Drug related arrests and other trouble in Jaffa

Over the last few months the police used a drug-addict as their agent. A violent young man, an only son, pampered by his doting parents until it was too late.

A good football player, an intelligent boy, good-looking too. But something went horribly wrong. Violent towards friends as well as towards his sisters and then  his parents. Drug-addicted. Then drug-dealing himself. Home turned into hell. 

The police selected this unstable character as their agent. Last week the police informed the public they had arrested "28 drug-dealers"  in Jaffa. At least  some of them are addicts, not dealers. So several were released the same day, some the next. And indeed, some are still under arrest. 

One of them, in spite of his addiction a gentle man and a great father, was arrested in carried away hand and leg-cuffed in face of his terrified young children. Their home turned upside down in a search which turned up nothing. An addict yes. Someone who needs aid yes. But not a dealer. The police caused much harm to the family's meagre possessions. Some of it unrepairable. But the worst was the harm caused to the children.

And the big dealers were not touched, they continue driving around in their big cars.And selling, wholesale.  The smaller dealers as well. We all know them and they are still walking around. Who do the police think they're fooling? 

The house of the agent was torched.  

First of all a terrible punishment for his parents, those well meaning hard working people, and his sisters, nice girls.

The agent has been on a hit-list for a long time. He was shot at, about a year and a half go. Had been in hiding for quite some time. 

Maybe that's what turned him into an agent, the hope of a ticket to "elsewhere", a new name, some money. But we are talking about a seriously disturbed young man. An addict with few personal resources beyond a little personal charm. And quite paranoid to begin with. Now he has a real reason for feeling hunted. Police agents have a short life span in Jaffa and Jaffans have long memories. 

Sweet Threats?

Last friday night shooting was heard all over the "GanTamar" area of Jaffa, to be followed on saturday night by a very loud explosion on Yefet Street. A handgrenade exploded right next the popular "Moutran Sweets Shop and Cafe", after closing hours. No one was hurt, but the warning is obvious.

A police car was parked next to the store almost all day yesterday, but  today things appear to be "normal".
Ofcourse it might also have been thrown at next door "Video Alpha", Jaffa's main bootlegger and absolute ruler of the areal bootleg DVD market.

Moutran is rather expensive and the quality of the sweets they sell doesn't come close to that of the original Nazareth branch of the same name and much fame. The quality of the Jaffa branch coffee is low and that's an understatement. Their coffee  ranks deep below that of the coffee machine at the legal aid office in Tel Aviv and i always thought one could go no lower. I can very well understand one not liking the coffee and sweets, but throwing a grenade is not an accepted form of restaurant criticism.

There appears to be a surge in street violence right now, although i have no idea if there is a connection between the events.

Many of last week's drug-bust arrestees are still under arrest, which may well mean a power struggle's under development in the "market", a vacuum never lasts long.

Policing Ajami

The movie "Ajami" must have woken up someone to the reality we live in. Anyone following this blog even slightly knows about the violence and drug dealing going on here.

Yesterday morning 27 people from Ajami were arrested on suspicion of drug related crimes. It appears a cover agent has been operating in the area over the last few weeks.

In the few cases i know about personally from relatives and friends of those arrested, no drugs were found in spite of the extensive searches carried out in the homes of the arrestees.

In a few cases damage was caused to the property of the families involved. Some of the arrestees live very normal lives, working hard and are poor, not exactly a drug dealer's life style or so it seems. They may well be innocent.

Some of the arrestees do have the doubtful reputation of being a dealer.

filthy justice

Quite close to my home lives a major drug dealer. He has his stash hidden away in the 'hood, well away from his home, but closeby enough to keep an eye on it. Whenever the police carry out a search in his home, they come up with nothing.

His large stash is usually kept in a pirate garbage dump, used by those too lazy to walk to the, not so nearby, garbage container.

Yesterday during the early hours of the day the municipality guys came and cleaned the area. Completely, totally, absolutely. No more rubbish pile and no more stash.

