Chasing humans on the garbage-mountain, oops, in the Jaffa "Midron" park

Lately i have been taking early morning and late evening walks and runs in our brand new "midron park", usually topped of by a serious work-out in the open air free gym and a water drinking pause at the very end of the deck, above the huge evening waves crashing just below (and sometimes all over me, allowing for a salty cooling shower). During the cool eveing hours the northern, almost finished part of the park (which isn't open ye, but trust Jaffans to find a way in) many hang around, with fresh grapes, watermelon, drinks, surrounded by their kids running wild on the green grass ans sandy slopes. Thus, on my way back, there is always someone offering me a drink or sweet cool fruit.

Although not yet finished, the park is a true blessing, inspite of its sorry story, as it is also the grave of Palestinian Jaffa: When the Palestinian homes of Jaffa were demolished, their rubble was thrown on the Ajami beach, just south of the Jaffa harbour. Soon all kinds of junk followed the rubble. The underworld also quite loved the location for getting rid of suspicious "materials" of all kinds from cars used in robberies to body parts and drug stashes, weapons, explosives, you name it.

Thus, a huge rubble mountain was created, called "the garbage mountain". Only a very small part of the original beach was left; the "Jabaliyah beach, not known to most Tel Avivians.

The municipality intended to create an artifical piece of land and construct villas and other housing for the very well to do, in order to "uplift the level of the local population".

The Jaffa community, united for the first , them to court and won. The rest is history. A park was to be created, and a small part of the beach was restored as well.

And, the truth, the park is great. OK, there is a lot of water-using soft green grass (irrigated with de-salienated sea water, i have been told) but that makes for great picknicks and games. The open air gym is already popular, so for once, thanks, municipality, thanks mishlama. What started out as destruction , turned into some sort of a blessing.

But blessings is not what this story is all about.

The new homes of the ultra rich in Ajami, are being constructed by "illegal" workers, mostly from the territories. Low pay and horrid labor conditions are all part of the ugly game of labor relations in construction. Nothing new there. On large construction projects you'll mostly find Chinese and Romanian labor migrants. But when constructing oriental style villas, you need stone masons for the creation of arches and arabesques: Palestinians from the occupied territories. They work hard and receive low pay, the risk is mostly on them. The conditions in the occupied territories are so difficult, many of tem have no choice, but to come to Israel and work here in order to provide for their poor families.

Yesterday the border police carried out a manhunt for "illegal" construction workers. Some of them gt away, quickly running to wherever they could hide. In some cases, sympathetic locals, both Palestinians and Jews, helped to hide them, feeling uncomfortable and perhaps guilty with the man hunt going no in their now quite fancy neighborhood. after all, the police are not chasing criminals, but people whose only crime is wanting to provide for their families through hard physsical labour few Israelis are willing to do.

The hunt went on for many hours. Until sunset, or so we thought.

On may way back from my run, quite late, almost midnight, i saw them, again, border police and soldiers carefully going through the park. Searching.

When going out running i only carry water, no id. But they weren't looking for me and the likes of me. The man hunt was still on.

Boycot cellcom...

i guess u have to admit being their client, however, there must be a way to get away from that obnoxious company.

The cheapy cell phone company is using the separation wall as part of a campaign

Time to find another company and now that i can keep my old number, maybe it is a very GOOD time to do so.

Lotsa' luck, or, almost a catastrophe

Eleven year old Inserah was watching her favorite summer TV program, when a huge block of concrete fell down right next to her.

The ceiling in the family's living room, in fact the whole buildng on Jerusalem Boulevard, is about to come down.

The walls have deep cracks through which the sky can be seen. Whenever a heavy truck passes by, bits and pices come falling down in a never stoppping snowy shower.

Then flat is owned by "Halamish", the municipal public housing company.

Halamish KNOW about the danger and in fact have approved a move to another flat. But, and this is where burocracy starts, they cannot move.

Samira, Inserah's mother already cleaned the new place. They are already paying the electricity bill for the new place, yet their move has not been fnally approved, because the family owes the municipality money. They are willling to pay but no one knows how much (and that includes the municipality itself).

