SPECIAL POST

GROSS IRREGULARITIES ON THE PART OF THE TZFAT (SAFED), ISRAEL MUNICIPALITY DURING THE WAR WITH LEBANON

It's high time that this was made widely known outside Israel. I am ashamed of myself for having hesitated to broadcast this information earlier. My son was in the army and I was constrained to keep my silence.

Now that he has been released from the army, I searched for, and found, the message below, addressed to a cousin, in which I described the rip off on the part of the Municipal workers of Tzfat (Safed) during the Lebanon war last summer.

I'm making up for that mistake now and will make this known outside Israel because NO ONE HAS BEEN PROSECUTED OR EVEN CENSURED even though it is known exactly who the perpetrators are and a report, including the personal reports of those who suffered during the war as a result of what you will read below, was served to the State Ombudsman.

The workers at the Tzfat Municipality continue to work (usually until about 13:00 - that's supposed to be full-time) with the same sense of security, entitlement and lavishing "extras" on themselves that they did before the war in Lebanon - even as the City of Tzfat is on the verge of economic collapse and a programme of financial "recovery" so draconian is being discussed that we may not have lights in the streets at night or regular garbage removal.

Getting back to what happened during the war with Lebanon last summer:

1) 1000 of the 5000 meals that were donated by a charity went unaccounted for every day. The worker at the Municipality who was in charge of distribution told local reporters that he was told to put the 1000 meals aside daily and to leave no written record as to having received them.

2) A truck load full of air conditioners that were donated for the poorly-ventilated, sweltering bomb shelters vanished into, well, thin air.

3) Ditto for the TVs that were donated. In contradistinction, the workers of the Municipality (that is, the 17 out of 350 who didn't desert the city entirely) arranged deluxe, "VIP" shelters for themselves, replete with color TV, A/C and Internet.

4) The free days in hotels, including free meals, that were donated by the hotels themselves and were specifically designated for the infirm and elderly first and foremost were, instead, used by workers in the Municipality. As the result of not getting one of those rooms, one woman whose 8-year-old handicapped, wheelchair-bound daughter, who must be kept in sterile conditions, contracted an infection and had to be hospitalized. Some relative of some worker of the City got the room that little girl should have had. No matter, eventually she got a nice room - in the hospital.

5) A huge number of disposable diapers that was donated likewise disappeared. What the hell can someone do with tons of nappies???

As a result of most of the Municipality workers running for the own lives and leaving us here to die, the army sent in a regiment of reserve soldiers to run the city. They did an exemplary job of handling the exigencies, but the danger of the precedent of being deserted by the democratically-elected government of the city and being governed almost entirely by high-ranking officers in the army need not be elaborated upon.

I am LIVID. I am also mobilized and galvanized to speak up about this.


RECENT DEVELOPMENTS SINCE I FIRST DISSEMINATED THIS:

I received the e-mail message below from a member of the Tzfat Municipality. As the English is so poor, I thought it was spam and almost deleted it. Just as I was about to, I realized the name was vaguely familiar.

I opened it and found the following message, which, I have checked with a lawyer to make sure that I can repost it. I am fully within my legal rights to do so.

This is the content of the message:

Subject: "EVEN DO U R PROBABLY RIGHT

HI DOREEN I HAVE BEEN READING U R ARTICLE ABOUT THE THEFT DURING THE WAR AND EVEN DO U R PROBABLY RIGHT THAT THIS MAYOR AND WORKERS R CORRUPT U R EFFECTING OUR FUTURE REHABILITATION OF THE CITY I ASK U TO CONSIDER TAKING DOWN THE ARTICLE"

I fail to see entirely how keeping this information quiet will positively affect the "rehabilitation of the city".

I am of the opinion that the only thing that will rehabilitate the city is the prosecution of all those who were involved, and a complete revamping of the Municipality and how the city is run.

At this juncture, I will keep the name of the member of the Municipality to myself. However, during the course of the upcoming campaign; I may decide to publish the letter, with the name, including a translation.

If this person decides to run for Mayor of Tzfat, or openly supports a candidate; I will publish this letter with his name asking why this person is defending people who left residents of Tzfat for dead during the war.

Someone on the Tzfat Yahoo! list described me as "incorruptible". Evidently, the person who wrote that e-mail to me does not know the meaning of the word 'incorruptible' in English, or is so deep into politics that he has no concept what the meaning is at all.

But I am incorruptible and I'm going to keep on keeping on with this campaign to bring the events of last summer in Tzfat to international light.

Instead of taking his suggestion, I sent the text of "Dirty, Stinking, Tzfat Laundry" to every related charity organization, major Jewish newspaper in the US, Europe and elsewhere as well as to major news services internationally - mentioning the fact that I had been contacted by a member of the Tzfat Municipality who thinks that I should be quiet about having been left to die in order to rehabilitate the city.

If you can read Hebrew, read the synopsis of the recent State Comptroller's recent report here: http://tinyurl.com/2gzjll

If you cannot read it, it says that about a BILLION shekels in donations were received by the Northern part of Israel during the war with Lebanon last summer.

A large part of that did not go toward the intended purposes.

Let that sink in, a billion shekels is largely unaccounted for, while people were left TO DIE, abandoned by the Tzfat Municipality, except for 17 members (out of 350). My husband and I are two of those people.

Meanwhile, the city of Tzfat is in such economic straits that the education budget has been cut to the bone, our street lights will be turned off after 1:00; garbage collection will be reduced; social services have been drastically reduced; the cultural centers, which house the libraries, are closed...

I am making an international issue of this for the sake of justice and justice alone. Those who know me know I have no political or personal ambitions.

My only interest is that the perpetrators are brought to justice and that the money supply that keeps this corruption going is dried up.

I ask you to contribute to the betterment of Tzfat. I ask you to notify all of your loved ones and friends about what transpired here. Tell them to make the issue known in their local newspapers, other media, synagogues and communities.

As you can see from the response of this politician, politicians react to exposure. They don't like it. It is our most effective tool in the fight against corruption. Put the spotlight on them. Do not be afraid of them. Make them afraid of you. Politicians are very afraid of the truth coming to light. Let this ugly, ugly truth come to light.

There may be another war coming and it is expected, if it does occur, to be far worse than the last. If you do nothing to insure your safety, you can expect, without a shadow of a doubt, to be abandoned and stolen from again in the event of war.

If they get away with it once, they will be even more brazen next time.

We must make an international issue of this. By now, the report of the State Comptroller has most certainly been handed over to the Office of the Prime Minister. The State Comptroller can not do anything personally. All he or she can do is report the facts and known and recommend action. Nothing has been done inside Israel – and nothing will.

We must, MUST, take this story to the world - it is a story so shocking that it will make international waves if it is known.

Don't let the politicians fool you. This is the only way to rehabilitate the city.

Don't let there be a next time. Your life and the lives of your loved ones depend on the actions you take now. Believe it. The Municipality of Tzfat and the complicity of the national government have already proven that. We can only depend upon ourselves. No one else cares.

I have contacted many Jewish organizations, charities, synagogues and newspapers. I would appreciate the names of any that you think may have donated to Israel during the war or that may need to know this story.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com