The guy got up late, as usual, and has been screaming since at everybody in the area. His wife crying, 60.000 NIS worth of stock gone. "Why didn't we call them, when the cleaners came?" Yeah right.

Looking for a new "governor" for Jaffa

The "Mishlama leYafo, or the Jaffa Governance as it is called by the Jaffa Tel Aviv municipality, was supposed to be a kind of mini municipality for Jaffa. According to the original plans the governance was to have authority and full control over its own budget in the various municipal fields. But that was the original plan and reality is rather far away.
The mishlama tuned out to be a sort of Jaffa based executing branch of the municipality (where the real decisions were being made and the money was and is controlled), in essence creating a further barrier between Jaffa's people and the municipality instead of bringing them closer. Moreover, the mishlama has no responsibility in the fields of formal education and welfare and very little (close to nothing) in the field of informal education and culture.
The mishlama is run by bureaucrats and none of its top-people are from Jaffa, except ofcourse the "muhtar", aka Ahmad Balahe, (in)famous mostly for making sure no real change will be made, unless it is wanted and required by and serving the municipality, never mind Jaffa's people.
Gilad Peled, the resigning mishlama director, attempted to make a real change.
Initially Peled was conceived by the public as yet another ex-pilot, another one of mayor Huldai's ex-airforce buddies, serving the system, rather than the polulation who the system is supposed to serve.
Yet over time, it appears Peled started to see the other side of things. Not that he became a member of the various action gourps in Jaffa, but i think he srtaed to see the other side of the coin and wanted to do something real about it. He recognized the failure of Jaffa's educational system and dared to place the blame (and responsibility) where it should go: the municipality.

So he convened a multi-disciplinary team (from within the municipality) to work on a holistic program aimed at solving some of Jaffa's most awful problems: the way a large group from among Jaffa's young Palestinian population looses out, drops out of school, has no employment and gets dragged into the violent world of drugs and crime.

The program put the problem and the responsibility for solving it straight in the municipal center.
I have read the program's white paper (although i was not shown the budget) and i do have quite a lot of criticism, but that's looking at the "half empty bottle" rather than at the half full part: the Jaffa governance recognizes the problem (Jaffa's educational system starts failing at a very early stage, and dropping out of schools is caused by the system's failures), puts it straight at the center and points an accusing finger, putting the blame at the municipality and demanding it takes responsibility for solving the problems.
The white paper goes further and suggests holistic, dynamic and ongoing multi facetted solution based on cooperation between the various departments, age groups etc. The rpgram starts its intervantion at a very young age and aims at involving the parents. However, the program does not look at the various NGO's in Jaffa, which provide successful models and have the public's trust. The ngo's were not involved in wiriting the papar and their various extra curriocular activities and educational programs are not mentioned. I believe they could play a crucial role, ad they been involved in the planning. This is where lots of my criticism goes, but that is not the point of this article.
The program was rejected by the municipality as they see the mishlama as an executing body for the physical restoration of Jaffa (road repair, lighting, planting trees, garbage disposal and repairing the failing sewage system etc.) rather than undertaking work in the human sphere: education, culture, welfare etc.
The program is not mentioned at all in the municipal budget for 2009 that was authorised by the municial council this week.
Gilad Peled dicided to resign two weeks ago, frustrated by the municipality's rejection of his program.
Yesterday's papers carried ads looking for candidates to replace Gilad Peled. The local rags also carried articles stating the ex-labor knesset member Nadia Hilu intends to submit her candidacy.
Ouch...
Yes, it is important the Mishlama should be managed by a local professional who has a deep understanding of the local community and its problems (as well as strenghts), who is able to speak Arabic fluently, who knows his or her way around inside Jaffa, inside the municipality as well as the various relevant ministries and yes, it would be great if that professional would be a Palestinian as well as a woman...., someone we can actually trust, who sees Jaffa first and is not blinded by the ultra wealthy newcomers whose needs are very different from the needs of the local population, especially from the needs of the more weakened people.