For years the family has received municipal tax bills for a flat in another building and never for the flat they actually live in. (mind you, they never ever lived in that other building). Their waterbills were equally mysterious: their use is always "0" but they are charged HUGE bills for public use in their building. It appears they are paying the bills for "super shuk Avi", the supermakret downstairs.

For over 6 months they have been writing to the municipality asking to settle their own bill. The correspondence has gone up higher and higher in the hierarchy, until last week they appealed to the mayor, Ron Hulday. To no avail.

They met with the general manager of Halamish, who approved in my presence actually, that they move to the new place.

Yet until now the move has not taken place.... As they are not allowed to move until having settled their municipal bill, which they are unable to because no one appears to know what it is.

Te letter to the mayor contains a simple sentence stattng the family sees him personally responsible of something happens to the family. Today that almost happened.

What are we waiting for? Until the house collapses?

There are no illegal children

A deep feeling of shame overtook me, at seeing the kids from Darfour, who may be arrested, imprisoned and deported any day now, during the demonstration against the newly formed deportation police and the terrible policies adopted by the current government. Small children, some of them were born here and know no other country.

They are fluent in Hebrew and attend Israeli schools. Their schoold friends joined them in the demo, their innocent faces serious, while upholding placards stating "we want Mozes back in our class" and "Don't deport our friends".

Perhaps 100 - 12o Israelis and foreigners stood together at a busy crossing in downtown Tel Aviv protesting the actions undertaken by the newly formed private police force that has one aim: deport foreigners from Israel. Even if they may be killed in their countries of origin.

In order to make their sick task easier, another law was passed making it a crime to assist "illegal" foreigners in any way. In fact an NGO volunteer or employee who e.g. brings food to a shelter, teaches Hebrew or voluntarily represents a refugee in the migration court can be send to jail for 20 years!

Ofcourse many of us will take the risk, but it will make aiding more dangerous and difficult. And less available. The foreigne workers in Israel and their families are weakened statusless people.

The state has now instituted a special police force with one aim "getting rid of them, but hook or by crook". After all, the worst they can do to us is jail us. But deportation is an entirely different thing.

I feel a deep shame, anger and frustration at what is happening. But i also feel a deep fear for Israeli society, there is something so evil and immoral about arresting and deporting a small child. A society that is able to undetake such an act is seriously and deeply flawed.

Shooting in the 'hood

Almost asleep a 1 this morning reading a book but only partially grasping (tired after a nice shabat dinner with my friends), three gun shots, from the direction of the drugdealer's house on the corner. It's really close by this time.

No shouts following the gunshot sound, a sign that they were perhaps warning shots from a passing car or motorcycle, no wounded.

I fell asleep, until being woken up once more around three; This time it's a long volley of automatic gunshot fire coming from the opposite corner, really loud, right underneath my bed room window more or less.

Followed by shouting, male and female voices.

I can hear my neighbors on their roof top. I go out on to the roof balcony as well. The night air is pleasant and cool, unlike the humid heat earlier on. There is swearing and shouting. Someone must have been hurt, i suppose.

We talk a little from rooftop to rooftop and go back in again.

Last week one of the neighbors tried to strab another neighbor' suspected of having damaged the drugdealer's car. The whole 'hood was out on the street and the wanna-be stabber was stopped, while his prospective victim escaped into his home, located oppostie my house. I wonder if there is a connection.

Back to sleep once more.

Demonstration against the new migration police activities and the crazy "aid to illegal aliens act"

Today, saturday the 4th at 20.00 at the corner of Ben Zion and King George street in Tel Aviv, there will be a demonstration against thepolicy, the cruel treatment and the activities of the new migration police and the Israeli government.

The new policy doesn't only entail incredible cruelty against one of Israel's weakest groups: refugees and labor migrants, victims of modernday slavery and trafficking but also those who help them!

According to the new law any Israeli citizen who helps a "illegal alien" in any way, faces up to 20 years in prison.

Thus the volunteers of the various NGO's who bring clothes and food to the shelters, provide Hebrew lessons, free legal and medical aid etc. have been defined as criminals by law, facing worse prison terms then e.g. rapists, thieves, bribers, you name it.

