Tuesday, May 12

Extremist settlers in Ajami, will they ever stop?

Not too long ago a "hesder" yeshiva was opened in Ajami, in an old synagogue that had been standing neglected for some 40 years. Neglected, because the Jewish community of Ajami had left to better neighbourhoods (better at the time they left, when Ajami was one of the worst slums) and there simply was no need for a synagogue. The Jews (some 20%) still living in Ajami are predominantly secular.

Palestinians and Jews in Ajami live together, quite peacefully enjoying a relation of good neighbours. My very devout Muslim neighbours have the key to my flat, in case they need to get on the roof (which can only be reached through my home) or, more often, in case i loose my keys or forgot to water the plants on a very very hot khamsin day. We often meet for a coffee to exchange the latest gossip or a good cake recipe (usually followed by and exchange of the sweet results).
We dance at marriage parties and weep at burials, rejoice in the birth of yet another daughter or son. We each have our sources of good olive oil, za'atar and the best coffee and share those, while bragging ours is just that little bit better. Neighbours.
Enter the yeshiva. Let it be said, i have nothing against religion. However, i do have a problem with religio and its institutions being abused as tools for justifying violent acts and racism.

After the disengagement from the Gaza strip, many of its expelled settlers started to see the mixed (Arab Jewish) cities (most of Israel is very segregated) as the "next front" for nationalist activity. They do not hide their ideology. Just go to their websites.
They are also supported by Lieberman's fascist ideology and extremist right-wing Jews from the US and elsewhere.
They claim they want to "strengthen the weak and threatened Jewish communities". If so, why didn't they select Yafo Gimmel, which indeed is a weakened, predominantly Jewish neighbourhood.
In Yafo gimmel, there are many ppor Jews, recent and not so recent migrants from the ex soviet union territories and Ethiopia).
Instead they selected Ajami, where there is no Jewish community to speak of and the few Jews living there tend to be well educated and economically strong and yes, also secular (some having a strong cultural and or ethnic Jewish identity) and having little interest in this particular yeshiva's brand of fundamentalism.
The very well-funded yeshiva is buying up property wholesale, in expensive Ajami, for its community, intending to turn Ajami into a religious Jewish community. Disregarding ofcourse that its Palestinian residents have no reason to close their shops and restaurant businesses on shabat, their best business day and the Jewish holidays.
The settlers like to walk around in groups, carrying flags and making a nationalist show of themselves, in absolute disrespect of the feelings of their neighbours. Part of their behaviour appears to be aimed at provoking violence, perhaps to convince more peope like themselves to come and "save" Jaffa.
Save from what? It exsists only in their imagination and ideology. We have no need of "being saved".

Last week they won a tender for a piece of public land very close to my home. Publicly owned land, which should have gone to the Palestinian community, from whom it was stolen in 1948, (and once more some 4 years ago, when the municipality closed the market which functioned on that particular piece of land) and with whom there is a legally binding agreement to construct 400 public housing units to solve the very bad Palestinian housing situation.
Yet the land went to an ultra religious building society who sell land only to religious Jewish families. Imagine a group of ultra nationalist whites in the US buying up publicly owned land in the middle of a poor black community and then selling the land only to selected similarly minded whites who publicly proclaim they want to turn the community into a whites only area.
Non-religious Jewish friends of mine contacted the company and asked if they could buy a flat. in the project. They were refused as flats are only sold to "our people".

Well, that's what is happening in Jaffa, in Ajami.
And it is happening in all the mixed cities: in Ramle, in Lod, in Acco and in Haifa.

We have seen the horrid results of this type of activities in Acco, when the homes and cars of several Palestinian families were torched by Jewish extremists.
In Acco, as a result of these actions, most Arab families left their nice homes in the middle class "Mizrach" neighborhood, scared for their lives after the days long progrom carried out against them by a mob of some thousand crazed "religious" nationalists encircling their homes for hours, until the police and the ambulances were able to save them.
It happened last year.

The Jaffa yeshiva receives support from the municipality and other offical state institutions. We are not talking about a small bunch of crazed idealists but about a very well-organized ,coordinated and well funded country-wide effort (with international financial support), aimed at creating a separate society. In other parts of the world they would call it "apartheid".

Are we next?










4 comments:

nivra said...

"The Jews (some 20%) still living in Ajami are predominantly secular."

Incorrect, as far as the original Jewish residents are concerned. Most of them are religious or "traditional" who pray in synagogues every Saturday, and in Holydays.

"Palestinians and Jews in Ajami live together, quite peacefully enjoying a relation of good neighbors."

Incorrect. The Arab population in Ajami is extremely hostile to the Jewish residents, unless the later are politically and publicly devoted to the struggle against the Israel state. A must to earn their trust is a honest sympathy to the Palestinian aggression (namely, terrorism).

"Let it be said, i have nothing against religion. However, i do have a problem with religion and its institutions being abused as tools for justifying violent acts and racism".

Realy? What about the inflaming taken on a daily basis in the Mosques of Jaffa? On the other hand, saying that synagogues in Jaffa are abused as tools for justifying violent acts and racism (against Arabs) is simply a blood libel.

