And a little more

Hell, two very loud volleys of automatic gun fire really close by just now.
Coming from a slightly northern direction as in "the other side of the building", as in my building, the one i live in.

Hamude Shakra, victim, yet another murder victim in Jaffa.

Yesterday i wrote about the murder of a man in Jaffa, not realizing i know the victim and his family quite well. His mother and sisters are friends and i had coffee at their place only a week ago, chatting away about this and that. Hamude's young son playing around in the living room. 

The personal side of the story isn't interesting. However, i suddenly realized this is all so close by. So many young men in Jaffa have been murdered over the last few years. In a few cases i knew them personally, had seen them grow up from sweet kids to awkward teenagers to young men, sometimes angry young men, involved in things better not to be involved in.

I know their families and, in the current case, I can only try to imagine what Hamude's mum and sisters and young wife must be going through. The police state he was involved in shady car deals and i realize that may well  be true. But he was their son, husband or brother, father to a little son who probably doesn't  understand too much as yet.

I remember him always tinkering at this or that car, close to the family's home. Music nearby, preferably loud. Friends sitting around waiting for their car to be fixed. Hamude's legs sticking out from below the car or his back bent over the hood fixing something, while joking in a loud voice. Playing around with his son, a big smile on his face, the kid happy and excited.

This is Jaffa, this is Ajami and things often don't go here they way they should go for young guys: finishing high school, going on to further studies, starting your career or trying to figure out what you should be doing in life, trying out this and that, travelling around a little, taking up a cause. Life isn't like that in Ajami, or perhaps only for a few, the lucky few.

The public school system in Ajami is terrible. And your family doesn't have the money for private education or  private teachers when you fall behind. Often you don't have the books you need, because your family cannot afford to buy them. You don't go on school trips because your family hasn't yet paid for last year's trip . (yes i know it's illegal to exempt kids from their school trips because of a debt but say that to any Jaffa school principal, or just come and see how many kids are left behind when the buses take off, half empty). At some point you drop out, thinking it makes more sense to try and make some money, not to live in poverty. But finding a job is difficult when you have little schooling. And it's quicker and easier (or so it seems) to make quick money on the streets.

Hamude loved cars and spent much time repairing them, his own, his friends',  the neighbours, turning old wrecks into driving things. Slowly moving up from wreck to something far better. Cars play a big role in Jaffa's young men's status game.

And quite obviously the majority do not have the money to buy these cars, unless on credit schemes which over time will put them and their families in throttling debt and poverty. Ownership of a car with a loud and powerful stereo system is the big thing for many young men here. 

It's easy to sink into street dynamics, in some cases it's unavoidable, it happens without you wanting or choosing it. If your brother is in, you are in. If your friend is in, you are in. That's how it works. Easy to get on, hard to impossible getting out. The laws of the street result in much pain and hard statistics. Hamude's has many sisters and brothers, some of them still very young kids. I fear for their future. It's a cycle and unless it is somehow (HOW?) broken, how can they get out?

Some two years ago someone shot at the family's home and that wasn't for the first time. Then someone aimed his gun at a car Hamude's brother was sitting in, wounding a friend but the brother got away unhurt this time. 

Hamude's funeral is today at 12.00. 

Murder in Jaffa

About an hour and a half ago an as yet unidentified man apparently in his late twenties was shot and killed in the area close to the Wolfson Hospital. Initially he appeared to be wounded lightly but upon arrival in the hospital he died of his wounds.
The drive-by shooting took place in a car wash place in south Jaffa.
The police claim the victim "is known to them", but what does that exactly mean in Jaffa?

The crime of being poor as defined by the Tel Aviv municipality

Yafo Gimmel is located at the very southern end of Jaffa, almost Bat Yam. Nowhere close to any of the fancier locations much in request by the gentrifyers and real estate investors looking of yet another option to make a lot of quick money.

Long concrete blocks with many entrances, "shikunim" as we call them. No elevators, small box-like flats stacked one on top of the other. You always know what the neighbors are at, the walls are thin.

When Jaffa's lovely old buildings were demolished some 40-30 years ago, many of their Jewish inhabitants received public housing flats in the large estates of "Yafo Gimmel" and "Yafo Daled", thinking they had made the deal of their lifetime. No longer would they have to share the same kitchen and bathroom with several other families in Ajami's old crumbling mansions of pre-naqbe age. Instead they would have their own little kingdom with the unknown luxury of a private kitchen and shower. Very small, that's true, and not too well contructed, but it was their own, rented for a relatively low monthly fee from the public housing company.

