Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)
Mangaluru, Oct 9: There are over 12000 Kannadigas in Israel which is in war with Palestine. Most of them work as care givers. Though all of them live in and around Jerusalem, they are safe. Around 50% of them are females. Mostly are Christians by faith and very small percentage are Hindus. More than 8000 of them are of Dakshina Kannada district.
Most of the coastal Kannadigas work in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Angelicum and Haifa. Though no attack has taken place in these areas, there are chances that Hamas might attack these areas also.
Leonard Fernandes, a native of Mangaluru, said, “I am working Israel since 14 years. I have witnessed rocket attacks many a times. But I have not seen war of this scale. Sirens are sounded three to four times in a day. We immediately run to safe areas or home shelter. There was siren on Saturday night and I went inside the shelter.”
Ram Kumar Amin, who returned to Mangaluru six months ago says, “Every house in Israel has got a small separate room called as a shelter. This helps in saving lives. As the siren is sounded, we need to enter that room. Only after another siren is given, we come out of the room.”
Leonard Fernandes also said, “I was supposed to reach Mangaluru on October 10 in order to take part in a family function. However, now flights are cancelled due to war. Coastal people are in touch with me and so far no one is affected. Two Indians, who went to hospital on Saturday lost contact with us. As their mobile phones were switched off, their family members were concerned. Now everything is fine.”