Saturday, August 27

Adjami, the quiet before or after the storm?

Saturday evening, a wedding in the Muslim Scouts Club (right below my window). The women dance in a separate area. The atmosphere is happy, it's a wedding after all.

The music is loud.
Things seem so normal.

The stress is on "seem". Something happened. We all know the missiles were just the beginning. We also know the police are ineffective. Or maybe they have selected to be ineffective? Adjami is not highly prioritized on their list of preferences.
The municipality is more interested in the affluent neighborhoods.

Small groups of young men stand on the street corners, meet in waterpipe smoking parlours. Many of them are jusr good kids, frustrated by discrimination. The drop out rates in Jaffa's public Arab school system stand at 53%. (In case you didn't know, Israel has a separate educational system for Jews and Arabs). there are some - excellent - private schools. But only the rich can afford the tuition fees. So Adjami's kids have to attend the public system. Most of Jaffa's public Arab schools are a disaster.

Even the sound of firework (yes it IS firework - this time) makes people jump.

Something needs to be done, violence is preventable, isn't it?

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