51 years ago, the Black Panther movement arose in the Mosrara neighborhood in Jerusalem, because of the establishment's disregard for social problems.
People took to the streets, the country was on fire.
The Prime Minister, Golda Meir, said of the protesters that "they are not nice", but she could not ignore the sharp wave of anger that washed over the country.
Musrara of the year 2022 is already much more organized.
Instead of sewage flowing through the alleys, this is a quiet and sought-after neighborhood, and instead of the makeshift field where some of the Beitar Jerusalem team players starred, there is now a polished field near the local community center.
At the community center we met the head of the house, Shimon Levy, one of the Panthers of the 1970s. Once a militant and nervous young man, today he is a seven-battle adult who recently celebrated his 70th birthday.
"If there were twenty people like me today, we would make a noise that 30 thousand people are unable to make," Levy smiles bitterly.
"We knew how to make a mess. Every day we would come to a different area, turn cars over, burn, run away, and then a group like us would show up. In Beer Sheva, in Tiberias. I remember going to Yeruham, to join guys. The whole settlement was waiting for us, including a police jeep, And after an hour we were arrested. They brought us to Dimona. They told the judge, 'These have come to violate the public order.'
"trying to survive"
Shimon was born in Moserara and still lives in the neighborhood today.
He has three children, none of them have their own apartment.
His daughter lives with him with her two children.
"How time has passed quickly and they still talk to me about poverty," he sighed.
"I can go protest and shout, but who will hear me?! I hardly speak. The Black Panthers were not founded at the time, they arose spontaneously because we had nothing to eat.
"Today, hungry people go out to demonstrate? Some rich man comes and pays for breakfast, lunch and dinner for them, so they sit there like in a camp. Those who don't fight from the stomach don't know what it is to be poor. You don't get dressed, shave and go out to demonstrate. If a woman goes to a demonstration with a stroller A baby that costs 3,000 shekels, what exactly is difficult for her? Today if you don't have it, you go to the bank and ask for 1,000 shekels. They give it, you go into debt and roll over. You can't fight for something that already exists."
"Those who don't fight from the stomach don't know what it is to be poor."
Levi,
You see around you people who are struggling.
"But they don't go out into the streets, because he and his wife have to work two jobs to make ends meet. There is no time. He comes home from work, his wife is just going on shift. He has to take care of the children, so would he have the nerve to protest?! When I was young, I knew I had to take care of my wages in the morning and in the evening to the revolution, and when I got married I left everything because they make you work by keeping the house. All the time you're just trying to survive. Renters, thieves, drug dealers - they all survive, and then they're promised that if they participate in the lottery, they might win a discounted apartment. Work in the eyes."
A short tour of Moserara reveals that despite the change it has undergone, the distress still exists there.
"I have lived here for 19 years," says Siglit Cohen, a single mother of two sons, a soldier and a high school student.
"Ten years ago the owner of the house said 'Bring 90 thousand dollars and buy the apartment'. That sounds like a lot to me, where would I get such an amount? Today if he said '90 thousand dollars' I would rob a bank," she says with a smile.
According to her, "My dream is an apartment and I have no way to fulfill it. Now I plan that my pension will be the beginning of buying an apartment for my children. If people are saving to live comfortably after retirement, I don't mind living like a slave - the main thing is to see my sons settled."
The revolution will wait
Siglat is an eloquent and educated woman, currently studying for a master's degree in social work.
"On the one hand, I want to develop because maybe it will improve my salary, on the other hand, I spend money to study. It's a vicious circle," she explains.
The Black Panthers.
They won the street, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"When my children were little, I could say 'take a lollipop, mommy loves you,' but with teenagers it's 'mommy, buy me shoes,' and we're talking about expensive brands. And what about the holidays that are coming up now? The narrowest list costs a lot. I don't even Buy vegetables today, because when you have to pay rent there are things you give up. Fortunately for my children, I know how to bake and cook from scratch, but what will the others do?"
Violet is not one of the cases the retired Black Panther was talking about.
Days when they had no clothes and no food.
She is a neat woman, owns a dog, but she does not hide the lack.
"I remember that if I used to go to the supermarket with NIS 200, I would leave with five bags. Today, the amount is barely enough for a bag and a half," she says.
"So much so that I sometimes say to the cashier, 'Can you check if there's a mistake?'. It's the worst."
I asked Siglit why she and her friends don't go out into the streets, like Shimon Levi did 51 years ago.
"There is social media and everyone writes their opinion on it, and that's how people get their satisfaction," she tried to explain.
"If it wasn't, I'm sure cars would be overturned, and I'm not a violent type. Because of the cost of living, people can't afford it either. They calculate, 'If I go out to protest now, I'll lose a day of work and then I probably won't make it through the month.' People don't have time take care of the urgent matters".
"We were champions in turning the country around."
The Black Panthers, photo: Moshe Milner / L.A.M
The former leaders of the rebellion, Charlie Beaton, Saadia Marciano and Reuven Abergel, are no longer in the picture, having completely disappeared from view.
The cry for help, if it is heard, is usually quiet and polite, certainly not one that will bring down governments.
"I have a fantasy," says Levy.
"Lifting the Knesset building on a crane and putting it to sail in the ocean. Believe me, all the parties are the same, only promising and promising - and nothing happens on the ground."
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