During periods of crisis or elation, people tend to make all sorts of promises based on the emotions of the hour. More often than not, such promises end up as empty words. That is not entirely the situation in the case of victims of last month's disastrous fires in which so many people suffered serious damage to their homes, and loss of precious possessions such as family photo albums, letters and postcards from long-dead relatives, as well as essential household possessions. Finance Ministry and taxation officials were quick to announce that all fire victims would be compensated for their losses, regardless of how the fires started or whether or not the householder was insured. While it is true that a number of people who sustained losses have been visited by representatives of the relevant authorities, who have made assessments, and who in some cases have sent work crews to repair some of the damage, there are still too many people living in temporary accommodations who have not been contacted and who have no idea of what tomorrow will bring. Israel Radio's social justice activist Keren Neubach, who features different aspects of social injustice on her morning program Seder Yom (“Agenda”), has made a point of interviewing such people with the aim of clearing the path of bureaucracy and getting things moving. To her credit, such interviews are not one-time exposés to placate the frustrations of any one particular person. She follows up until the problem is solved. It may not always be solved to the complete satisfaction of the victim of the system, but she certainly facilitates progress. She is now doing the same with regard to compensation for losses resulting from the fires, and given her record, the chances are high that she will succeed where the victims themselves have failed. Their failure is not due to lack of trying. Those who know what to do and whom to contact have been doing so. But there are some who say that they have not received any guidelines as to what they should be doing and to whom they should be turning. Others have said that they have done all that was required of them, but assessors have been tardy in preparing the reports that are necessary before any work can begin.
A grateful family loads their car with supplies in Zichron Ya’acov(photo credit: AVI NOWITZ)