A good model to follow in the US while we wait for the usual suspects to “express their concerns” about such hate and bigotry. — Ed.
Every night, dozens of young men in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood take to the streets and go out searching for girls.
But theirs is not a promiscuous search. In fact, the group of some 35 volunteers is looking to prevent such interaction and to stop what neighborhood residents have overwhelmingly complained is a growing problem in Pisgat Ze’ev – Arab men going out with Jewish girls.
What was once a rare occurrence, residents say, has become the norm in this north Jerusalem suburb, which shares a side of the security barrier with the Palestinian village of Anata and the scattered dwellings on the edge of Shuafat refugee camp.
Residents now say that, due to Pisgat Ze’ev’s location and increasingly mixed Arab-Jewish population, the phenomenon of mixed dating has grown, with violent outbursts breaking out frequently between Arab and Jewish youth over the matter, and with growing communal anger over what many here feel is simply unacceptable.
“A rare occurrence?” a shopkeeper in the localmall asked sardonically this week when asked about the situation. “Myfriend, it’s not rare at all, this has become the reality. Pisgat Ze’evhas turned into one gigantic whorehouse, please excuse the expression.”
“[The young Arab men] come here to the mall and we see it allthe time, they take the girls to the bathroom, they laugh with eachother about it. And as if that wasn’t worse, one of them opened up anactual whorehouse just up the street. There are Jewish girls in there!It’s nothing short of a disgrace!”