Hirschenzon, the previous minister of finance, who robbed several millions from the healthfund and non profit org he managed, was sent to prison for less than 10 years this week.

Yet those who volunteer in NGO's that extending assistance to "illegal aliens", may face 20 years for that activity.

This country is VERY VERY sick. It is OUR responsibility to change that. To heal. Please come to the demo today

Israel's old new hate police: privatization of a dangerous force

Yesterday they carried out their first action, by rounding up "illegal aliens" in the area of the central bus station in Tel Aviv. They made use of a private bus company, Alant, to transport the arrestees to a private prison. I'm amazed at how easy it is to privatize "services" dealing with very basic rights, such as freedom. Not just amazaed, also scared. Private goons carrying out private justice.

According to the Ministry of the interior there are about 250.000 foreigners without a permit residing in Israel. Some are victims of trafficking, others refugees from Darfour or Eritrea, yet others laborourers from China or the Filipines who ran away from the slave like conditions under which they were made to live and work for much less than the minimum wage (which already is very low).

A few years ago the migration police was established and then abolished in order to be replaced by a private police force operated by the ministry of the interior as of yesterday. The private police force are not bound by the rules that bind the regular police.

Yesterday they carried out their first action and their spokesperson "promised" its continuation. They do not care if a refugee might be in danger. They have also stated they will not respect the unofficial agreements between NGO's school and the migration police which held that no arrests would be made around the school areas, the free clinic and other NGO's assisting the labour migrants, refugees and victims of modern slavery. In fact the new police force stated they would actively search those areas, because that is where those without rights receive their services.

Their spokesperson has also informed the public they will arrest and deport children. A very large part of the children were born in Israel. go to Israeli schools and speak predominantly Hebrew. They have never been to their parents' country (or countries, when parents come from different areas of the world, there are quite a few "mixed" children) and are not familiar with their parents culture(s).

The arrest and deportation of children stand in direct opposition of various international agreements the country has signed. Yesterday parents with children were warned to leave the country within one month, if not, they will face arrest and deportation. Arresting babies and toddlers, little schoolchildren? This place is seriously sick.

A new witchhunt is on its way targetting Israel's weakest groups with modern and forceful means.

However, one needs to look also at the larger picture. The new police force is private. It is used against the weakest of weak population who cannot risk protesting. But at the same time, society gets used to the idea of an "efficient private police". I expect it will only be a matter if time until this force will be used against others, Israeli citizens as well.

So long democracy.....

Arnon Giladi is at it, once more

Arnon Giladi, likud representative in the municipal council, sent around a hateful letter full of half truths and pure lies concerning the Siksik mosque.

The guy who in the past stated in an interview with "Ha'Ir" that Jaffa should be "judaized" (imagine someone in the states saying the neighborhood should be "whitened") is actively looking for trouble.

His compaints made Gilad Peled, head of the Jaffa governance, the "mishlama leyafo", the mini-municipality so to say, run to the mosque accusing the mosque people of all kinds of crimes aacording to the illegal construction and squatting laws. After all when Arnon Giladi accuses someone, it should be taken seriously.

However, in the end, after having been shown the mosque peoples' paperwork, Peled had to admit being wrong. Giladi has not yet done so.

One wonders what Arnon Giladi's real interest is.

In the mean time, tomorrow, friday, a large group of praying people is expected to attend the prayers at the Siksik mosque, now under full renovation.

I took a little time to go to the municipal archive and dig up some "goodies". There is lots of paperwork showing without doubt the ownership of the "Siksik Waqf", and one presumes Giladi as well as Peled to be aware of that. A waqf cannot legally sell a mosque according to Israeli law, which actually protects the standing of a mosque as a religious building (theoretically at least).

As the municipal papers show without any doubt, the mosque is owned by the Siksik waqf, therefore Giladi should back off and offer his apologies.

The municipality intend to create a public road next to the mosque for which they have appropriated land next to it. On the land are historical buildings. It would be a pity to break down these buildings. The area is very lovely.

