Landscaping contractors were filmed Monday in Haifa’s Neve Shaanan neighborhood collecting garden waste on top of a large banner bearing photos of hostages held in Gaza and a call for their release. The workers appeared to step on the sign aggressively and purposely, according to an eyewitness.
“This incident, in which sanitation workers desecrated a sign of the hostages, is intolerable, inconceivable and unbelievable,” said Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav.
Footage of municipal workers collecting garden waste on a hostage sign in Haifa
(Video: Artyom Kharchenko)
He stressed that the workers are not municipal employees and added, “The work of those involved has been halted, and we will summon the contractor for questioning. We will continue to pray for the swift release of the hostages.”
City Council member Artyom Kharchenko from the Connected to Haifa Our Home party told Ynet how he learned of the incident. “One of my students saw the sanitation workers stumping on a sign with pictures of hostages while clearing pruned branches, and dragging the sign on the ground without any shame.” He said he arrived quickly and saw himself what was happening.
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"This isn’t something you can miss," according to Kharchenko. "The banner was covered in trash and cut branches. I asked them: ‘Do you know who’s in the photos?’ They said they didn’t know and that they only speak Arabic. And I’m telling you, they know Hebrew better than I do.”
According to Kharchenko, a student told him the workers had deliberately stepped on the faces in the photos in an aggressive manner.
Haifa City Council member Artyom Kharchenko“I asked the worker who said he was in charge to immediately clear the dirt from the sign, fold it up and give it to me,” Kharchenko recounted. “An argument began. I told them I wanted to speak to their manager and that I’m a member of the Haifa city council. They told me they work for the municipality. Inspectors arrived and took down the details of both workers.”
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Municipal workers step on signs calling for the hostages to be released
(Photo: Artyom Kharchenko)
Kharchenko stressed his demand is very clear: “I’m not racist, but someone who doesn’t respect the lives of hostages and someone who doesn’t respect the country that pays their salary, should not be working here. I demand they not work in Haifa at all. You don’t respect the country or the city. After two years of war, there’s no such thing as not knowing we have hostages. You can’t miss that.”