Sderot: Israelis leave, Palestinians arrive
Security threat causes many residents of the city to leave. Lowered costs lead many families of Palestinians cooperating with Israeli government to buy or rent vacated homes
The threat of Qassam rockets on Sderot brought about a recent exodus of many residents, but their homes have not remained empty. The falling property values allowed many families of Palestinian cooperating with the Israeli government and defense forces to buy homes, even mansions, in the more targeted areas of the city.
In the past six months, some ten Palestinian families arrived in Sderot, joining the 250-300 Palestinians already living there. Attorney Nathan Shreiber, who represents the Palestinians in the region, told Ynet that lowered housing costs are not the only incentive for the families to move to Sderot.
"As the situation in Gaza escalates, so the flow of people will increase," he says.
The Palestinians have become a common sight in the Sderot and surrounding areas. During Ariel Sharon's tenure as prime minister, one such Palestinian set up a tent in front of his farm, protesting that the government was shirking its responsibilities to him and those like him.
An additional community of Palestinians lives in Ashkelon, but is much smaller compared to that in Sderot.
Because their lives are based in Sderot, the families asked the municipality to build them a mosque and a Muslim cemetery. The request is still being formally debated, but sources in the municipality say that there is no intention of granting it, so as not to create tensions in the community.
"The minute that one of these residents will die, there will be a problem, because they will need to bury him in a special plot. They won't want to be buried anywhere else," Shreiber said.
'I'm afraid'
Many of the older, Jewish residents of the city are not happy with the "new settlers". One woman told Ynet that, "with all due respect to them, I'm afraid. Even on Yom Kippur I forbade my daughter from leaving the house."
"I don't think that such coexistence is positive, rather it's even dangerous. Even now, there are some young girls who have gotten pregnant from them," she continued.
For their part, the Palestinian community remains insular and concerned. Shreiber explained that the new residents are "family members of older Palestinian residents who came to visit and understood that returning to Gaza would be too dangerous for them. We submitted a request for them to stay in Israel, and I believe that the state will allow it."
The attorney is familiar with the stance of Jewish Sderot residents, but isn't getting worked up about it. "They can't work against the Palestinians who cooperated with the government because they have Israeli IDs and are citizens in their own right."
"I think they're getting a bad rap – they helped and are still willing to help the state, and the state doesn't always return the favor. They live among themselves and don't bother others," he added.
The Sderot municipality prefers not to address the situation. According to them, this is a case of only a few families and not a phenomenon that requires special attention. "At any rate," one source said, "we can't do anything about it."
