In Jaffa the beach is filthier
Jaffa's beach used to be lovely, soft golden colored sand, clear blue green water, a few ancient rock beds and indeed, also today the view is breathtaking: huge waves, a dramatic sky with windswept rain-clouds. Yet coming a ilttle closer, the disaster becomes quite clear.The beach is simply full of filth of all kinds.
In nearby Bat Yam as well as on the more northern beaches of Tel Aviv the respective municipalities clean the beach daily. They are well aware of its value and know the city's people will complain if the soft sand looks less than pristine.
As to Jaffa's beach? Who cares?
Well, we do, but the municipality doesn't. Mishlama guys are you listening?
Jabaliya beach! It's filthy!
The storm of the last days has washed up enormous amounts of filth, ranging from black gobs (crude oil?) dead fish, dead cats, huge amounts of plastic bottles and all manner of yucky things better not mentioned during dinner. In other parts of the city, the beaches are kept meticulously clean, in Jaffa not so. Walking the beach has become hazardous. Anybody out there?
Jaffa winter 2007
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11 comments:
Here's an opportunity for Jafo's community to show they care about their surroundings and to organize volunteer teams to clean up the beach.
Get the local businesses to donate refuse bags and you guys can show everyone how to be green-friendly by making Jafo more attractive.Now that's much better than just complaining.Do something positive about it!!!!!
The problem isn't only the beach and sand, it's the refuse in the seawater. Once the sea, or a region of it, is used as an indiscrimate dumping ground, then cleaning the beach - as positive as it is - will always be a half-measure.
Another point is: people pay taxes according to ability and get differing services, according to location. In Hebrew, the expression is "Aifa ve'aifa".
i agree that the beach in yaffo is foul.. absolutely filthy.. but the beaches of telaviv are just as disgusting.. bat yam is slightly better..
its a shame that the telaviv council doesnt act to clean all beaches and - yes - making jabalayia more visually tidy would be nice.. i would also be happy with a thorough clean up of the rest of the country..
herzliya pituach beach is revolting.. netanya is dirty too..
this is not a yaffo problem..
Every muncipality has elections every few years to vote for the board.
Most time these are people who come from the community and who know what or where the problems are, so what went wrong on your board.
When there is a storm this is a great opportunity for the mercantile marine to dump waste or to clean the tanks, it is allmost impossible to locate where the waste came from in this kind of weather.
On the picture it is all bags, why pay in a harbour for your waste when it's more fun to see all those bags float to some unknown shore.
There is a message in the Coke bottle!
My first thought was to agree with anonymous, while having a look on the net there was a picture on Anglosaxy.
I just realise to see a large part of the garbage to be left by the visitors.
Actually, by the tidal line shape of the garbage, one can see the majority of the stuff has been brought in by the sea.
The garbage bags were blown by the wind out of the garbage containers on the beach. These containers are mere metal rings holding big plastic garbage bags. They have no lids. The fierce wind blew the full and half full garbage bags out of the metal holders. It comes to show one thing: many of the beach lovers put their garbage in the containers, as they should.
In some cases the garabge bags were carried away by the huge flood waves that came all the way ver the beach up to the slightly elevated pick nick areas (Jaffa beach lovers familiar with the geographical layout will know what i refer to). As the bags are left their for a long time, their contents get swept away one way or another.
Dead cats, fish and pigeons (the most dangerous waste from a health point of view) were not left by people.
Much filth (i have other images of this) is brought to the beach by the huge rain-overflow sewer ending on Jaffa beach. This very very very large pipe, which ends just below the ancient Muslim cemetery and the "Peres Center for Peace" construction site, carries with it all kinds of junk' before its filthy sewage mixed waters flow into the sea.
As i walk or run daily along the beach of Jabaliya --> Bat Yam or Jabaliya --> Garbage hill --> al the way to Reading along the Tel Aviv shoreline, i can say one say with certainty: Jaffa beach is filthier than any of the other beaches, MUCH filthier, beyond comparison filthier.
The Jaffa based "Kaf-Bet" high school actually plans a community beach clean-up, but this kind of massive garbage problems containing dangerous waste (lots of dead animals, chemical waste containers washed of ships perhaps) as well, should really be taken care of by the municipality and professional services.
It is simply another example of relating differently to Jaffa.
Isn't it logical when expecting a storm, that some person takes away the garbage filled bags before all is blown away.
Most cats have died unnatural I presume, I never ever have found a dead cat on the shoreline nor do the things out of themselves go close to water.
By the way if nobody cleans or moves anything the local rat population has a real good time.
i have to say however that charles park is very popular with th ejaffan community as well.. and they trash that place on a weekly basis.. i too walk the beaches very frequently - a surfer and as a someone totally interconnected with the telaviv yafo beach i pay a lot of attention both in and out of the water and the jaffan community conducts a weekly rampage against the park with the trash it leaves.. my jaw smashes against the promenade floor everytime i see it..
furthermore they drive cars onto the grass areas - which is illegal and offensive.. blast music..
the council invests huge amounts of money to clean it up on a regular basis but it is undeniably insane that it is permitted in the first place..
people have to learn to respect public space.. i am sure the council could do more to clean more rubbish that we create at the end of the day.. and then we would have gripes about ailing health systems.. under funded public transport.. poor student teacher ratio etc..
people have to start taking responsibility and i dont believe enough is done..
not by any community in this country and certainly not by the jaffans either..
Lirun, you think you know the people are from Jaffa because they speak Arabic?
Funny enough Charles Clore Park is popular with many people from East Jerusalem, as well as with many Israeli Jewish families. An indeed a lot of people, both Jews and Arabs, leave a lot of mess behind at the end of the day, and i cannot say i enjoy it.
As to the loud music, it may not be to your taste, what can one do?
And the cars: most of the heavy 4 wheel drive monsters belong to the wealthier people. they destroy Israel's nature as a norm almost. And i have seen very few 4 wheel drive owners in Jaffa, they are rather too expensive.
Perhaps being a little bit more precise in your accusations might be nice
People from Jaffa, tend to prefer ajami (Gabaliya) beach)
(a) not 4wheel drives.. sedans owned by people in yaffo..
(b) i like the music - im middle eastern and i come from an arabic speaking family..
(c) i know people from yaffo who like to go there..
sorry yuds but your jumping to concusions mate..
i just dont happen to think its all the council's fault.. at the end of the day this is a small country and the council is made up of us.. the same people that walk the streets and the same people that litter and the same people that blame everyone else..
all i am saying is that i think that approach is not helpful.. when we were unhappy with the litter at mandarin beach last summer we got a bunch of people together and spent and evening focussing on one small spot by the cliffs and we cleared 60 bags of rubbish.. in one single hour.. we literally ran out of bags..
this beach is between herzlya and telaviv and is no cleaner than jabalia but for the impact that is occasionally made by those who care.. kids walk through this rubbish tip of a beach as do adults and it pains me and shames me to watch it..
the funniest/saddest thing was that while we cleaned people walked past and praised us.. some even offered us beers.. and after gratiously opening the bottles for us they instinctively threw the caps on the ground haha.. realising their mistake they collected the caps and apologised..
i only know two people that are council workers.. they earn little and work hard as they too struggle to feed their families and pay mortgages.. i reckon we can all help..
ps some time ago you contacted me through my blog but never followed through with an email..
still current?
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