What we need, is, first of all, a creative professional as well as a deeply caring human being, able to think "beyond the box" and understand long term aims rather than short term fancy sidewalks. Someone who can see through the nice-looking plans of the various enterpreneurs and understand how the local population will be affected. Someone whjo can actually take the mishlama into the direction it was supposed to take: become a mini municipality serving Jaffa's population. ALL of its population

Shem HaGdolim 2

It is unbearably hot inside Salwa's* clean and cosy home; A living room and a bedroom shared by her, 2 of her adult children and a number of grand children.
A very young boy sits on the floor making a drawing and school books and copybooks are scattered on the small table, the holiday is about to begin, but there is still homework to be made. "Being good students, that's the only way for them to get out of here", says Salwa, while smiling at the earnest face of her little granddaughter. The girl doesn't notice it, she's concentrated on writing an exercise.
It is stifling and humid inside.
However, opening the window is a very bad idea. The over flowing sewage is right underneath her ground-level flat's window and entrance door. The smell is unbearable.
Getting out of here (meaning, the Shem Hagdolim housing estate owned by Halamish) is not an option for Fatma herself. Disease and long hospitalizations made it impossible for her to work. She has to get by on her social security payments. She cannot afford to live elsewhere. But she hopes her grandchildren will be able to escape. "Escape" is the word Salwa uses. Escape from the jungle.
We called the municipality "106" and after about half an hour of waiting a guy called Shmuel promised us they would send someone. "Yes today, or tomorrow". They will contact Salwa so she can show them the problem. This was Thursday.
On Friday morning we call again. This time, after "only" 25 minutes a guy called Rafi anwers. He checks on his computer and states someone had been over there (no one contacted Salwa), but it is NOT the municipality's problem, the house-owners should take care of it. I explain to Rafi the
buildings are Halamish public housing and they don't work on friday. Moreover, we contacted them on Thursday and they said it's not their problem.
Rafi insists it IS the owners' problem "and we will send them a letter". "When will this letter be sent?" we ask. Well, in sunday a report will be filed by the men who checked the problem. After the report has been filed, we will check who the owner is and we will send him a letter."
Patiently i explain to Rafi that we are talking Halamish here, not private owners. And that Halamish has already been contacted but they claim it is the municipality's responsibility.
I also explain to Rafi that we are dealing with a river of shit, flooding the entrance to a large apartment block where many children live. Maybe they can come and carry out the necessary repairs and fight over the paying the bills afterwards? After all Halamish is a municipal housing company, so it doesn't matter very much in the end if the work is paid by the municipality or by Halamish.
Rafi is not convinced.

The stench is horrid.

In the afternoon, Salwa's son calls a friend who works for a company providing sewage services to the municipality. The friend loans equipment from his boss. We do not ask questions. After several hours of work, assisted by several men from the housing estate the problem is solved. For the time being.
The friend informs us the sewage system is in bad condition and this type of things can happen again and again. More serious repair works are urgently necessary.

We will send letters to Halamish and the municipality and i guess they will pass on the responsibility to each other.

Shem HaGdolim, they call this housing estate. The "jungle" is what the inhabitants call it.

Later, over dinner at my friend Aisha's*, i tell her about today's developments (earlier she overheard my phone conversation with the municipality). She informs me that when she was working as a nurse, they used to get a special "danger" addition to their salary, when they made house-calls in "the jungle". They were not allowed to go in there alone, only 2 nurses were allowed to make house calls in the jungle together. "If something happens to one, the other one can call for help".

Shem HaGdolim indeed


*names have been changed for the sake of confidentiality

Murder at the "Gagon", the Jaffa shelter for the homeless

The body of a man appearing to be in his forties (but homeless often look much older than they really are, life on the streets is rough and tough on the human body) was found early this morning at the entrance of the Jaffa "Gagon" shelter for the homeless.