Over time, those who did well moved out and new migrants from the ex-Soviet Union and very recently, Ethiopia, took their place. The public housing company sold them their flats for a thieving  very "reasonable"  price and all felt they, once more , had made a good deal; they had become home owners. 
Of course the tiny and by now quite old homes were (and are) heavily morgaged and the monthly payments weigh heavy on the population many of whom have become unemployed and dependent on ever shrinking social security payments or on minimum wages. Food isn't always secure. Medicine cannot always be bought when necessary. Very few children have all the school books they need, but at least their families own their own homes. And that gave many of the people living in the Yafo Gimmel's Saharon street a (false) sense of security.

The public housing company's maintenance standards had always been low (and that is an understatement) and the construction level of the buildings was less than shoddy to start with. And the poor homeowners pay all their money to meet with the morgage requirements, leaving very little for necessary home repairs.

Two years ago the municipality defined a large block in Saharon Street, with close to 100 flats devided over 10 entrances, as "dangerous" and the demanded the home owners carry out immediate extensive (and very expensive) repairwork to the crumbling structure.

In the past this sort of work would have been taken care of by the Neighborhood Renewal Project ("Shikum Shkunot" שיקום שכונות) and the inhabitants would have had to pay only part of the cost against a friendly loan certified by the project. Yet but the Neighborhood Renewal project was fazed out in Jaffa (well, officially it still exists, its total annual budget for all of Jaffa standing at 20.000 NIS for 2009 which is being used as a partial salary for some educational work in the center of Jaffa as far as i know) .

The inhabitants of the block did not carry out the necessary repairwork. They simply don't have the money to do so.

In addition, many of them simply don't speak the same language (Russian and Amharic are more popular here) and in any case it is difficult to organize such a large group of inhabitants (over 90 densely populated flats).

So the burocrats of the municipality thought they had a good solution. One that tends to work quite well in North Tel Aviv: a law suit. One that usually forces the refusenik home owner into compliance.

The Tel Aviv - Yafo municipality criminally sues every single adult inhabitant of the block!

"Criminal"? one wonders. Yes, not carrying out a repair order of this type is a criminal offence, as the criminally inclined homeowner endangers all those living in the building or passing near by. It might collapse if the repairs will not be carried out.

The option of criminally suing repair refusing home owners was made to force slum landlords into taking care of the buildings they own. That law was not made in order to abuse poor people who were tricked into building their homes from a public housing company that wanted to get rid of property on which they would have to spend much money. The real slum landlord is the public housing company (partially municipality owned) that made a lot of money selling the flats, instead of spending it in repairing those very same flats.

Drug related arrests and other trouble in Jaffa

Over the last few months the police used a drug-addict as their agent. A violent young man, an only son, pampered by his doting parents until it was too late.

A good football player, an intelligent boy, good-looking too. But something went horribly wrong. Violent towards friends as well as towards his sisters and then  his parents. Drug-addicted. Then drug-dealing himself. Home turned into hell. 

The police selected this unstable character as their agent. Last week the police informed the public they had arrested "28 drug-dealers"  in Jaffa. At least  some of them are addicts, not dealers. So several were released the same day, some the next. And indeed, some are still under arrest. 

One of them, in spite of his addiction a gentle man and a great father, was arrested in carried away hand and leg-cuffed in face of his terrified young children. Their home turned upside down in a search which turned up nothing. An addict yes. Someone who needs aid yes. But not a dealer. The police caused much harm to the family's meagre possessions. Some of it unrepairable. But the worst was the harm caused to the children.

And the big dealers were not touched, they continue driving around in their big cars.And selling, wholesale.  The smaller dealers as well. We all know them and they are still walking around. Who do the police think they're fooling? 

The house of the agent was torched.  

First of all a terrible punishment for his parents, those well meaning hard working people, and his sisters, nice girls.

The agent has been on a hit-list for a long time. He was shot at, about a year and a half go. Had been in hiding for quite some time. 

Maybe that's what turned him into an agent, the hope of a ticket to "elsewhere", a new name, some money. But we are talking about a seriously disturbed young man. An addict with few personal resources beyond a little personal charm. And quite paranoid to begin with. Now he has a real reason for feeling hunted. Police agents have a short life span in Jaffa and Jaffans have long memories. 

Sweet Threats?

Last friday night shooting was heard all over the "GanTamar" area of Jaffa, to be followed on saturday night by a very loud explosion on Yefet Street. A handgrenade exploded right next the popular "Moutran Sweets Shop and Cafe", after closing hours. No one was hurt, but the warning is obvious.