"After the disengagement from the Gaza strip, many of its expelled settlers started to see the mixed cities as the "next front" for nationalist activity…"

Misleading: The vast majority of these victims of ethnic cleaning settled in towns and villages within the "green line". Very few of them found their way to mixed cities.

"They are also supported by Lieberman's fascist ideology…"

Malice accusation: Lieberman is a full supporter of two states for two nations. Furthermore, he also supports the withdrawal from areas within the "green line" in order to guarantee that the Jewish state will remain Jewish.

"If so, why didn't they select Yafo Gimmel, which indeed is a weakened, predominantly Jewish neighbourhood."

In fact, they did. Their synagogue is indeed located in Ajami but their families live in other neighborhoods: Shikun hisachon, Yaffo Gimel, Yaffo Daled etc.

"instead they selected Ajami…"

Only for the location of their praying place. But even if they would have select Ajami as their home, then, what is wrong with that? Are you a racist? There are many Jews who live in Ajami these days; the Yeshiva people would like to strengthen the religious Jewish community in Ajami and this is at least as legitimate as the will of the Moslems to strengthen their devoted community.

"and having little interest in this particular yeshiva's brand of fundamentalism."

Are they more fundamental than the Muslims? Well, at least they do not call for a WWJ (World-Wide-Jihad).

"The settlers like to walk around in groups, carrying flags and making a nationalist show of themselves, in absolute disrespect of the feelings of their neighbours."

Well, at least these are the Israeli flags. This is no more provoking than carrying Palestinian flags that symbolize for many of the Israelis terror and death. What do you have to say about this kind of disrespect?

"…We have no need of "being saved".

Tell that to the Moslem religious leaders who would like to see you covered with veil and black blankets, or you are doomed to be stoned. And let me just remind your readers that the religious Moslem dogma is deeply rooted in Moslem communities, much more than the Jewish religious dogma is rooted in Jewish communities.


Should I continue…?

yudit said...

"as far as the original Jewish residents are concerned. Most of them are religious or "traditional" who pray in synagogues every Saturday, and in Holydays."

Incorrect. There are no original Jewish residents in Ajami,they arrived after the naqbe, after 1948. Almost all of them have left except for a few elderly. The synagogue used by the yeshiva has stood empty for 40 years, as does the little synagogue on the other end of the square. There was no use for it. This was told to me by the shamash. Should i assume him to by lying?
The little Turkish synagogue is used only on the high holidays (i myself actually happen to go there on these occasions) again because there is no need.

"The Arab population in Ajami is extremely hostile to the Jewish residents, unless the later are politically and publicly devoted to the struggle against the Israel state. A must to earn their trust is a honest sympathy to the Palestinian aggression (namely, terrorism)."

Incorrect once more. I doubt very much if you live here. I do. And i am active in both communities and have never ever met any hostility from the Palestinian community, rather the opposite: good neighbours and friendship i do not think you know the community at all.

"Realy? What about the inflaming taken on a daily basis in the Mosques of Jaffa? On the other hand, saying that synagogues in Jaffa are abused as tools for justifying violent acts and racism (against Arabs) is simply a blood libel."

Really? Have you ever visited a mosque in Jaffa? Heard any inflammatory remarks? Do you know Arabic or are you just quoting stuff you have picked up somewhere?

I personally have nothing against religion, and if i want to participate in communal prayer i tend to do it in a synagogue.

I have however cooperated in humanitarian and educational projects with a Jaffa mosque and once lectured in one to a group of young religious Muslim women on women's rights..... They invited me.

I was not saying nor suggesting the majority of the Gaza settlers were had settled in Jaffa. They were housed comfortably in various prime locations in the country, received large financial grants. I should perhaps compare that to the situation of over 100.000 Jaffa's Palestinians who were made refugees in miserable camps in Gaza and in Lebanon in 1948.
Thank G-d not all settlers came to Jaffa. BUT from their websites we can learn of the ideology of the so-called "garinim toraniim",which very much concerns the settling in the mixed cities as "the next front" as an answer to the Gaza disengagement. Their language, not mine.

Lieberman is a fascist who actively supports apartheid. Period.
I will not go into quoting him, it is too offensive.

You are over simplifying me by quoting out of context. There is no problem with Jewish people living in Ajami or moving into Ajami. There is a problem with hate groups moving into Ajami in order to replace the original Palestinian population, groups with an ideology that is non democratic. Groups with an intent to cause tension and problems.

The Jewish community in Ajami is small and the majority are affluent and even rich as well as generally well-educated and secular. Yuppies, one might be tempted to generalize. Just look at the huge villas they live in, which are being constructed all over Ajami. This process of gentrification also has its problems, as it creates a huge socio-economic gap, but i am not going into that here, i have written about this tendency several times on my blog.

This is a community that does not need "strengthening". I am aware the yeshiva does community work in gimmel and daled and that some of them live there.Fine, no problem.
I have a problem with apartheid ideology being introduced.
I do not like flags of any kind and perhaps should quote Yeshayahu Leibovitz on that one :), Google it.

Continue by all means, i find it quite amusing

nivra said...

I do not expect you to publish this, but I'll appreciate if you'll read this:

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/892/444.html?hp=1&loc=29&tmp=624

yudit said...

i am in favour of a free press, and as long as comments are not abusive i ALWAYS publish them.

You should assume a little less, Nivra