"Gagon" is Hebrew for "small roof".
Today Tel Aviv has a few "gagonim", the Jaffa one is for men with addiction problems and in the Tel Aviv central bus station area there is another one for homeless women. There is also another one for non-addicted men. And many more are needed. Homeless people sleep in corners, in ruins, in building sites, on park benches and in the area of the central bus station. Or in bus stops in the main streets, or in the lovely little park next to the HaBima Theatre and the Rubinstein pavilion. Some construct small shelters out of boxes and plastic bags. Others try to attract as little attention as possible, so they will not be evicted by the neighbours.

During the day hours, when the Jaffa shelter is closed, many of the addicted homeless men hang around in the northern part of Jerusalem Boulevard begging for money from the drivers stopping at the traffic lights. Some give, others look straight forward, as if they do not see anyone, or play with the buttons of the car stereo or advanced GPS system. Homeless are sort of "see through" to many people, i guess.
Yet, each of them has a story to tell, and usually it is sad; Migration, alienation, a ruined marriage, unemployment. But once life was different, there were hopes, ideas and dreams.

This weekend's "Ha'aretz tells about 1000 homeless teenagers and young people on the Tel Aviv streets. Elem, an NGO, operates a day-center for the young, but no shelter. The young homeless have no where to sleep. Unless a cheap hotel with a client is considered "somewhere to sleep".

A man lost his life. There are wounds on his body. A fight between drug or alcohol addicts , they say. He hasn't yet been identified, apparently he wasn't one of the gagon's "regulars".
What kind of person was he?
Did he have a good childhood, with games and fun and laughter? Was he a good student or was school more of a punishment to him? Did he create anything or keep his poems in a drawer? Did he love anyone and was he loved? By whom? Will anyone cry for him? Will there be a minyan at his burial?
Will his grave be unmarked?


Homelessness is a matter of social justice. Homelessness is NOT God-given. It's a problem that CAN and SHOULD be solved, Shelters are not more than an emergency solution.
The Tel Aviv municipality started a special welfare unit for the homeless. I tried to contact them just before the holiday in order to receive aid for a young woman with retardation who has been -on and off- out on the streets for the last three years. They did not answer the phone nor return calls.

Talk on the street is that three people, a woman and two men, have been arrested or at least brought in for interrogation.

murder & violence, the sequel, as expected

"Bicuray Zion" is one of the silliest street names ever encountered in Jaffa. It's also the location of today's murder.
About a year ago i assisted a movie production team in finding a good location to shoot a certain scene supposed to be taking place in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. "Bicuray Zion" fitted the purpose just perfectly.

Even post delivery people have trouble locating this crooked, graffiti-covered alley somewhere off the Gaza (yeah :) , seriously, that's what it is called ) and Ehrlich Street crossing.
It's where very poor people live, those who have been treated roughly by life, a small alley with rules of its own.
I have friends there, a poor family, with 10 children, robbed of their only source of income; social security child allowance. When the food is finished before the next hand out, the kids go hungry except for their regular school dinner. Holidays and weekends are the worst, as school is closed.
This is poverty as many people think exists only in the third world.
But it's here, right on our doorstep, in Bikuray Zion alley.

And it is also the background of the murder that took place early this morning.
Muhamad Mashrawi, a 23 year old man from Jaffa was killed and two others wounded by shots.
As usual, the media will try to link it to the ongoing family feuds in Jaffa.

But what is really behind the violence on our streets, is poverty, a lack of chance, a lousy public school system, no employment options for the Jaffa's young Palestinian population, no housing options and the alienation and anger triggered by all of those.

Sure, there is tension between the families. But the anger and frustration, the undignified way society relates to Jaffa's young are important factors.
By stating it has to do with the family feuds, society can absolve itself of its responsibility; there probably will be increased border police presence in the streets over the next few weeks. the usual and inefficient reaction.

More money spent on education, creating job-opportunities, cancelling the ethnic transfer and building homes for Jaffa's Palestinians instead of villas for wealthy yuppies make more sense. Is anybody in the municipality listening?

