Drinking the night away
צילום: תומריקו
Israel's fight clubs
A week after the murder of a teen, Ynetnews checks out the hot spots of Rishon Lezion; one bar owner: ‘The kids come armed for battle’
RESHON LEZION - It’s 10 p.m., Thursday. The old industrial park of Rishon Lezion – the city’s center for nightclubs – is just beginning to stir. A Ynetnews reporter ventures out to witness the tumultuous nightlife just one week after the stabbing death of 16-year-old Fuad Malikov.
It’s still early. The thousands of revelers streaming towards the disco clubs and bars are nowhere to be found. Instead, a few cars blaring music from rolled down windows are the only hint of the crowds that regularly come out Thursday night.
Gili Damari, 20-year-old local, knows every detail about the murder of Malikov, but he has no intention of staying home.
“Listen, there’s no doubt you have to be more careful,” explains Damari. “We see fights every week over really stupid stuff. There are people who see their friends arguing and jump in without even knowing what’s going on.”
Is he scared?
“I’m not, but my mother is,” he says.
By 10:30, the parking lots have filled up, and now cars are taking over sidewalks and the driveways of private businesses. Arik Seveg, a 30-year-old bar owner, is explaining his theory of headline-catching pub violence.
“People already come wound up because of what happened on the drive here or because of the parking situation,” says Seveg. “All it takes is just a little more to set them off. It’s frightening.”
How does he deal with the violence?
“First, we made the minimum age for entry 25 to limit friction,” he says. “I wasn’t a young person so long ago, but they weren’t so violent in my day.”
Walking the beat
The murder of Malikov got the mayor to declare an emergency campaign against club violence, to which the local police department committed 25 officers.
At 10:45, a patrol is organizing in the industrial zone. The mission is not to catch a killer or a thief but to get kids home safely after a night of partying. The police stroll around in pairs in the hopes of deterring teens from fighting.
Another 10 detectives are working undercover.
“I’m not thrilled that there are cops here,” says Micah Schulman. “They should raise the drinking age and punish those who sell to alcohol to minors.”
Club owner Yoni Caspi, 56, is outraged by Schulman’s insinuation: “I don’t sell to minors in my club. They already come from home liquored up. They come out as if to war, with blades and pocketknives.”
It’s almost midnight and the area is packed. Young people hop from bar to bar. Cars are honking, jockeying for open spaces. Police hope that the only problems tonight will involve parking.
