Marsh's update from Kiryat Shmona
Monday night, July 31, 2006 (Day 19)It's been a quiet day in Lake Wobegon. er, Kiryat Shmona. Well, fairly quiet, if you don't count the noise of the artillery. Even that was less constant and dreadful than it has been for the last two and a half weeks.
What many of you have seen on TV here horrifies many of the residents; a few loud and belligerent people are in no way reflective of the town as a whole. The frustrations of living in the shelters, not working, and primarily, of having to be dependent on others, can sometimes bring out the worst in people. Each neighborhood center has seen its share of demanding people, but for the most part, people are grateful for the help and the donations. Many are embarrassed by the fact of needing such support. One woman brings her own dark plastic bag to collect the hot meals she needs for herself and children, so that other people won't see her carrying them.
Yesterday, we got a call from the social services office [Lishkat Harevacha], authorizing such meals for a family, and a few minutes later, the father of the family showed up. Alex (not Russian born, despite the name) needed Similac, Gerber, diapers [nappies], milk, whatever we could give him, and seemed at first to be quite demanding. But as we started gathering what he needed, and explaining what was available, he became much friendlier and more appreciative. When I went to give him the hot meals, he wouldn't accept them, saying his kids wouldn't eat them, and so he wouldn't take them; he had food enough at home. That emboldened me to mention that the supermarket and Superpharm were open, and stocked all of the items we were giving him.
So he explained that he would gladly buy them, only he had literally run out of money. That was why he seemed demanding at first - he was uncomfortable finding himself in the position he was in. Alex is a sub-contractor - a driver. He works for another contractor, whose business is in Nahariya. Neither Alex nor his "boss" have worked for almost three weeks, since the war began. His boss cannot afford to pay Alex, and so Alex has maxed out his withdrawals at the ATM [Caspomat]. He doesn't have a credit card. I was a little skeptical about that, seeing that he had a cellular phone, and the cellular phone companies require a credit card. However, he explained to me that even the cellular phone belongs to his boss from Nahariya. Alex has 4 children at home, plus his married daughter and her infant, who is staying with her parents for the duration.
Kiryat Shmona is not a rich town, although many residents are well off. Of course we have a sizeable number of really needy people, which is the image most people have of Kiryat Shmona and other development towns. The reality is that most of the town's population are hard-working people. They own apartments or even houses, cars, color TV sets, all the trappings of modern Israeli life. However, many, many people are like Alex, and live hand-to-mouth. The loss of even one pay check can have very serious, even disastrous, repercussions.
A similar situation is faced by our neighbors in the surrounding moshavim and moshvot, even the kibbutzim. The fruit is literally rotting on the trees; even if they had people to pick them, in many cases the army is not letting the farmers into their orchards. They have spent all year investing in this year's crop of fruit; some farmers go deeply into debt during the year, until they sell their produce. If they don't receive government compensation, many will face bankruptcy, even some acquaintances of mine, who are considered leaders in their communities.
The chickens aren't laying eggs, nor are the cows producing their regular quantities of milk. There is virtually no branch of agriculture in the region that isn't being seriously and devastatingly affected by the war.
Many owners of tzimmers - bed and breakfasts - are facing financial problems as wel.. For many years, many moshavniks have been unable to make a living at farming, and turned to tourism for their income. Investing heavily in constructing and maintaining the facilities, and working hard in providing services, such families depend on the summer tourists for their annual income. Even if the war ends tomorrow, experience has been that the tourists won't return in significant numbers this summer. I was visiting friends last week at a moshav (yes, even in the midst of the threat, we do some visiting) who make their living at renting out their tzimmers. Their facilities had been booked solid throughout the summer; three weeks have already gone by, and of course not one guest had shown up.
Tomorrow, the Knesset is voting on the compensation for salaried employees. The politicians will debate about which employees should get compensation, who pays for it, and how much they will get. No one in government has even seriously begun to address the issues of small businessmen, like Alex (yes, he's a businessman, too), or of Suzy the hairdresser, or David in Metulla, the Davidpors in Margaliot, the Asafs or Levis or Tzurs or .. who own tzimmers in the moshavim.
A poor town, of mostly hard-working people, has suddenly become much, much poorer. A great deal of energy is required now, to withstand the shells and the noise. Even more energy and resources will be required to rebuild, but that will be out of the public spotlight. National interest will have shifted elsewhere, and the resources will follow those interests. Promises made now will perforce be reduced by budgetary constraints, and the vast size and scope of the rebuilding required. My concern is that the Alexes of the community and the region will fall between the cracks.
And that's the news from Kiryat Shmona. Or should I call it Mt. Wobegon?
