opening a window to check if anything can be heard from the outside
Tzofar (the apps)
What is it
This is another way of letting you know you need to seek shelter during a rocket or missile attack. It can be a specific app, a WhatsApp updates channel, or an alert similar to the phone’s built-in danger alert (similar to Amber alerts).
Different apps show the areas under attack. There were different variations of these apps over the years, including one that had a list of all areas showing which one was under fire.
Messages are usually received as push notifications and include a map like this one:
Scenario examples
- Being in a meeting and receiving a never-ending push of notifications from the app indicating an area (different than where the meeting is taking place) is under attack
- After receiving the push notifications, checking in the family chat group that everyone is alive or having a concerned family member call everyone to check
Additional “war-specific” events
- Reaction to sounds — Pausing mid-conversation because you heard a motorcycle speeding, a sound very similar to the start of a defence siren.
- In movies and songs, siren noises — sirens would usually be played in reverse to not stress people. That’s not always the case. For example, Until Dawn included a siren and the entire theater wondered if it’s a defence siren or not, looked around waiting for someone to walk in and let us know if to take cover.
- Bejeweling the gas masks’ cases: During Gulf War 2, students were required to carry their gas masks with them to school. They came in a box with a strap, like a side bag. Students would decorate the box.
- Addressing the other side in their own language: Both sides will try to address the general population of the other side. It can be done by the military with a specific spokesperson for that language, through text messages (usually won’t have correct grammar), sending hostages wearing shirts with printed messages, etc. The content can be a warning (“evacuate this area”), a threat, a call to join forces against the regime.
Final thought — My mom
The morning after the attack on Iran, she somehow missed the homeland security messaging and went on about her day, not understanding why everything was closed. When she finally realized that everyone was supposed to stay indoors, she took advantage of the empty streets to “loot” the public park of a plant she had her eye on. It now lives in her front yard.
