History

In 2005 Israel unilaterally withdrew the IDF and all Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip, placing Gaza in the hands of the Palestinian leaders. The hope and expectation was that the Gazans would fulfill their aspirations and build their country. Sadly, instead of building a country, Palestinian terrorists chose to turn signposts and irrigation pipes into rockets, with which to randomly target the Israelis who live and work on the other side of the border with the Gaza Strip. When a rocket is launched from Gaza, Israelis who are within the range of that rocket, receive a warning. Once that warning sounds, they have mere seconds to get to someplace safe. If the rocket is launched from deeper into the Strip, they may have 15 seconds. For those in Israel who are closer to the border, they have up to 10 seconds. If the projectile shot is a mortar, there may be no warning at all – only the sound of an explosion. 

As a result of these rockets and mortars the Israeli Home Front Command began installing rocket-proof shelters around the Gaza Envelope region. 

The people from the Jewish National Fund USA took upon themselves to turn these ugly, concrete “rocket shelters” into “Art Shelters”. This website tells the inspiring, ongoing story of how the JNF-USA help turn these life-saving eyesores into spots of beauty, joy and inspiration.