BUT the mosque land has NOT been appropriated. Giladi should shut up, in stead of accusing the Jaffa Muslim community of crimes they have not committed.

Naomi Klein in Jaffa

This saturday, July the 4th at 11.11 o'clock, Naomi Klein, author of "the Shock Doctrine", which has been published by the "Andalus" publishing house in Arabic and in Hebrew, will speak about her book at the Jaffa Arab Hebrew theater.

The meeting will be followed by a discourse on the boycot of Israel as a peaceful and legitiate tool in the struggle for a just peace in the Middle East.

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.

Community involvement at the Jaffa Siksik mosque

The Siksik mosque is being renovated by the Jaffa community, in order to safeguard it as a place of prayer. It's not clear how the Keter Plastic factory, apparently at some point in the 1960-ies, managed to take over a large part of the Siksik khan and mosque, but that's what happened. They had little regard for the place and over time turned it into... a mess of partially destroyed ancient walls, new constructions out of asbestos and flimsy wooden platforms. Some of the old vaulted rooms with thick sturdy walls still stand. A 1964 report by the ministry of religion describes the building as being sound and still in use as a mosque.

The Keter founders appear to donate to the Israeli opera, culture lovers, so to say. Yet they had little regard for the lovely old mosque and khan, owned by the Siksik waqf managed by a Palestinian family still living in Jaffa.

However, the Siksiks, in cooperation with the community, are cleaning, rebuilding and repairing the mosque. Five times a day prayers are held under difficult conditions. However, each day something in the ,mosque is changed, cleaned, repaired. I think something in the community is repaired as well, through this joint effort.

twittering/blogging from Teheran

This little bit of info has been doing the rounds:

If you're on Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & Paste & Pass it on Revolution/Revolucion !

Not sure it will be effective, but it is the least one can do

The "Siksik" Mosque as a point of reference

The old sandstone Siksik mosque in Jaffa's flea market area has recently become the center of a new struggle.
The mosque, constructed in the 1880-ies, consists of a room, an elegant minaret and a lovely sabil. It's located on Siksik street (today's Beyt HaEshel street) .
It was constructed by the Siksik family, still living in Jaffa, next to the ancient khan they owned and operated. Traders on their way to the Jaffa market would stay there during the night, after the walled city's gates had been locked for its citizens' peace, quiet and security.
Up to this very day the mosque is owned by the Siksik family's "waqef" (non profit organization) and under their responsibility. Omar Siksik functions as the mosque's moutawali (caretaker), elected by the family to take care of the mosque.
The family has engaged in legal battles over the years, in order to prevent its demolition and its being taken over by the "Keter" plastic factory located just behind it on what, perhaps, once upon a time, were storage rooms of the mosque and khan. Paperwork possessed by the Siksik family indicates the existence of those storage rooms but does not exactly state their location.

The mosque has not functioned as a place of prayer for many years, but is being maintained and safeguarded by the family, until last week.
The southern section of the Islamic movement entered the mosque, cleaned it and exchanged the locks without the Siksik family's permission.
Jaffa has several active mosques and in the flea-market area has become a predominantly Jewish over the years. The problem is not a lack of prayer space. Moreover, the large "Mouhmoudiyeh", Jaffa's main mosque, is a short walk away.

So why did the southern section of the Islamic movement decide to undertake its self appointed and not very necessary mission right now?

One needs to look at the bigger picture: the construction of a hotel on top of the Jaffa "Kishle" (the old Turkish police station and jail), next door to the Mahmoudiyeh mosque.
The whole area of the clocktowersquare, kishle and mosque included, are protected buildings. When the Nakash brothers bought the Kishle building for some 38.000.000 NIS three years ago, they bought it in order to construct a hotel, and apparently they bought it with very generous building rights. Building rights that allow them to build a huge block on top of the old structures, dwarfing them and the lovely surroundings.
The construction will change the Jaffa skyline and the whole area for ever. A barbarous act of destroying cultural heritage for us and the next generations. Something carried out by money hungry, but very blind, people with no respect for another culture, architecture and art. And also lacking all respect for another religion, Islam.
The planned hotel's royal suite has a swimming pool on its balcony, overlooking the mosque's courtyard where prayers take place. How callous can you get?

