(live here in the neighborhoods)- After the horrific murder that took place last night (Wednesday 27/9/23) in the morning hours in Haifa, in which a resident of the Halisa neighborhood, Ataf Abu Khalib, was shot by masked men. Later, as is known, another murder took place, this time in Basmat Tivon, in which 5 people. It is believed that there is a direct connection between the two events. As a result, the residents of the Haifa neighborhood shut themselves in their homes and report a tense atmosphere and difficult feelings. In addition, it was decided that the educational institutions in the neighborhood will not open this morning (Thursday).
Last night in the evening (Wednesday 27/9/23) an announcement was made on behalf of the Haifa municipality and the director of the Ministry of Education in the district, according to which all educational institutions in the Halisa neighborhood will be shut down today (Thursday).
The language of the municipality's announcement:
Following the murder case that happened in Haifa, the educational institutions in the Halisa neighborhood will be shut down tomorrow.
Following the serious murders that took place in Haifa and due to the complex situation in the Halisa neighborhood, the administration of the Haifa municipality, in a joint decision with the director of the Haifa district in the Ministry of Education, the school management and the management of the community center in the neighborhood, decided to shut down all educational institutions in the Halisa neighborhood, tomorrow, Thursday , and this out of responsibility for the safety of the children and for maintaining their safety.
Because of this, tomorrow all educational institutions in the Halisa neighborhood, including the community center, will be closed for all activity.
The municipality of Haifa and the professional teams hold evaluation meetings and decisions on the subject will be made accordingly.
Abu Khalif was shot to death by masked men while driving his car near a check post. According to residents of the neighborhood, Abu Khalif was not the target of the assassination at all, but one of his relatives. Many residents express deep concern and point out that the deliberate murder of innocents is a step up Scary and dangerous.
As mentioned, a few hours later, 5 family members were murdered in Basmat Tivon: two brothers in their teens, a woman in her 40s and her son, as well as another young man. According to the suspicion, an incident came in response to the murder of Abu Khalif.
The residents of the Halisa neighborhood report severe feelings of fear as a result of the events, and fear that this is not the end and that there may be more events. That is why many shut themselves in their homes and others even left the neighborhood, at least until the outrage passes.
◄The streets are empty - the Halisa neighborhood is mourning, the residents are afraid of the next case • Video
"You never know, anything can happen"
"I'm afraid that these murders are a snowball that won't stop," says a resident of the neighborhood. "For years, a foreign population has entered the neighborhood, not the locals, and this is the result. For so many years there was calm in the Halisa neighborhood, and here an innocent man was killed. The days that used to be are over. I went out a while ago on the street. There is no traffic at all, I have never seen anything like this In Halisa. For years we were on the street, talking to each other and the children playing. Now everything is dormant and dead," he says sadly.
"This is a step up - they started killing innocents. If you want to hurt someone and there's no way to get to them, you kill their brother or their father. I agree with the decision to leave the children at home right now, anything could happen. Tomorrow is the funeral, and you never know what will happen after her".
Afraid of more murders
"The situation in the neighborhood is catastrophic," says a resident of the neighborhood. "Even two weeks ago there was a murder of someone from the neighborhood who was on his way to work. The situation is very tense, also for youth and young people. Many residents who are related to the families of the murdered have now left the neighborhood, because they fear more murders.
In the last two weeks, two residents of the neighborhood were murdered, people who were wealthy and above. We see a lot of police presence here in the neighborhood. We have a large police headquarters under Khalisa, but even though there are so many police they have not been able to prevent the murders.
Residents do not trust the police, they feel unprotected. The feeling is that the next murder cannot be prevented. The murders were in the morning, on main streets and they still managed to murder. How do the police not know who murdered? This is not only in Haifa, but in the entire Arab society. After all, there were 5 more murdered in Tivon High School less than 24 hours after the murder in Haifa, teenagers and a woman were murdered there."
The whole neighborhood is in mourning
"I am in favor of shutting down the educational institutions and we also need to organize a demonstration. We must understand that this is an emergency. Everyone here knows everyone in Halisa, we are a village within a city. We know the people who were murdered well. There is real grief here, it is very difficult for us."
"We feel that there is indifference in Israeli society to those murdered from Arab society. Apart from saying 'Blessed is his memory', nothing is done. I wish that the number of those murdered would stop already and not change, and that these murders would be the last. I am afraid that the situation will continue and deteriorate. I am afraid that there are more people in the crosshairs, because They are from the same family, even though they are good people."
CEO of the Neve Yosef Shimon Yifarah Community Centers Network: People are afraid to leave their homes
The CEO of the Neve Yosef Community Centers chain, Shimon Yefarah, agrees with the decision not to open the community center in the neighborhood. "The situation in the neighborhood is known and sensitive," he says. "This is a recommendation from the security officials, so I accept it. The director of the Halisa community center will come to Neve Yosef and work from here."
A long process of healing is required
"This is an unusual event, we have never encountered anything similar to this here. The decision to shut down the educational institutions is very correct, God forbid we would not want to expose people to danger. The workers are afraid to leave their homes or even to sleep in their homes. The situation is not sympathetic at all to say the least. We held a series of consultations And in the end, a municipal decision was made and I understand it. We would be happy to join all the factors in a long process of healing."
The Oslo disaster - smuggling weapons from the Palestinian Authority through the Shabaim into Israel
I remember Halisa 50 years ago, with the exception of the stone houses above and a few more families under the Rushmiya Bridge. Most of the neighborhood was inhabited by immigrants from Poland, Romania and Morocco and their children, and there was also an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva on Gush Etzion Street, corner of Jordan Street.
This neighborhood was a charm of a neighborhood until Jewish families started leaving in the early 90's.
It is sad to see similar processes in other neighborhoods in Haifa.
I wish we could go back to the old days.
are they scared???? are they??? For God's sake, all of this is coming out of their neighborhood. Those who are afraid are those who live elsewhere and fear that it will also reach their neighborhood, which is not far from Chalissa. After all, everyone saw their motorcycle parade on the eve of Yom Kippur in Neve Shanan, and in the Hadar Alyon neighborhood there were also those who sought to provoke provocations, and they all leave Chalissa. There is nothing to be done the violence is rooted in them and the day they admit it they will be able to start a healing process.