Request for Back-Up

I cannot stress to the residents of Tzfat strongly enough how important it is to expose the goings on in this town to the absolute maximum extent.

We have seen that the Mayor of Tzfat is media-shy. He evades attempts on the part of the local media to interview and question him. This is most true of the local paper "Chasifah L'Tzafon", which is the most openly critical of his performance.

He upbraided the Speaker of the Municipality for not doing a better job of (mis)representing the Municipality during the war.

The fact that he is so afraid of the media tells us two things:

1) He probably has something to hide.

2) Exposure is his weak point.

We must "hit" him in his proverbial Achilles heel.

If he and his cronies evade the local media, how much more so will they be terrified of exposure in the major media - and how much more so is this exposure, therefore, essential.

Those who organized the recent meeting at the Hotel Mercazi meant well when they advised those who attended to contact politicians and the ombudsman.

But they were naive.

This ombudsman has "distinguished" himself as a virtual do-nothing. His predecessors , considered far more effective in their jobs than he, did little more more than write up the failings of government bodies in an annual report.

To paraphrase an old adage (cleaning it up a bit): You don't scare a prostitute with a sexual organ.

No politician is scared of "being told on" to bigger politicians. They know those above them in the hierarchy are even more corrupt with even more to hide and more to lose. There is a code of honor among thieves among politicians. They don't tattle-tale on one another.

Exposure to the light is the fear of the politician. (Rendering them useless is their ultimate terror, but that is matter to be discussed at another juncture). Exposing the excesses, abuses and ineptitude of the Municipality, which makes life so very difficult in Tzfat for so very many on an everyday basis, and which became a direct and indirect threat to life during the war is what we must do.

Do not allow cowardice to masquerade as ideology and loyalty as we have seen in some of the posts on this board. Speak out! If you relinquish control over your life and your fate to others you may be sure that you will be shafted and ultimately endangered.

When so many people are being hurt, when corruption has reached the level where people were left to die while others luxuriated in hotel rooms for free - we must do every legal thing we can to correct the wrongs.

Among other measures; I have written to the New York Times in English and to the "Kolbotek "and "Medubar B'Tofa'ah" programs on Channel 2 in Hebrew asking for in-depth investigations of the goings-on in Tzfat.

I ask you to support that effort by adding your own personal stories and observations. Every request for investigations increases our chances that Channel 2 and the New York Times will investigate this matter. They are flooded with requests for investigation. We have to flood their mailboxes with requests to be noticed.

Thank every intrepid and justice-loving one of you who is capable of thinking and operating out of the box for your cooperation in advance.

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