"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Arab sector in Israel isn't heeding Coronavirus procedues properly

If there's any other segment around Israel besides the Satmar-like clans who aren't following directives properly during the Coronavirus crisis, it's the Arabic sector:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Israel’s Arab sector of not adhering to the health ministry’s guidelines for combating COVID-19, including a major lack of social distancing in Arab population centers, and urged health professionals in those communities to call on the public to observe the rules for the sake of everyone.

“This corona is no longer a disease. It is an epidemic that hits everybody. It does not discriminate between Arabs, Circassians, Bedouin and Christians,” the prime minister said in a meeting with senior Arab doctors at his office in Jerusalem.

“There is a problem in the general public, and there is a problem especially in the small villages,” Netanyahu noted. “We are going to fix this immediately.”

The virus does “not discriminate between religions and sectors; therefore, all of the country’s citizens must be fully responsible and show strict discipline. We can take all the steps that we have and it will not help if the general public does not respond accordingly,” he added.

Netanyahu stressed that if one sector of the public is not following the restrictions, it would “lead to the infection of dear and beloved family members and the public at large.”

“There is mutual responsibility here,” the prime minister said.

“I ask for the cooperation of the entire Arabic-speaking sector, of Israel’s Arab citizens. I ask you, for yourselves and for our common future, please strictly follow the instructions,” he said.

Moshe Lion, the mayor of Jerusalem, which is home to some 350,000 Arabs, announced that the capital may soon enter a lockdown unless residents took the guidelines to stay indoors seriously.

In the city of Jaffa adjacent to Tel Aviv, where around 30% of the population is Arab, it seemed to be business as usual on Wednesday, with many cafes, knaffeh places and stores still open to the public.
So who knows how much of that area could be infected and at risk of the same? Just like the Haredis, they're proving colossally irresponsible, if you know where to look. This is exactly why, if proper action isn't taken to make them cut this out, the crisis could go on for longer.

Update: and speaking of ultra-Orthodox clans like Satmar, this Times of Israel article points to how those living in NYC are also posing a horrible problem. All of them literally believing the Torah and prayer alone will protect them. Those who don't live insular lifestyles know better.

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