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A few days ago, I was writing about anarchy in Israel. I though we were making headways. I had no idea how close we were. In answer to my own question from last week: “Anarchy, Are We There Yet?”, I will have to categorically answer, yes we are.
Sometimes, a single event indicates a change of direction, for better or for worse. Last Friday, something so significant, so terrible, happened in Tel Aviv, that I can only conclude that yes, anarchy is here. A middle aged person, accompanies by his wife and daughter, went for a walk along the beach next to a quiet and affluent Tel Aviv neighborhood called Tel Baruch. After walking for a while, the small family sat down on a park bench to rest. A gang of eight young guys and a couple of girls started to tease the couple’s daughter. The father asked for them to stop. They killed him. They beat the crap out of him, and then dumped his lifeless body in the Mediterranean Sea. His wife was injured, but both wife and daughter made it. The gang was drinking beforehand, and when the arrest took place, they still were.
I must make a disclaimer here. I don’t know what went down at 12:00 midnight near the sleepy neighborhood of Tel Baruch. The police is investigating, the victims know what they went through, and the youngsters with the alcohol vapored brains may have some recollection of it. But as one of the police officers stated, the police had received an F in the outcome test. In the same sentence, that officer also stated that “the police can’t be everywhere all the time”. And I wanted to comment on this statement.
But first, let me offer my sincere condolences to the family of the deceased. In a way, many of us Israelis, were there on the boardwalk that night. We were all walking down the path with our own families, and we were all attacked viciously. In a way, many of us died last Friday. Why? Because it could happen to each and every one of us. And if nothing changes and quickly, it will.
Second, let me voice my disgust, shock, and yes, fear. I am going through the realization that we live in a country with law and order, with no respect, with not a lot of hope. If a person can meet his death trying to protect his family in the most fundamental way, then we live in the jungle. And in the jungle, a different set of rules apply. In the jungle, in order to survive, you need to have sharper and longer teeth, larger claws, and you should be able to run. Run like hell.
Back to the police.
The police in Israel knows one song. It sings the song all the time, without deviation. Lyrics and tune are identical every year. The lead singer changes, but the song remains the same. Budget. The police’s song is about budget. “If”, they sing, “we had more budget, we could put more cops on the streets”. “If we had more budget, we could buy more police cruisers, protect more battered wives, lower the rates of car crashes. Budget is always missing, and when something really bad happens, the budget is always there to point to. And I say bull.
Lets take traffic police for example, or the armed forces of the Ministry of Finance. Their job, as opposed to what most people think, is not to make sure that drivers comply with traffic laws. Their job is to collect easy money for the police. The traffic police set radars along the expressways, where traffic conditions are near perfect, where the speed limit is artificial at best, and this is where they get you. However, if they had two unmarked police cars driving back and forth on the expressways, citing offenders on the spot, it could create awareness. Drivers may get the impression that someone is watching and paying attention. Overhead cameras on major highways are another (cheaper) way to do the exact same. And please don’t irritate the hell out of me with privacy bullshit. Nobody’s privacy is more important than road safety. In other words, try to explain to a widow, that her husband died in a car crash because we were concerned about privacy.
Lets take alcohol as another example. People who drink are much more likely to be engaged in criminal activity . We must choose. Fun over car crashes and dead people all around? Freedom of drinking over the right to live? People who want to drink themselves to oblivion, should do so in the privacy of their home or in a club. Following the alcohol binge, they should be hauled home at their own expense (but certainly not at their own hands). The streets should be alcohol free. Think about it: we fought for smoke free environment – so we can breathe freely. We should fight for alcohol free environment – so we can live to see tomorrow.
And empower parents too. Parents and teachers are already stripped of all instruments to educate and discipline. That must change and very quickly. A parent MUST have the instruments for preventing their children from associating with bad company, for engaging in criminal activity. Educators must be able to have some disciplinary instruments. Otherwise, the next thing we know will be chaos. We’re almost there.
I know I saw this sentence somewhere. But for the life of me I can’t remember where. In any case, I didn’t think it up.
“Why are you trying so hard to fit in, when you so clearly stand out?”
When it comes to exceptional, I can think of no better example other than Usane Bolt. By far, the most exceptional athlete ever.
My wife sent this poem and the preceding paragraph to me over the email the other day. She sent it in Hebrew, and having read it, I realized that the original was written in English. I looked it up and found it easily. My wife didn’t send it without a reason. She sent it because my father, who just turned seventy four, has been fading away in the last few years. The man who was, and still is, a wonderful father, a romantic husband, an outstanding grandfather, a diligent employee, an influential speaker and politician, has become quiet, withdrawn, melancholic and sad. My father turned old overtime. In the process, new people who never met him in the past, could get the wrong impression. I wanted to make sure that everyone knows. My father is not a crabby old man. He might look like one. He might even behave like one. But he absolutely is not. My father is fluent, sensitive, funny. He is interesting and knowledgeable. He has an amazing life experience. He speaks many languages. He has three children and ten grandchildren. He is a young man, full of life. He has many more years in front of him. And so do I.
