Almost doesn't count

I very recently read an article on the situation in the Middle East on cnn.com. Overall, the article didn’t seem prejudiced, like most of them (except that the wounded Palestinians, as always, were shown before the wounded Israeli), but one word caught my attention. That word made me mad, almost furious. That word was “almost”. Why? The article said that the Israeli city of Sderot is fired upon with Qassam rockets almost daily. "Almost" is a very deceptive and very inexact word. What does “almost daily” really mean? 4 days a week? 5? Or is it not always Qassam rockets, but nevertheless daily?

My husband’s parents live in Sderot. Since we got married four and a half years ago, Qassams are always mentioned in my conversations with in-laws. From what I understand, in the beginning these rockets were fired randomly, i.e. you never knew when to expect them. In the past few years firing became very predictable, and not for a good reason - Qassam rockets started being fired daily. Period. Not almost, not close to, not nearly – daily. No rocket in a 24-hour period is a very rare exception, extremely rare treat for the citizens of Sderot. Sometimes they are not Qassams, but Katyushas, which I understand are much more dangerous. Every night people go to sleep sure that another rocket will be fired into Sderot from Gaza. Every night they are aware that a rocket might hit their home and they might not wake up the next morning. Every night for at least 3 years, which amounts to over 1000 consecutive nights of terror. So for years this city endured this kind of treatment from Palestinian terrorists with little media attention, which only came about two years ago. Where was the outrage? Where was the fair and independent reporting? And if it were the citizens of Sderot firing rockets on Gaza? I’m sure we would’ve heard about it from day one, with little ambiguity and complete certainty, with the rocket count and foaming at the mouth of some CNN reporter. There would have been no “almosts”.