We'd better get this out of the way. See, the whole town is affected by the kassams; there's no getting around that. But while the missiles have hit every vicinity at one time or another, they haven't stopped business from going on as usual.

The Associated Press likes to call them Palestinian militants - those jolly characters in Gaza who launch the rockets. Some publications call them terrorists - which is more accurate - but the term is losing its impact. I sometimes refer to them for what they are - idiots. (No offense intended to idiots who are not terrorists.)

They don't have much control where the missile lands. They just aim for a distance and let it fly. Often the kassams land in Sderot. Most often they do little or no damage. Still, we must give the idiots credit for scaring people. That fits the definition of terrorism, not militancy.

In spite of all the money they spend on kassams-- in spite of all the energy they have put into trying to wipe out the population of Sderot -- in spite of all these years of trying to terrorize the people of the town into running away -- in spite of all their efforts, the terrorists in Gaza have failed.

Even by their own standards, they fail. They don't even achieve martyrdom by lobbing rockets over into Israel.... Unless they get killed by an explosive going off before they launch it. - and that has happened.

The terrorists in Gaza cannot succeed, they can only fail. If they did not waste their money on qassams, they would have more money for medicines and daily needs (which they complain that they lack). All their efforts will NOT achieve their goal. The residents of Sderot won't let them.

And that's why this lens is about Sderot and its people, not about the imbeciles who terrorize them.

Before you meet the town and its people, you should know something about the political background that got Sderot in the predicament it's in today.

Cutting to the chase - Israel's government is greatly weakened by corruption and weak leaders.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faced allegations of corruption when he decided his "disengagement plan." Many believe the disengagement plan was a tactic to get the media on his side and divert attention away from corruption charges.

It worked. The U.S. backed the plan. The Europeans backed the plan. The Arab world welcomed the plan. And the Israeli media was ecstatic. Why?

The plan called for throwing all the Jews - mostly religious Jews - from their homes in Gaza and Gush Katif. The land would be given to the Palestinian Authority. And this would advance the "peace process."

That's how the Arabs took over Gaza, making it easier for them to terrorize Sderot. Ariel Sharon had a stroke, and the next to step into the prime minister's office was Ehud Olmert - still there, with an ever increasing number of allegations of corruption going against him.

Unlike Sharon, Olmert has never had popular support of the people. The Israeli media like him. That has helped keep him in office. George W. Bush and Condaleeza Rice like him because he does everything they ask him to do.

Olmert displayed his absolute incompetence as a leader in 2006 when he led Israeli forces to lose a war - the second Lebanon War. This bodes ill for Sderot, when the Commander In Chief of Israel is unable to seek an adequate military solution to the terrorist attacks. He is stopped because a)an adequate military solution is against U.S. policy, and would make the U.N. angry, and b)he is incapable.

In summary, a weak and leaderless government in Israel together with the policies of a weak leader in the U.S. have given Arab terrorists the opportunity to take over Gaza, and carry out a terror campaign against Sderot.

Every town has a Herzl Street.

We won't talk about the guy it's named after. Let's just look and see what we find on Herzl Street in Sderot:

"Eli's Steakia"

What do you know? There's "Eli's Steakia".(like a little steak house - where they serve little steaks.)

This is Steakiat Eli (Eli's steakia) a cool little diner on the side of the road. It's owned and run by none other than Eli himself. Anytime you show up at the restaurant, you'll probably see Eli there.

Here's something I bet you didn't know: Eli's Steakia is 35 years old. But it looks like new. See those seats on the outside? No holes or patches on them. See those windows? That's what makes Eli's unique. You can sit on the inside, or just pull up a chair outside and talk through the open window.

Try it; that's how I met Eli. He tells me that business has been a little slow because of the qassams. But that's gonna change soon, right?