Occupied Jerusalem- It is not yet clear how the war between Israel and Iran will end, but it is certain that Shelter It returned to the top of the scene, from deserted and neglected spaces, including the smells of “mold”, to the most sought -after commodity in the time of emergency.
The Israelis are no longer satisfied with hiding in the homes of the stairs or internal rooms, as in previous wars with Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) or HouthisThe Iranian threat, with its accurate and explosive missiles, imposed a new reality that leaves no room for negligence.
With the intensification of Iranian missile attacks and the expansion of the confrontation, the reality revealed – during the past days – a dark image, in terms of the acute shortage of the number of shelters, unprecedented overcrowding, and lack of minimal readiness and services.
Dilapidated shelters
In major cities such as Tel Aviv andHaifa AndJerusalemAnd even in towns close to the fronts of the fighting, thousands of Israelis found themselves running towards dilapidated general shelters, some of which are closed, others are not useful and more like a waste complex. In the absence of a ready -made infrastructure for the emergency, these spaces turned into a symbol of the absence of “justice” in the distribution of protection.
In addition, the incident of the fall of the missile in the city of Beth Tikva, located on the ruins of the abandoned town of Makhbas, in which a couple was killed as a result of a direct injury to a shelter, increased the concern of the Israeli population, and questioned the effectiveness of these protected areas.
For decades, Israel gradually withdrew from the responsibility for preparing shelters, and these spaces were privatized inside residential buildings, and protection has become mortgaged with material ability, whoever has money lives in an apartment that includes a safe safe room, and whoever does not have, is left to a general shelter that lacks the lowest elements of safety.
According to the report of the state observer, retired Judge Yousseif Shapira for the year 2018, only 38% of Israelis have shelters inside their homes, while the rest depend on old and neglected public shelters or do not have any protection.
With the escalation of the war between Israel andIranThis gap has emerged clearly, as many did not find shelter soon and had to travel long distances under the sirens, while others complained of poor ventilation and lack of water, or even the lack of lighting in the shelters that have been accumulated in some of them.
In this context, a scandal emerged in the city of “Bani Barak” when the residents who rushed to several general shelters discovered that it was closed, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Some of them told the newspaper that the closure of the shelter saved lives, as it was possible to detain those inside it under the rubble, while others considered this an excuse to justify the failure.
Deep failure
Another shelter is used as a semester at a religious institute and another as a rescue organization, all of which were closed. Some residents broke the locks with ax after the municipality ignored their repeated calls. The municipal council member, Yaqoub Wider, described the scandal, saying: “It is not possible that public shelters are closed in the most crowded cities of Israel, and at the height of the war.”
For its part, the editor of the magazine “Marker Wake” says that this reality has re -raised serious questions about Israel’s responsibility to protect its citizens, and to read the home front for a long war or strategic surprises, noting that the Iranian threat has reactivated the danger, but it is also a profound failure in the civil defensive structure that is supposed to be the last protection line for society.
“Day after day, the stories come from Israelis who are rushing to clean and prepare shelters, and others who are prevented from entering neighboring shelters, because they are private. It is transmitted on the media a tweet to a person who narrated how his aunt was expelled from the shelter of one of the buildings, due to the overcrowding, and the residents commented a sign that says: the refuge is private; it will not be allowed to enter visitors.”
According to her, the reality in general shelters is dark, from overcrowding, absence of ventilation, dilapidated plastic chairs, interrupted phone coverage, and complete absence of any emergency services. And children who sleep in their fortified homes continue their lives almost naturally, while those who are forced to resort to general shelters every night, they lose their sleep and psychological safety.
Georgi explained that the gap in protection is clear between the social classes in Israel, as about 55% of the population belonging to the highest segment in the economic social classification in housing equipped with protection means, compared to less than 30% among the population in the lower segment.
In many marginalized Arab towns and the Jewish neighborhoods, residents find only bridges or concrete tubes as temporary shelters, which reflects the clear discrimination in the level of safety and protection available to weak groups.
She added that since the fifties the state has been building and maintaining shelters, but in recent decades the responsibility has been privatized. And “today, maintenance is the responsibility of the population, and the result is thousands of general and private shelters without supervision, some of which are transformed into drug dens or waste of waste.”
Official negligence
After the first Gulf War, Israel imposed on every new building to allocate a protected room, but even these rooms – according to a report by the Haaretz newspaper – were subjected to economic standards and turned into a commodity in the real estate market, granted to those who can pay.
The newspaper quoted socially anthropology, Amalia Saar, from Haifa University, as saying that “the privatization of civil protection has turned security into an economic concession; the poor run into closed or dilapidated shelters, and the rich possess luxury shelters inside their homes.”
“From Tel Aviv to NegevThe scenes are repeated, closed shelters, and another flooded by wastewater, or is filled with waste. In some neighborhoods inhabited by religious Jewish families, shelters have turned into sweeping and study rooms. Elsewhere, no one knows what is there. “
She pointed out that civil societies such as “Create a neighborhood” have intervened to restore hundreds of shelters in recent years, often with the help of volunteers. But the problem, according to experts, is not in funding, but in the absence of the state’s commitment to the home front.
The researcher concluded by saying that “the war with Iran was not only considered the consideration of the refugees, but also exposed the state’s neglect of decades. And if there is a spark of hope, it is in civil society initiatives and in the stories of popular solidarity. But this does not dispense with the need for a comprehensive national policy that returns to the internal front what it lost, a sense of security and safety.”