A police car was parked next to the store almost all day yesterday, but  today things appear to be "normal".
Ofcourse it might also have been thrown at next door "Video Alpha", Jaffa's main bootlegger and absolute ruler of the areal bootleg DVD market.

Moutran is rather expensive and the quality of the sweets they sell doesn't come close to that of the original Nazareth branch of the same name and much fame. The quality of the Jaffa branch coffee is low and that's an understatement. Their coffee  ranks deep below that of the coffee machine at the legal aid office in Tel Aviv and i always thought one could go no lower. I can very well understand one not liking the coffee and sweets, but throwing a grenade is not an accepted form of restaurant criticism.

There appears to be a surge in street violence right now, although i have no idea if there is a connection between the events.

Many of last week's drug-bust arrestees are still under arrest, which may well mean a power struggle's under development in the "market", a vacuum never lasts long.

Policing Ajami

The movie "Ajami" must have woken up someone to the reality we live in. Anyone following this blog even slightly knows about the violence and drug dealing going on here.

Yesterday morning 27 people from Ajami were arrested on suspicion of drug related crimes. It appears a cover agent has been operating in the area over the last few weeks.

In the few cases i know about personally from relatives and friends of those arrested, no drugs were found in spite of the extensive searches carried out in the homes of the arrestees.

In a few cases damage was caused to the property of the families involved. Some of the arrestees live very normal lives, working hard and are poor, not exactly a drug dealer's life style or so it seems. They may well be innocent.

Some of the arrestees do have the doubtful reputation of being a dealer.

Shooting nearby, right now

Being at home, a little ill, i was woken up by the sound of fighting near by about half an hour ago, then shots and shouting just now.

A young guy climbing over the wall and running away over the roof of a neighbouring house, while hiding something (a gun? a knife? or maybe just his cellphone?) in the top of his pants.

Screaming. The muezzin is singing out the last sentences and my neighbours are about to sit down for dinner.

A police car arrives. Another neighbour pulling something from under his shirt and hiding it.

More shouting. Another siren getting closer. It could be police or it could be an ambulance, although in Jaffa victims are usually transported to nearby Wolfson hospital by the first available car.
Another police car arrives close to the house of my neighbours.

Several policemen are now carrying out a search outside my neighbours' house and some climbed over the wall, to search inside the yard and the house itself. They seem to know where to go. But not exactly.
The search goes on.
They are taking the house apart or so it  seems. One of the children just returned home. Not a pleasant situation.
All the neighbours stand outside on the balconies and rooftops to watch the show.

In case someone was wondering, this is the police climbing over the wall to search the yard.

Thursday morning update: police are searching all over the nearby roof tops.

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.

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.

Mourning

Dressed in black, but for soft crying, now and then, all is quiet in the women's mourning tent.
The imam' s voice can be heard from the men's tent, just a few meters away.
Dry figs and endless small cups of bitter coffee are handed out.
The mother clutches her dead son's picture to her chest.

Why?

Another murder on Yefet Street

Saturday evening, 21.00, enjoying a mellow evening with my friends and their kids, while trying to do some work on an article, gotta deadline coming up.

A few hundred meters from where we sit, shots on Yefet Street, 2 young men are hit, one of them dies a little later in the hospital. The other, lucky, one was wounded.

It has become so common, most newspapers do not even mention it. Another murder, another young life finished, Jaffa, who cares?
Well, we do care. The murder victim belongs to one of the prominent families, but that didn't help him very much. I know this family, my heart goes out to them.

As usual there's a lot of border police around on Jaffa's streets today.

How stupid can the thought police get?

The short answer? Very, very, very stupid.
And dangerous.

I'm relating of course to the "Naqbe" law, which, if passed, will forbid Israeli citizens to undertake public activities in commemoration of the Palestinian catastrophe, the Naqbe.

Democracy includes the freedom of expression and freedom of the press. According to the proposed law, indicating "Naqbe Day" will be a criminal offence. Israel has never really been a true democracy according to accepted international standards, but the current government are showing their true and very ugly face.

The law proposal is supported by the minister of justice, Yacov Ne'eman as well as by the minister of education, Gideon Sa'ar. When similar racist law proposals were suggested a few years ago, they would be judged as racist and non-democratic by the knesset's legal councellor and find their way to their proper place, the nearest garbage can.

