You can quote me on this - Israel is not far from becoming a fully-fledged third-world country.
The annual growth rate, bank revenues and diminishing national debt ain't gonna change it. Neither will pronouncements of "war against poverty" or a "revolution of national priorities."
The third worldness does not lie in newspaper headlines and annual reports. It lies on the streets of the country. It is the consistently growing number of homeless people on the streets, intersection beggars who scrape money off cars at traffic lights. It is the inhumane directives and procedures of social-support mechanisms such as the National Insurance Institute. And it lies at the doorstep of the rich and priviliged.
Last night I went to a house party in Savion, which could probably be compared with Rochester, NY. I was so pleased to be hosted by such successful and yet generous people, who opened up their home to me. However, one thing spoiled the experiecne for me: A little bungalow at the entrance to the community/suburb, for a nightwatchman to monitor the entry of vehicles during the night.
Savion is a community in central Israel, which should be open to the public like any other commuity. It is not privately owned by its residents. But it is protected by them from theft and robbery in a manner that acknowledges defeat. Why did we get to the point where the houses of the rich must be surrounded by a wall and a moat, and entry to a community should be monitored like at a gate of military barracks?
It is because the residents of Savion, or Caesarea (our Hamptons if you will), or Herzliya Pituach, goaded one government after another to secure their interests without heed of the consequences.
The rich have every right to be rich. The individuals who have worked hard to secure their future and comfortable present, have every right to what they own. However, as a key influence on the country's decision makers, they owe it to themselves as much as to the rest of the public, to observe the common good, not only their own.
Walls are built to be torn down. Just like Berlin, the Security Wall around the West Bank, the bricks laid for the sake of the bridge will be taken apart one by one. Unless they themselves do something about it, that is.
The annual growth rate, bank revenues and diminishing national debt ain't gonna change it. Neither will pronouncements of "war against poverty" or a "revolution of national priorities."
The third worldness does not lie in newspaper headlines and annual reports. It lies on the streets of the country. It is the consistently growing number of homeless people on the streets, intersection beggars who scrape money off cars at traffic lights. It is the inhumane directives and procedures of social-support mechanisms such as the National Insurance Institute. And it lies at the doorstep of the rich and priviliged.
Last night I went to a house party in Savion, which could probably be compared with Rochester, NY. I was so pleased to be hosted by such successful and yet generous people, who opened up their home to me. However, one thing spoiled the experiecne for me: A little bungalow at the entrance to the community/suburb, for a nightwatchman to monitor the entry of vehicles during the night.
Savion is a community in central Israel, which should be open to the public like any other commuity. It is not privately owned by its residents. But it is protected by them from theft and robbery in a manner that acknowledges defeat. Why did we get to the point where the houses of the rich must be surrounded by a wall and a moat, and entry to a community should be monitored like at a gate of military barracks?
It is because the residents of Savion, or Caesarea (our Hamptons if you will), or Herzliya Pituach, goaded one government after another to secure their interests without heed of the consequences.
The rich have every right to be rich. The individuals who have worked hard to secure their future and comfortable present, have every right to what they own. However, as a key influence on the country's decision makers, they owe it to themselves as much as to the rest of the public, to observe the common good, not only their own.
Walls are built to be torn down. Just like Berlin, the Security Wall around the West Bank, the bricks laid for the sake of the bridge will be taken apart one by one. Unless they themselves do something about it, that is.
posted by Orr at 1:39 pm
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