Constructing a hotel next to a mosque demands a lot of respect and thoughtfulness on the side of those planning the hotel. However, thoughtfulness concerning the mosque's attendees feelings is NOT something the hotel's architects took into consideration (and i went to the city planning office to have a look at the actual plans). The fight against the hotel's construction has been taken up by the northern section of the Islamic movement.
The southern section kept quiet. Although they, as members of the Muslim council (something like the city rabbinate) should have been the first to take up the fight. So the next question should be: why didn't they? How come they did not oppose the building permits actively?
This is where the rumors start: some suggest money was handed over, or in less nice words, bribes were paid.
The southern section kept quiet. But now they must show they DO care about mosques and religion, which may be the reason why they targeted the Siksik mosque for their activity.

Yesterday some 100 people came to pray at the mosque, in order to express their support for the Siksik family's fight to keep it what it is, a mosque, a peaceful place of prayer.

Some sort of victory, for the time being at least.

It appears last week's demo as well as the letters sent by the Jaffa coalition have had a positive effect: Ron Huldai, the mayor, contacted Yaron Bibi, the director of the Israel Land Administration as well as Avishai Braverman, in order to poin that out the new tender (published last Sunday) for the "Etrog" plot of land is problematic. The second and larger part of the "Etrog plot" in Jaffa is one of the last large public owned plots on which affordable housing for Jaffa's young generation can be constructed.

The fact that all of the Jaffa organizations are involved in the coalition, is important;

The tender has been canceled!

Help Ezra Nawi

Ezra Nawi, an Israeli human rights activist, may go to jail in 30 days, for having tried to prevent a bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian family's home in the occupied territories.

I met Ezra when, as a young student, demonstrating every Friday with "women in black" against the occupation.
He used to come over and hand out water to all women.
At the end of every demo, week after week, year after year, he would turn up with a huge number of red roses, handing out one to every participating woman.

Ezra is a kind, gentle hearted man, sensitive to others' needs and always trying to help in his way: finding hard to get by medicine for this family, food for that.

More information on Ezra can be found here:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/t/9462/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27357

Please assist him.

Jaffa demo today

Demonstration today at 18.00

Clock tower square is Jaffa's ancient entrance (or exit).

The buildings are historic and their skyline forms part of what Jaffa is famous for, when arriving from the north: a lovely and distinc skyline.

At the very corner sits the "Kishle"; the old Turkish police station, which served for many years also as a jail and an Israeli police station.

The building is protected, but in 2006 it was sold to the Nakash brothers, who want to turn it into a 140 room hotel by adding several floors to this lovely historic building. They have submitted a horrific building plan.

The new design (i saw it this morning at the municipal engineer building) is a monster designed along the lines of the Andromeda compound, "the best of orientalism". The massive building will completely dwarf the existing buildings along the square, including the clock tower and the minnaret of the Mahmoudiye Mosque, Jaffa's grand mosque.

The top suite with ajacent swimmingpool will overlook the mosque's courtyard and the garbage disposal unit will be located next to the south western wall shared with the mosque.

There must be ways to prevent the construction of this monstrosity. This is not a matter only of the Jaffa community but of all of us, as well as of the future generations. Jaffa's entrance is a true pearl, why destroy it?

Why not keep the lovely ancient building as it is and turn it into a museum or a gallery or a cultural center or... anything for the good of the community?

The destruction of the Kishle (by adding several floors nothing will remain of the original style and feel of the place) will completely alter the whole impact of Jaffa upon arriving from the north.

The Nakash brothers should ofcourse be reimbursed for their loss and be given construction rights elsewhere.

But why in the name of making some quick money do we allow the community's heritage to be destroyed?

Demonstration today at 18.00 at the clocktower square

If you love Jaffa....help us save her

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 9nth at 18.00 at Jaffa's Clock-tower Square there will be a demonstration against the plans to construct a 140 room hotel on top of Jaffa's "Kishle", the old police station at Jaffa's northern entrance.