I don't think we can ever create a true peace with the Palestinians, if we do not recognize their catastrophe, when the majority of them became refugees and lost almost all they had. By making the very mentioning of the Naqbe an offence, we are creating yet more distance from a true peace agreement. And it is not the politicians who will be paying the price.
All of us will do so. Everybody's blood is red.

Predicting the future, all the way to jail

Jaffa has a number of well-known "coffee readers", women who can tell your future from looking at the brown coffee sludge stains left in your cup after having drunk the coffee. People pay quite a bit for their services and some take it rather seriously.
One of those wise women is Hadra, who built herself a huge castle on the corner of Kedem and HaLimon street, which just shows that witchcraft is a fairly favourable "profession". She must have been doing quite well. that is, until today.

However, i doubt if she's any good at reading her own future, otherwise one wonders why she didn't leave a few days ago.
This morning she and her sons were arrested by a rather large number of policemen, apparently for fraud and tax fraud.
Maybe she doesn't like coffee.

Another shooting nearby

Two nights ago a young guy was shot at in Ajami and lightly wounded. i was reading a book in bed, trying to fall asleep, then rudely woken up by shots, then screams from the south west more or less.
Later on i hear the details from my neighbours; another young guy, "yes these kids have guns, they don't know what they are doing, what can we do to stop it?" and so on. The regular talk the morning after, between neighbours, we had all woken up or been about to fall asleep.
About one minute ago: a volley of 7 Shots, just north east from my home, then screams. Someone must be hurt. It's still early, there are many people out in the streets, the weather is pleasant, many kids are playing outside.
Mothers come out into the streets and call their children inside, the kids protest, it's still early and they are right in the middle of a game. The mothers have no patience, "inside NOW". Reluctantly the kids go inside, they know the rules, the usual routine.
The neighbors' kids are now playing out on the roof, it's pleasant and warm. "You heard it?" they ask me through the open window. Yes i did. "Someone got hurt" the little girl tells me. "Yes i know, i heard the screams" i answer. We all know the sound, another shooting, The little girl continues her game. She waves at me, "slamat". I wave back.

Far away the sound of a siren is coming somewhat closer.

The Wild East

Yesterday around 18.00 o'clock, two armed robbers entered the money change place at the clock tower square in Jaffa.
They shot at the heavy glass, protecting the person working there, broke it and took off with a large amount of money.
At that time of the day it's very busy in the area and there are terrible traffic jams.

Later that day there was automatic gunfire in GanTamar. Drugdealers or some such, i guess. One gets used to it.

Hate grafiti on Jaffa's "Sea Mosque"

Today the early morning prayer at Jaffa's "Sea Mosque" was different:

Hate grafiti had been sprayed on the ancient doors, threatening the lives of Jaffa's Palestinian citizens and comparing the Prophet to a pig.

Jaffa based Sheikh Ahmad Abou Agoua of the Northern Islamic Movement pointed out the connection between the official stand taken by some of Israel's high ranking politicians and this kind of acts.

A complaint has been filed at the police but one wonders what will happen with it.

Just one more hateful act against Jaffa's Palestinian population by some crazy hotheads, or is this part of a wider strategy?

Hate Graffiti in Jaffa

As we are nearing the municipal elections, hateful graffiti against Jaffa's Palestinian population has started sprouting up at different locations all around.
From "Kahana was right" through "Death to the Arabs" and "F* Islam" to "Arabs Should not be allowed to Vote" sprayed on walls of homes and public buildings in Ajami, Jabaliya ("Givat Aliyah", as it is called by some) and central Jaffa.
I feel like buying a can of white paint and wiping it out and hope Jaffa's Palestinian population will come to vote for change. A complaint has been filed at the police.
As this happens in the same week Barack Obama is elected as the next president of the USA, it seems all the more symbolic.

For those Hebrew challenged: the graffiti reads "Kahana was Right" .

Flying Carpet on Fire

The Flying Carpet travel agency in 13 Tirza Street in Jaffa was torched two days ago.

The premises were completely burnt out. A little girl living next door was lightly hurt by the smoke.

About two weeks ago a bike store on Jersualem Boulevard was torched as well. The word on the street is "protection".

The police are investigating

Murder in Jaffa

Yesterday afternoon the stabbed body of en elderly man was found in a garbage can storage room at 9 Tirza street (in Jaffa's "Noga" area).
The man had been living with a carer, who was at home at the time the body was found. It appears none of the neighbours had heard anything
The police believe he was murdered but no other information is available at this time, or rather allowed to be published.

Update:

The victim was 78 year old Moshe Maimon, apparently known to be quite wealthy. The police suspect he may have been stabbed during an attempt to rob him.