2023-09-10 10:22:11
“It’s hard for me to think of another issue that is more urgent to address, maybe it’s just me,” Andrey (42), one of the founders of a new civil organization in the north that works to eradicate the phenomenon of children from the Palestinian Authority who are sent to collect alms at intersections in Israel, tells ‘Davar’.
“I tried to take steps to combat this phenomenon,” says Andrey, who lives in one of the settlements in Wadi Ara and prefers not to be identified by his full name. “I contacted the police and the government offices, but at some point I said that I can’t handle it alone, let’s look for other people who are bothered by it as much as it bothers me.”
“I started writing posts on Facebook and looking for more people, and that’s how I met Shirley, who lives in one of the settlements in the north, and sees this shocking phenomenon close to where she lives. She has been trying to do something about this phenomenon for years, and knows other people who are bothered by this problem. Together with them, we founded The WhatsApp group ‘The Children of the Intersections’, which already has 60 members who are personally bothered by this issue.”
“You pass by there, and you’re not sure you’ve seen a little boy”
The first time he was exposed to the phenomenon left a mark on him. “I was driving on Highway 65 towards Umm El Fahm,” he says, “at the intersection in Bartea I saw a young woman in her 20s sitting at the intersection, and a little boy, about 5 years old, was collecting alms on the road. He couldn’t even reach the window of the vehicle. I was in complete shock And I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“You pass by there, and I’m not sure you’ve seen a small child. I always told myself it couldn’t be, it must be a homeless person or a drug addict, for whom I also feel sorry, but children are a completely different story.”
Andrey stopped the car and approached the woman. “I asked her why the child wasn’t in school. She barely knew Hebrew, she said she was from the territories and that the situation at home was very harsh, there was no money and no food, so they collected alms. I didn’t know what to do.”
He called the police, where they assured him that they would take care of the matter. A short time later, he received an SMS message from the police that read ‘the disturber has been located and removed from the scene’. “I don’t know what shocked me more,” he recalled, “the case itself or the reaction of the police.” The next day we went to the Iron station, where it was explained that the station is in a national pilot, in which there is an attempt to understand how to deal with the phenomenon. The policeman told him there was nothing they could do about it.
Andrei did not give up. He contacted the office of the Minister of Internal Security, the office of the Minister of Welfare and the Ministry of Education, but each body transferred him to a different office, and they all said it was a systemic problem.
Handing out food and drink, meeting with the authorities
So far, dozens of volunteers and activists have joined the group founded by Andrey and his partners, who are trying to help in different ways. “The people in our group mainly distribute drinks and food, independently,” says Andrey, “some teachers, social workers, pensioners. We have no funding or association. We do the role of the authorities, and it is important for me to emphasize that we do not plan to replace the state.”
The members of the group began meeting with state officials to demand solutions to the situation: from police station commanders in the northern region, to MK Aida Toma Suleiman (Hadash-Ta’al) who dealt with the issue in the past. They plan to act until the phenomenon is eradicated.
A Palestinian boy collects alms at the Achihud junction in the Galilee (photo: Yahal Faraj)
Dozens of residents from all over the northern region participated in the group’s Zoom meeting: the settlements of Mashgav, Shlomi, Tarshiha, Acre, Ein Hamfaretz, Shemarat, Kfar Yasif and more. Each one told each one what motivated him to join the struggle, and what he did in the meantime to help the children. “I encounter this phenomenon at the Achihud intersection, at the Yasif intersection, and at the Makar intersection,” said S. from Kfar Yasif, “it’s a difficult problem, there is no address. In many cases, the children endanger themselves between the cars. I see quite a few cars with policemen who stand by, and do not move them. “
“The state should help, but I have less faith that anything will happen,” said Sh. His words reflect the prevailing spirit in the group of volunteers: if they are not there for the children, nothing will move.
“People need to wake up and demand answers, then maybe they’ll stop being ignored”
Andrey is frustrated by the indifference of both the government and the public. “What is most difficult for me in this reality is that the authorities do not make it a priority, and it sounds like no one cares about it, neither the government nor the general public. There are many demonstrations in this country, all of them are important, but you don’t see demonstrations of people in front of intersections demanding to do with It’s something. Personally, it’s hard for me to think of a more important issue than an 8-year-old child being exploited. This phenomenon puts us on par with third world countries, the most underdeveloped.”
“It’s easy for the police to deal with children and not with pimps,” he emphasizes, “it’s not that difficult – what’s the problem with documenting the operators who don’t hide themselves? This is also only the tip of the iceberg, but the police know how to do much more complex things. And the Ministry of Welfare decides not to deal with children Without them being in immediate danger, and they do not see this reality as a clear danger. The state is responsible for the children being exploited on the road in its territory, and should not throw them over the fence – the exploitation is happening on the territory of the State of Israel.”
For him, the only possibility for change is public pressure. “You look at it, you see an 8-9 year old child at one in the morning collecting alms, on a rainy day or on a hot day. You don’t allow your child to leave the house that day, and another child is standing on the road, cars and people pass by on the road at intersections, and most don’t care, they are transparent Totally. Looks like Charles Dickens stories, only it’s not happening in the 19th century, but here and now. More people need to wake up and demand answers on this issue, and then maybe they’ll stop being ignored.”
***
‘Davar’ closely followed the children who stand for whole days at intersections and roads instead of going to school, and after their operators. The series of articles was built from dozens of hours of observation in the field, conversations with lawyers, human rights activists and government officials, in an attempt to trace the causes of the phenomenon and the ways to change it.
For more articles in the series:
Boy. cross section. Money: a close look at the Palestinian children who are sent to collect alms at intersections in Israel
In the eyes of law enforcement, the Palestinian children at the intersections are not victims, but criminals
A Palestinian boy who collected alms in Israel was sent by his ’employer’ to stab another person. His testimony reveals that he was held in slave conditions
Children shower in Shiver, the operators count shekels in the shade: exclusive documentation of the exploitation system behind the children at the intersections
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