So what if you want access to your own home?
The ultra rich are buying up property in Jaffa, nothing new there. A tiny piece of land on Mendes France street went for 1.200.000 $ not a while ago.
The neighbors had hope to buy it so they could expand their modest home, which was becoming cramped for their growing family. However, their offer was way below that of the people who finally bought the little plot; Close to the beach, opposite a park, no doubt, prime property.
What the neighbors did not expect, was that the developers of the neighboring plot would simply block the access to their own home!
One day the bulldozers came, dug a deep hole in preparation for laying the foundations for the new house and that was it. No more access.
I guess there is one law for the rich and quite another one for the poor.
As the deep hole started caving in, the neighbors put up a fence to protect their own little children, as even that had not been done by the very wealthy. They also went to court to stop further development for the time being.
The neighbors are willing to find a creative solution, but what amazesme is the ease with which these wealthy people work, the sheer violence of their activities.
How can they possible expect to live their in neighborly peace, if this is how the rich behave towards their poor neighbors?
But perhaps that is exactly it: they do not expect at all to live next door to the poor. They are probably planning for some way of getting rid of them.
Oh and no, this is not an April Fool's Day joke. The sad truth of life in Jaffa, April 1, 2009
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6 comments:
Your 'sad truth' has nothing to do with the truth. Regardless of your childish personal interpretations concerning the conspiracies of the rich, there is one thing which is totally wrong in your report: your 'poor' family lives on property which worth a fortune. They can turn their soil into gold, if they like. Otherwise, if they are emotionally attached to their land (and I truly doubt that), they may still nurture their property and make it look like paradise rather than a garbage place. In this way, without being rich, they may live a welfare, comfort, and happy life.
BTW, rich people are... people. Just like the poor ones. The only difference that I can think of is that they are a little bit more lucky... or perhaps, a little less.
You might not like the truith because it makes you feel and look guilty....
And something else, why react at all. If you don't like my blog, just don't read it.... or write your own, where you can conveniently write what ever you like?
Calling someone else "childish" is a way of putting that person down and making yourself look superior.
The only thing is, i like the small childish part that i still have in me, and am not insulted.
It is that part which is pure in me, i think. That part which identifies injustice clearly, starkly and is not blinded by pretty words.
No, i do not believe in "conspiracies of the rich", but money itself goes a long way to enable the people who have it to buy things at the expense of others whom they do not evn see, in quite a few cases.
Your next remark says it clearly: "they can turn their soil into gold"... they are not like you, out to make a quick buck. They simply want to live where they always have lived. Some people buy a home to live in, others buy "real estate as an investment".
The Palestinians of Jaffa cannot liven in other neighbourhoods in Tel Aviv, because:
there re no schools, no mosques, no churches and no community services for them, f people would sell them a house at all, which they probably won't. So the only option they have is stay where they are. Which is made impossible for them.
The chairman of the municipal "housing committee (vada lediur bar hasaga) stated "there are too many Arabs in Jaffa. Jaffa needs more Jews....
The same guy used to be the general manager of the municipal public housing company, Halamish".
You perhaps live in Jaffa, but i doubt you have spoken to any of your Palestinian neighbours, 60% of whom are poor and living below the poverty line. I doubt if you know what people invest just to survive when they are poor.
But then, i guess all that is "childish" to you.
Yes rich people are people, i9 just wished some of them would try to be a little bit more humane.
I would also suggest you try living on 1200 NIS(havatahat hahahnasa) for one month. Then let's talk.
Dear Mr. Rich Resident of Jaffa,
Although you may have the "Big Money", for me and many others you are the "poorest"; you have the money and gold while these neighbors have the quality of being humane, you have the Hotspa while they have the dignity. Oh.. BTW I wish YOU were the childish, rich children would never do what rich adults are doing in Jaffa. Finally, who's the real poor here, and where exactly is the "garbage", Mr Rich Adult.
Yudit,
1) Read my comment again. I didn't call you childish; I called your personal interpretation childish. I'm sure you can tell the difference.
2) A person who is sympathetic to the violent struggle of the Arabs against Israel cannot be 'pure'. You simply took side in this struggle, and it happens to be the Arab's side.
3) Most people buy houses to live in. Me too. Why would you like to prevent this right from the Jews? Are you anti-Semitic?
4) "The Palestinians of Jaffa..." The only Palestinians I am closely familiar with are my grand parents who got an ID card saying they are residents of "Palestina-Eretz-Israel district". In your comment, you probably refer to the Arabic residents of the state of Israel.
5) As for the claim of "having no choice of the Arabic residents but to stay in their homes..." First of all, no one ever asked them to leave (unless they invaded to houses that are not theirs). Thank God we do not live in Gaza where the brutal decide who stays and who goes. Second, perhaps it is correct that they cannot live in other neighborhoods in Tel Aviv (even though I am familiar with few counter examples). But there are plenty of Arabic towns and villages in Israel, where they can settle. I would like to remind you that the Jews share the same problem: they cannot inhabit Arab settlements.
6) It's not that Jaffa needs more Jews. It is that the Jews have the right to live in Jaffa just like everybody else. After all, this is a town in the middle of the Jewish state, isn't it?
7) As I already implied, I do not have Palestinian neighbors. I have Arab neighbors, residents of Jaffa and citizens of Israel, and I can assure you, they are neighbors to me just like everybody else.
8) "60% are poors..." First, I disagree with the numbers. Many simply do not report on their income and therefore classified as "poor". (Why would they do that, for God's sake?) But their income could be much higher than yours or mine. Second, in our country, in sharp contrast with the neighboring Arab countries, all roads to success are open for everyone, regardless of their ethnic origin. You know that perfectly well.
9) And finally, please don't patronize me. You are by no means more human than most people I know. The fact that others do not see things the way you do, do not put you in a superior position (recall the accusation you made in the beginning of your comment).
Anyway, wish you Hag Herut smaech.
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