Please, when you look at your parents, or even a strange older person on the street, think. Try to hear beyond the silence, try to look beyond the visible. Think of a young man starting out, think of sunny days at the beach with little children running around, think of a romantic love this person experienced, think of the excitement of grandchildren, birthdays, family trips, promotions, successes, weddings. When I look in my father’s eyes, I see it all. Happiness and joy, sadness, hopes, prides, dreams that came true and dreams that didn’t. When I look into my father’s eyes, I see my mother. I see myself, my sister and my brother. I see our children. We are a tribe, and my father is the Chief. He is not and never will be a crabby old man. He is and will always be my Dad!
Please read and remember: that crabby old man, is someone’s father and grandfather. He is someone’s husband. Respect him, his experience, his age. You have been blessed to having met him.
An old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte, Nebraska. It was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Missouri. The old man’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old man, with nothing left to give to world, is now the author of this ” anonymous” poem winging across the Internet.
Crabby Old Man
What do you see nurses? What do you see?
What are you thinking when you’re looking at me?
A crabby old man, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice “I do wish you’d try!”
Who seems not to notice the things that you do.
And forever is losing a sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse, you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of Ten with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now a lover he’ll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
But my woman’s beside me to see I don’t mourn.
At Fifty, once more Babies play ‘ round my knee,
Again, we know children My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me My wife is now dead.
I look at the future I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own.
And I think of the years And the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age .look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass A young guy still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells
I remember the joys I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living life over again.
I think of the years .all too few gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people open and see..
Not a crabby old man. Look closer see ME!!
I woke up one morning, I looked around, and I realized, the country I live in is experiencing anarchy. Now, that’s one big accusation to make against your homeland. It’s something, one would say, that should be done very carefully, very seriously, and has to be backed with hard evidence. I agree. I thought about it long and hard, and I realized that I was witnessing certain kinds of behaviors that I am not accustomed to see, and that these behaviors may suggest signs of anarchy.
Humans usually live within a social structure that represents families, communities, towns, cities, and other collections of people. In a family or larger communities, behaviors usually represent care that is beyond the care for an individual on his or her own. Complete strangers are still courteous, provide help, and manifest almost altruistic behaviors. It is when social structure breaks down, that one can observe behaviors that show concern for the individual only, or to his or her immediate family and circle of friends. My observation is that Israel is experiencing these changes in behaviors.
I always thought that a certain level of trust must exist between complete strangers, otherwise life as we know it cannot be sustained. For example, obeying traffic lights is almost a necessity in order for life to continue. A driver must have the confidence to cross an intersection when the traffic light is green, trusting (blindly) that his or her fellow drivers will stop at the red light presented on the other side of the intersection. If the drivers didn’t have this confidence or trust, they will simply stop at the intersection regardless of the color of the light. Same with stop signs. Pedestrians must trust drivers to obey the traffic lights. The hidden assumptions by pedestrians is that drivers will never start driving for as long as the traffic light is red. (I must add here that pedestrians are still required to make sure the road is safe to cross even when the lights are still red for the incoming traffic). People inherently accept standing in line. When we stop accepting lines, the strong will make it, the weak, old and very young will be stepped on and left for dead.
Up front let me state that I wish that the outcome of this exercise would have been that I was wrong. That it is only an observation based on little evidence, one personal experience, the media. I wish that my conclusion would be that I am proud and happy to carry the Israeli passport, pay the taxes, serve in the military. I wish that the outcome would suggest that against all odds, Jews were able to create in the middle east, something that nobody was able to create elsewhere. A state, respectful of its citizens, serving them day and night, with no discrimination, corruption. With full equality and representation. I really wish to be a proud Israeli.
Almost every Saturday, my family and I wake up early to the high pitched sound of a buckeye engine. A buckeye is a large parachute, connected to a fan driven by a gasoline based engine. Flying a buckeye is a respected recreational activity. I respect recreational activity as mush as the next guy. What I don’t respect is people flying over residential areas, at low altitude, endangering the communities and of course waking them up on their day off. Why is this associated with anarchy? Because it shows that the pilot is thinking of one thing only: his own R&R (relaxation and recreation). What he completely ignores is the safety and well being of the people living below his flight path. Individuals do that occasionally, they ignore the laws. But the police or other authorities (like the Civil Aviation Administration) sometimes show up and make them take responsibility for ignoring the law. Obviously, flying a buckeye is an activity which is difficult to hide. But when the police and the CAA are absent, and there’s no fear of the law – this is where anarchy lurks. Anarchy.
