In all my years as a journalist, I have reported from hundreds of murder scenes and run between cemeteries and mourning tents. All arenas are hard, the bitter coffee taste is the same, and the pain - the same pain. Sharp, deep and unbearable.
But this should not be the default. Let me be clear: an Arab child is not born a criminal – life makes him so. The socioeconomic status, the lack of basic infrastructure in the village, the quality of the playground facilities on the street, the sewage flowing through the streets, the inadequate solutions offered by the neighborhood community center, which is supposed to replace wandering on the street, and minimal personal security.
Years ago, clan dignitaries had control. Everyone knew what was happening in his environment. A fight between children would end on the spot, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. A family feud would usually end in Sulha. But since then control has diminished, and those times have passed.
"An Arab child is not born a criminal." The scene of the shooting in Kafr Kana, Photo: Gil Eliyahu/Ginny
The technology brought about by the third millennium enabled the Arab citizen sitting in the living room of his home in the village to see the world through television, computers and smartphones, and the enlightened and developed world was revealed to all.
And then the bitter truth became clear: the infrastructure is the same – and the world is racing forward. While one lives the good life, dresses in the best clothes and drives luxury cars, the other has no water in the tap, because Mekorot cut off the village due to debt.
The five murdered in the village of Yafia in the background of the scene, photo: MDA operational documentation
An Arab boy plays on the street because he doesn't have cultural centers, extracurricular activities or proper educational frameworks. After school, he finds himself working in the fruit and vegetable market to support his multi-child family – unless he finds himself in the world of crime, where he finds the money, honor and power.
The fringe boy drops out of school and joins the underworld as a soldier in order to serve shady people. At first he is embraced, but very quickly he becomes their judge. He becomes a mercenary, without a profession and without a future. The bullet in the neighborhood court turns into a 9mm bullet, one that kills and does not distinguish between the sides. Today it is him - and tomorrow it could be you.
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