Give Me Housing Or Give Me Death?
From the JPost:
Some settlers slated for evacuation have threatened to commit suicide if they are not provided with viable relocation options, Disengagement Authority head Yonatan Bassi said Monday.Now, I've posted before on the fact that I feel that the housing options being offered to the evacuees of Gush Katif seems woefully inadequate. And that makes me feel a tremendous amount of sympathy for those settlers , and anger towards the authorities who did not properly take care of the evacuees' housing needs. But threatening suicide is just too much. Yes, it's a crappy situation. But if someone, ostensibly one with a family and much to live for, can threaten to give up on life because he doesn't like the housing options offered to him, I have to conclude that either he has problems that have nothing to do with the disengagement, or that it's all melodrama.
posted by orthomom at 8:38 AM
6 Comments:
How dare you judge whether being thrown out of your home smakes someone suicidal? How about you tell me where you live, amd I come over and throw you out of your house with your four childeren and all your belongings. Then you tell me.
Threaten suicide over home eviction? Anyone who actually does that is nuts. End of story.
"How about you tell me where you live, amd I come over and throw you out of your house with your four childeren and all your belongings. Then you tell me."
How about I don't. That being said, even if you managed to evict me, I can't see myself threatening suicide over it. Especially when you mention having my four kids with me.
Moishe the great compromiser offers the following observation:
People under duress, like, say, the folks of Gush Katif, sometimes say stupid things. That doesn't make the people stupid, or less deserving of sympathy.
(Doesn't make the stupid statements less stupid either, but it should caution us not to assume that every declaration made in the heat of the moment actually reflects what the speaker actually believes or intends to do.)
- Moishe Potemkin
The horrible thing is that I imagine the stress of this may be enough to develop suicidal tendencies in people who are already vulnerable in that direction and under a lot of stress. I really hope people are making sure to get therapy, and meds, and etc.
That said, I don't think the people at risk are the people saying they'll kill themselves if they don't get appropriate housing. And the latter may be muddying the waters so people at risk don't get the attention they need.
The stress on families right now is terrible. Many Yamit familes got divorced after the eviction back then. Since suicide is so common in Israel for economic failing, I don't think its viewed by your average Israeli as being ultra-radical. (not to mean it won't horrify everyone)
However, the Israeli government couldn't care less about the settlers. They are an annoyance to Sharon's plans for a casino in Northern Gaza.
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=86440
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