Unfortunately for me, I spend a lot of time on the road. The way people drive in Israel suggests two things: one that they don’t respect anything except their own time (rushing somewhere is a good enough reason to speed and ignore traffic rules and instructions), and second, that they don’t give a rat’s ass about the police. Speeding, car accidents, hit and runs, injured and dead, are a daily issue here. I assume it’s everywhere, but here it’s obvious disrespect. Anarchy.
This one has been true for years. If one’s car has been stolen, or one’s house burglarized, chances are that the possessions will never be recovered. The police has only one job in this equation: to issue a police report so one can claim the loss from the insurance company. Anarchy.
On occasion, a driver would need to make a bio break. Face it, sometimes one has to go. In the past, drivers would park the car on the shoulder, then walk away behind a tree or something to relieve themselves. I started to notice that drivers pull over and go right there and then, next to their cars. Shame disappeared. Anarchy.
Criminals shoot each other on the street causing “collateral damage” to innocent bystanders. Anarchy.
ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) driving in a group in the middle of the highway, speeding in residential areas, with no respect to other drivers, pedestrians or traffic laws and rules, endangering themselves and the other users of the road. Anarchy.
I must add that the government also makes sure that Israelis feel that they have been deserted. The government is not keeping the very basic contract between a citizen and the authorities. Education, clean air, water, security and safety, equality before the law. Anarchy.
Let me give an example, which involves the revealing of some very confidential information. Please keep it to yourself. Israel is located in the Middle East. Top secret number one. Israel, small as it is, has shores in two oceans (the Mediterranean on the west, and the Red Sea on the south). This secret involves national security, so please don’t tell. Large parts of Israel are desert. I know I can get in trouble for revealing this one. Lastly, Israel has experienced a drought in the last five or six years. Israel has been around for over sixty years, and so has the technology of water desalination. You would think that in 2009, the government in Israel would have had a dozen desalination plants. You would think that a state, claiming to belong to the First World, would have some technological advances like say its neighbors: Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar all are big in water desalination. Well, it has only two (I think). Their capacity is much larger than what the government lets them provide. Why? Because the Israeli government has come to the decision that it is more effective to tax water, while risking the drying of the only fresh water lake in Israel – the Sea of Galilee. Anarchy.
The education system is ridiculous, citizens of Israel are required to either teach their own children or pay someone else to do it for them. Israel, by the way, is proud of its free, open for all, education system. However, education in the periphery is not even close to education in the big city. Education for minorities is almost non existent. Accomplishments of Israeli students are getting lower and lower. Violence in the schools is rising. Soon enough we’ll have a literacy problem. Children have no education, no respect. All they have is brand names, TV games and third rate celebrities. Anarchy.
Ultra religious people are trashing the city of Jerusalem on a daily basis, throwing stones at the Mayor, demanding that a lady of their own, indicted for child abuse (denying food from a three years old child, inserting unidentified substances into his feeding tube) is released immediately. Demonstrating violently every Saturday because a parking lot was opened in the Old City of Jerusalem. No arrests (or very little) are made. Anarchy.
New soldiers, reporting to some battalion, were greeted with an acceptance ritual which included physical and mental abuse. Commanders and officers were sentenced to jail terms. The parents of the sentenced soldiers complained that their children were unfairly charged, as the rituals were traditional. Anarchy.
Recently, a Scout Leader course took place up north. As it turns out, the “children” took part in some “mischief”. This “mischief” included rape, forced sodomy, smearing feces on one another, and other interesting activities. Management of the Scouts tried at first to deny the whole thing. Anarchy.
It gets better actually. Settlers, residents of the West Bank, challenge the police and the armed forces on a daily basis. True to their names, they settle. Everywhere. A few families, a couple of motor homes, a tent for religious ceremonies, and a settlement is placed overnight. Literally, overnight. Then it takes months of legal litigation, evacuation attempts, more evacuation attempts. Success, and then more attempts. Civil resistance is somewhat acceptable to me. But not when the consensus is elsewhere. What’s interesting is that the police and the armed forces suffer the abuse, but very little arrests and indictments come out of this challenge. Palestinian also suffer from these activities. Their fields become inaccessible, the tress uprooted. They, unlike the settlers, have to fend for themselves. Anarchy.
The political system is broken, the administration at least feels as if it is corrupted to the bone. Indictments against a former Prime Minister, quite a few former ministers, current ministers and many other government officials are ongoing. The feeling is that the country is slipping away into the claws of disorder, unlawfulness, anarchy, and corruption. The amazing thing is that most Israelis will tell you that security, terrorism, Arabs (inside and outside Israel), are the real problem. I state clearly: if Israel continues on this path, a comprehensive peace in the Middle East will be a walk in the park. Israel will disappear and the Palestinian will inherit the land. If only they were patient enough to let it happen.
Self explanatory. No offense to my own mother-in-law…
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