Why are mayors so afraid of Israeli Arabs?/Reuven Castro
Why do mayors of cities considered liberal and free, such as Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Bat Yam and Ramat Gan, refuse to open construction sites? We saw the reason for this yesterday: they are afraid of Israeli Arabs. Maybe we'll also close hospitals, pharmacies and mass transit systems because there are Israeli Arabs there?
The contractors are shocked, but not only they, but also the Interior and Housing Ministers (Shas and Torah Judaism, let us recall) and the Home Front Command do not understand – after issuing letters to the mayors declaring that closing construction sites in their areas is neither required nor legally correct.
So yes, there is a big problem with the Palestinian workers, 90,58 in number. But what's the problem? They are in lockdown until further notice anyway. So what's the problem? Why should Ahmed Arif, 40, an Arab-Israeli foreman for <> years, one of my dearest and favorite people, who works every day with dignity at the Ramat Gan site to support his family, have to be expelled from the site in disgrace?
Do we want to create baseless hatred or unfounded love? Yesterday, we exposed the scandal that many municipalities in the center of the country refuse to open construction sites because of fear. Following the publicity and media noise we created, the gates of many municipalities were opened to permit construction - such as the mixed city of Lod, Kfar Saba, Yokneam and many other cities. However, many mayors still refuse to open construction sites. Why? God knows.
The housing market will collapse, housing prices will soar - see my warning
Look at what Ran Connick, mayor of Givatayim, one of my favorite mayors, writes: "Dear residents, as you know, one of the first decisions we made 11 days ago was to stop the work of construction sites, improve the city's infrastructure, and so on. This decision is now under attack by all legal and public tools by the contractors, backed by legal opinions that these are Israeli Arab workers with blue ID cards, similar to workers in hospitals and the like, whom we deny their livelihood. This is a complex issue, and the legal authority is still being tested. The contractors' claims are completely understandable, the harm to people who do their work to earn a living is also clear, on the other hand, the situation is very sensitive and not yet clear, so the decision of a number of authorities, including us (including Tel Aviv as of now) is not to approve yet. I assume that the court will have to have its say on the matter."
And we ask: why, why and again why? No answer.
We are destroying with our own hands the soft ground on which we sit. And I haven't even started talking about the state of the shattered housing market, housing prices will become a black diamond. I have been warned.
I will conclude with the response of the Center for Victims of Racism: "In these painful and difficult times, we all have the responsibility to act with restraint and tolerance, and to avoid tarnishing an entire public and harming its livelihood. Preventing the employment of Arab citizens of Israel, or of any person because of his origin, is a violation of the law and therefore a blanket prohibition on employment should be avoided. The mayors must stop issuing these illegal orders."
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