One of the well-known verses in the book of Amos says, "Thus saith the LORD concerning the three transgressions of Israel, and against the four, I will not reprove them with their silver, or with silver, or with silver."
As I followed the forced evacuation of the last families in Givat Amal last week, this verse resonated strongly.
The houses of the last families who clung to Givat Amal were destroyed, but the memory of the struggle will not fade. This story is a continuum of ongoing injustice, from the Ben-Gurion promise to families transferred there by the defense in 1948, who would remain there until they were transferred to permanent structures. This went on to hide their first right to buy the property, so that private companies could buy the rights to the land and transfer it right next door "for shoes".
The "real estate gold" has brought the developers Teshuva and Kozhinoff to exercise ownership at all costs in recent years. The evacuation could have been avoided, if only the government had signed the agreement reached by the residents with Teshuva and the Ministry of Justice. The basic right to housing - which is not enshrined in basic legislation in Israel - has been violated. Dozens of families were thrown into the street and will have to rely on the "goodwill" of the developers, of the parties (the Labor Party pledged coalition funds in favor of the compensation outline. Aspire) and of the rental assistance of the Ministry of Housing, whether it comes or not.
Givat Amal has become a symbol, in part because of its attractive location for entrepreneurs.
The case of the families there is not private.
In Tel Aviv, communities in Kfar Shalem and Abu Kabir are struggling with attempts to evacuate and destroy, without outlining compensation for the veteran residents.
Many more communities were required to leave their homes in 1948, with promises of permanent housing that never materialized.
This is the story of many Bedouin tribes in the Negev.
They are also trampled on for their nationality, but it turns out that even poor and Oriental Jews do not enjoy a much improved fate.
Man's safe place is in big question among too many Israeli citizens, and requires real mobilization for lifelong solutions in homes without protection and without connection to the most elementary infrastructure of existence.
The housing market in Israel has become a source of huge profits, and much less an expression of state responsibility.
The shrinking of public housing units in Israel from 200,000 in the 1980s to about 60,000 today, with a dual population, is just one painful example.
Midrash Tanchuma H. says: "He who is in the dark sees what is in the light. And he who is in the light does not see what is in the dark."
We did not see enough of the residents of Givat Amal when they were in their homes for 73 years.
I wish we could see the need to ensure proper recognition and compensation for evacuees, and see the families at risk of evacuation from now on.
