A bloody summer in Israel – who’s to blame?

August 19, 2009 - 9:27 AM by David · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Crime, General, Israeliness, Life

polece Murders take place everywhere, and thanks to Herzl’s wish that Israel develop a modern society like all other nations, we have our share of homocides. More than our share, if you’ve been reading the news the last couple of weeks.

Some of the lowlights – A 60-year-old man enjoying a walk near the beach in Tel Aviv with his family was accosted by a gang of youths from Jaljulya and beaten to death; Two dismembered female bodies have been found in seemingly separate incidents; and yesterday, a Jerusalem tenant who had been terrorizing his neighbors for weeks, stabbed and killed his landlord.

However, despite the gruesome horror that these murders evoke, and the increasing feeling that senseless, unmotivated murder is on the rise, the statistics show that there’s been no increase in murder this year over any other year.

According to the stats released by the Israel Police, who have been the targets of media scorn during the current murder spate, seventy-two people were murdered in Israel from the start of 2009 until August 15. During the same period in 2008, 73 murders were recorded, and 79 murders were recorded over the same period in 2007. In 2006, 92 people had been murdered by August 15.

In 2008, 122 people were murdered. While that represents a rise from 2007, during which 116 were murdered, 2006 saw 147 murders. In 2005, the total stood at 162, while in 2004, 168 murders were recorded by police.

So despite the sensational aspect of the August murders, we’re on par in 2009 for the decreasing annual rate of murders. What sets August 2009 apart, however, is that the media has chosen to focus on these hideous crimes because it’s a slow news month – not much happening on the Israeli-Palestinian front, either on the ground or at the negotiating table, impending conflict with Hizbullah is still on hold, and we’re not ready to attack Iranian nukes quite yet.

So what are you going to fill that air time and pages up with? According to the old newspaper adage, ‘if it bleeds it leads.’ What I find annoying besides the huge headlines and photos touting an escalation in violence, is the condescending attitude of the TV news broadcasters toward the police. ‘Why aren’t you doing more to prevent these murders,?” they accusingly ask top police officials, when the question is all wrong.

The real question is when Israeli society is going to change, and people are going to start educating their children to be non-violent. And when is the government going to allocate a budget to education that will prohibit the current norms of having 40 pupils in a classroom with one teacher? Those are the questions that should be asked, not what is the police doing about it? It’s time to take responsibility ourselves. And newspapers blowing things out of proportion with huge bloody photos doesn’t seem to be a helpful step in the right direction.

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