The truly guilty are those making the policies that keep Jaffa's Palestinian population uneducated, poor. Who make people live in inhumane conditions under a constant threat of being evicted.

The Jaffa Heiress

Intissar is seventeen, bright, funny, streetwise, the youngest of 10 children and until yesterday, full of hopes and dreams. A knock on the door of the small apartment where she lives, ended those dreams. Her sister's little, 3 year old, boy opened the door and several police men entered, with arrest warrants for Intissar, her elderly disabled mother and all of her nine sisters and brothers (2 of them disabled as well). That's 11 arrest warrants in one go.
Why?
Because of debts, not even theirs. Debts they inherited.

The story goes back a long time. Intissar's mum developed a mental disease, when Intissar was very young, a tiny toddler, and became unable to care for her children. Intissar's father was addicted to to drugs and alcohol. The welfare department removed all children from the home and placed them in boarding schools. Intissar was only 2 years old, when they took her from her parents' care and placed her in a home, in order to give her a chance, by juvenile court order.

Intissar's father died about 4 years ago. Junkies with alcohol problems don't live long. After his death, all minor children were returned home by the welfare department. Their mum is still suffering from the same severe psychiatric disorder she's had for many years, and not really able to care for her daughters. But Intissar is strong and in spite of many difficulties, she copes, somehow. But how can a 17 year old girl cope with her "heritage of debts"? Because that's the problem here.

In Israel, when a person dies, and he or she leaves behind money or other possessions, these are shared by the inheritors according the the person's last will or, if there is no will, according to the law on inheritance.
BUT, if the person died owing money, his or her inheritors inherit his or her debts. If the person owned a house, usually the house can be sold, the debts covered and the remainder shared among the family, the cat or dog or whoever else.
Yet, in Intissar's case there is no home to be sold, there are no possessions. Her large family lives in a tiny public housing apartment in one of the worst slums in Jaffa.

All of the children grew up in boarding schools and children's homes. They hardly ever saw their parents. Their father was interested in one thing: getting high before cold turkey sets in.
Over the years he made incredible debts. How exactly is only partially clear. Each time the water. electricity or phone were cut, he renewed the connection not by paying the bills, but by putting the new bill in the name of the next child of his 10 children. Thus, all of the 10 kids, while they never lived at home and were minors, ran huge debts at the various utility companies without knowing anything about it.
I do not exactly understand how the utility companies accept contracts made by minors who are not present at all. Minors who have been made "wards of the state" and are under the responsibility of the welfare department.
But these are not the only debts. There is an "inheritance" of over a million NIS shared by all of the family members, and arrest warrants against all, including minor Intissar (which is illegal, by the way) because of those debts.
Intissar comes form a very weak background, but she is a fighter. Life in the many homes she stayed in, has toughened her. But she has no tools coping with this. In a few months she will be 18 years old. Instead of starting a career, and doing things 18-year olds like doing, she'll be facing impossible debts, her "inheritance".
When she works, most of her salary will go towards paying those debts. She'll become a slave to her father's "inheritance" of debts.
Through legal aid, she may be able to pay off those debts in monthly instalments always facing arrest if she doesn't meet them. Career? Study? Intissar can forget about those for years to come and perhaps for ever.
There is something VERY wrong with a system that allows this kind of injustice.


Intissar is not her real name, for reasons of confidentiality. The story is true, i wish it weren't

Something not so weird in Jaffa - Drugs

Last night, a police heli keeping me from concentrating on my book ("Bnot HaDrakon") by hovering with its powerful searchlight over my house, occasionally keeping me in its blinding focus.
Two streets more or less from my home, at Donollo HaRofe street, a huge drug search had been going on, successfully apparently.
Drugs and Ajami go pretty much hand in hand. And it was no secret to anyone from our 'hood that some of the inhabitants of that particular home were deeply involved. No longer so. Sixteen police cars came and the Israeli keystone variety arrested and carried off several people suspected of being involved and that trade.