Harish
HarishIsrael news photo: Harish-Katzir Local Counci

The 200 Jewish families of the lower Galilee town of Harish say they are being victimized by the 10 Arab crime families in their midst.

Yesterday, during a Sabbath afternoon siesta in a park, one Arab youth threw a rock directly at a baby in a stroller – which was intercepted at the last second by the baby’s father, whose hand was bloodied as a result.

We demand that the Public Security Ministry provide a work plan that will produce results, and will turn Harish into a normal town – before the whole country turns into Harish.

The Arab youth then proceeded to throw another rock at the town’s rabbi, who ducked, and then at a few cars on his way home. The incident began when the youth demanded to use the playground facilities "out of turn."

Yeshayahu S., a resident, told Israel National News, “The problem is that the Arabs are crime families who were relocated to our town from the central Israel Jewish-Arab city of Lod because of gang and clan wars in which they were involved. When we complain to the police, they file counter complaints with no basis in fact – but the police don’t know how to deal with them. So it ends up that these few Arab youths are able to victimize the rest of us.”

Yeshayahu said that at present, “the problem is only with the youths, but the potential for conflagration is always there.”

“This time, it almost ended in death of a baby; who knows what will be next time? … I can say that for us, the option of using violence is a foreign one – but it could be that we will have to learn it.”

Jews of Harish wrote a letter of complaint to the Public Security Ministry, and were happy to learn that a response was returned the very same day. “The answer was fairly general – ‘we are dealing with the problem,’ etc. – but the speed with which they responded could be indicative that they realize there is a grave problem here.”

“The public has despaired of turning to the police,” the residents' letter states, “because they police are unable to act. We filed a complaint, but the [crime] family – well-experienced in working ‘with’ the police, rushed to file a counter-complaint. The police told us they must be even-handed, meaning that anyone who is attacked by a criminal figure and asks for redress is liable to find himself with a criminal file and with no guarantee that justice will be served.”

“The Arab culture dictates the police agenda here,” the residents wrote, “and the price is paid by regular citizens in the form of his lost personal security… A vicious cycle is underway: The police are unable to do their job, the citizens lose their trust in the police and don’t file complaints, they don’t serve in the volunteer Civil Guard, the police can’t work, and round and round we go… We in Harish demand that the Public Security Ministry provide a work plan that will produce results, and will turn Harish into a normal town – before the whole country turns into Harish.”

A city of up to 50,000 Jews – mostly hareidi-religious – is planned for Harish, though actual work on the ground has not yet begun. At present, the town is populated by a religious-Zionist community of 65 families, a smaller group of Breslover Hassidim, and assorted others.