The ancient "Kishle" is a historic and protected building. When it was bought in 2006 by the Nakash brothers (of Jordache fame) for a whopping 38 million, the idea was to turn it into an exclusive boutique hotel. However the plans submitted to the municipality show someting entirely different: a 140 room monster, adding several floors to the original building, thereby dwarfing not only the original ancient walls surrounding the Kishle's court yard, but also the clocktower and the Mahmoudia mosque, which togehter make up part of Jaffa's beautiful skyline.
This is not just uglyfying one lovely building, but completely destroying Jaffa's northern entrance and skyline.

In addition the planned added floors will created problems for the Mouhmoudia mosque.
Oh, and by the way, the whole thing is designed in th style of "andromeda orientalism".

Anti Occupation Demo in Tel Aviv

Several thousand marched in Tel Aviv to protest against the continued occupation.

"What do women want?"

The exhibit is a strangely collected mixture of 101 works by various present and past women artists (who were) active in Tel Aviv, curated by Galia Yahav.
I feel uncomfortable with the definition"women's art". Does it imply art created by women? About women? Dealing with femininity and gender? The exhibit is titled "What do women want".

Some of the shown works are profound and moving (e.g. photographs by Shosh Kormush and Noa Ben Nun Melamed and a portrait by Leah Golda Holterman), but others are, hmm, how to put it gently, not of the same high standard. Some choices are surprising as well, if you show one work per artist, i would expect her best or one of her best.
Another point is also the lack of works by some of the most profound women artists currently active in Tel Aviv.

The hanging is messy, without a clear concept. Although it's nice to have a big exhibit in Jaffa, this is not the way to go about it: sloppy and haphazardly.

The Amiad Centre, 12 Amiad Street, Jaffa

Cruelty Alley

The little girls are already forgetting today's drama, replaying it with twists and turns, and turning it into a fairy tale with a happy ending.
Yet the other "little girl" L. is still severely traumatised and crying non stop, tears streaming from her cataract covered eyes.

Some 15 years ago the place was a successful fish restaurant, before all the other places along Kedem Street (street nr. 60 or Ajami Street prior to 1948) were opened. The clients preferred the newer and fancier places, business went down and the restaurant closed. It stood empty for years.
Its very wealthy owner owns another very successful restaurant in the north and didn't care too much about the Jaffa place, that had stood neglected for many years. Having grown old and perhaps somewhat tired, he let his younger brother take care of business.

The younger brother, well aware of the severe housing shortage in Jaffa, divided the place into 5 small crummy flats and started to rent them out for some 500-600 $ a month. No contract.
You pay a few months ahead and receive a key, you miss a payment and you are out.
Of course the restaurant owner's brother did not bother to get a permit (to turn the property into housing units) from the municipality, nor did he bother to pay the very old and by now huge debts to that same municipality and the electricity company, so water and electricity supply "are somewhat problematic". The tenants, not having contracts, cannot register the municipal and electricity bills in their own names.
Only very poor people, having no other choice, are willing to take the risk to live in such a place. My friend A, divorced mum of two little girls, and barely surviving on her cleaner's salary, is one of them. Her neighbour H, with his young daughter and elderly, retarded, half blind sister live there as well. Some two years ago, their key money flat's ceiling caved in and they have been living in "the restaurant" ever since, while the legal procedures on the other house continue, slowly as these things go.
Their financial situation is very bad and they missed last months rent payment. So today the owner sent in the goons. L. the elderly sister, a sweet women known all over the area, likes to play with dolls together with the little girls that live in the alley. Although half blind and elderly, she really is "their age" and the little girls accept her, as she is sweet and innocent. L. was home alone when the goons arrived.
She was scared so she didn't open the door as she has been instructed no to when alone at home and strangers knock on the door.
The goons broke the door and started yelling at her that she should pack her things because she owes rent. They then started to throw the family's belongings out on the street.
L's screams brought out the all the other tenants who intervened on her behalf, pointing out that L is retarded and that the goons should talk to her brother. They formed a fierce defence around L and called the police. At that point, the goons took off (although the police never arrived and told L.'s brother H. should come in and file a complaint before).