Boys interrupted
The residents of the Cypriot resort town of Ayia Napa go on high alert every time a busload of Israeli youths drives in. Are they right to be stressed? Yifat Glick saw our finest breaking hotel furniture, drinking themselves senseless, badmouthing the locals, driving wildly, and risking their lives jumping off cliffs. 'The more dangerous it is, the more we like it. We want the threat of being smashed on the rocks'
Vandals' heaven
Shahar and his friends discovered the high and dangerous cliffs as soon as they arrived in Ayia Napa for their vacation. Rumor of cliffs that you jump off "just for fun" spread by word of mouth from one Israeli tourist to another. The jumping cliffs are but one of many attractions that the Cypriot resort town has to offer, but for some reason, the Israelis have turned the resort turned it into the Israeli vandals' heaven.
"The youths come here for three reasons," a travel agent said. "It is cheap; it is far from home; and you can run wild with no parents to stop you. They rent bikes, often without having a driving license, drink huge quantities of alcohol, smash things up, make noise at night, and even break into rooms.
"It has become so bad that I have to warn them when they book their vacations. A group of 16 year-olds is due here tomorrow, for example. I had begged them: 'do not shame us. Represent us proudly.' I told them that if they take risks and run wild as their friends before them did, no hotel would book Israelis in the future. They said nothing would happen and that they would play nice, but they are just kids."
Shahar and his friends, however, did not really care about pleasing the travel agent. They also do not care about spending their money on expensive, secure bungee jumping. Jumping off cliffs is cheaper and much more dangerous. "The more dangerous it is, the better," Victor said. "The risk of smashing against the rocks below is what it is all about. This is what excites us, pumping adrenaline. For even greater fun, we drink before and get high after, which makes it all the more the interesting."
The alcohol deal
The Ayia Napa messy vacation started as soon as the plane took off in Israel. On the Thursday afternoon flight, Meni would not switch off his cellphone even when the plane was taking off. The flight attendant asked him to turn it off time and again, but he just wanted to spite her.
Matan, his friend, later remarked, "Meni is such a wise guy." After he switched off the cell, while the plane was ascending, he started changing seats. The attendant had to walk up to him again, asking that he sit in one place and take his feet off the seats. At a certain point later, he sprayed another passenger; a man aged 50, with water.
The passenger threatened he would complain, but Meni did not care. "It is a little like when we went on school hikes," said Matan excitedly. "Once, when we went on a class hike, we put on underwear and masks and spilled water all over our teachers. We did crazy stuff. We are the types that can demolish hotels."
Business owners in Ayia Napa have already realized that some Israelis pay. At the entrance to one of the strip clubs, a sign reads in Hebrew: "Special Deals for Israelis." Barak and Asaf, who visited the joint, were not excited. "The said they have a special deal, but we actually paid 10 Cypriot liras, almost $20, for quarter of a dance with a stripper, and we did not really enjoy it. We went there because we never went to a strip club before and were curious."
The youths meet in one of their rooms in the evenings, put their liquor bottles together, and drink from plastic cups they bought at the local grocery shop. Alcohol, the Israelis say, is the local gasoline. "We drink all the time - in the hotel, on the streets, and before and after parties at the clubs."
"The math is simple," Matan said. "In the clubs, alcohol is terribly expensive, so we make our own special deal - we buy booze before we get here, at the duty-free shop, or from the local grocer, and drink before going to the party. We are high when we get there. This is why we sometimes make a mess in the hotel rooms, but everybody does that. It is a trick we pull. We sit together, drink, have a few laughs, dance, and go wild without even leaving our rooms."
Let's go crazy
After midnight, they go out to the bars and clubs to dance. These establishments profit mainly from drinks they sell, but the Israelis are already drunk and refuse to buy alcohol "because it is too damn expensive." Local bouncers have already developed an eye for them, refusing them entry. The Israelis are certain it is because the club owners are anti-Semites and Israel haters.
Israeli tourists in Ayia Napa share many tales about the so-called anti-Semitic policies of club owners. Victor said, "The Castle Club, for example, is supposed to be the coolest. Everybody said so. The problem is that they would not let us in. We heard the owner is a Jew-hating Lebanese, and that they throw an Israeli flag on the floor and dance all over it. They play good music there. Many of us tried to get in, but failed. The best thing to do is deny your identity, say that you are German or Greek, never Israeli."
Several hours later, I talked to one of the Castle Club security officers, who explained why they do not like letting Israelis in. "They do not buy drinks and they are too young. Most of them are not even 18. Also, they misbehave. Last week, a group of kids was here that harassed local girls. I had to kick them out. Several weeks ago, a few boys sneaked in from the back door. We have been even more careful since. They said the owner is Lebanese? This is rubbish. He is local."
Willy, owner of the Lazy Lemon apartment hotel added: "The problem with the young Israelis is that they do not know when to stop drinking. They are happy because they are away from home for the first time, but they do not feel that they are damaging the rooms. They cannot control themselves."
Willy is a big man, with a big mustache and two strong, tattooed arms, "yet even I cannot stop them from acting silly when they are drunk. This is why I do not like certain Israelis. They mess up my hotel. There is nothing they did not break: tables, chairs, air-conditioners, doors, windows, cups, plates; the works. They also fight among themselves. Sometimes they fight here like it was a boxing club."
Some hotels in Ayia Napa have been refusing Israelis in recent years, others decided to make them pay $50 deposit when they check in, while others isolate the Israelis in a separate wing where guards patrol the premises and fine the noisy guests.
Don’t threaten me, bitch
At 10:00 on Friday it is checkout time at Anathea Hotel. Dozens of Israelis are supposed to leave here and fly back home. The rooms will be occupied by other kids later this evening. The schedule is tight because the rooms must be cleaned in just a few hours. The guests should be here with their keys, but none of the kids is ready yet.
Mayan Zalender, representative of the Flying Carpet tour company, is trying hard to stay calm, calling the rooms, waking up the sleepy boys. "Morning, handsome," she addresses one of them. "It is 10 o'clock already. Where are you? You were supposed to be here a long time ago. What do you mean, you just woke up? I put up signs and reminded you that you have to check out by 10. You forgot you are flying back today and must hand over the keys?"
At 12:00, the hotel manager approaches her, breathing heavy and looking quite upset. "Room 379 is a mess," she said. "There are pizzas on the table, the doors are damaged, and there is broken glass everywhere. A piece of the door is missing in another room. One of our maids saw boys from another room cleaning their bikes with our sheets and towels. They will be fined for that. Don’t give them back their deposit money."
When the youths learned they are not getting back their deposit, a riot broke out. "Don’t threaten me, bitch," one of the boys yelled in Hebrew. "Don’t threaten me and give me back my money, you hear?" Turning to his friends, he said: "Lets break a few more things. She's asking for it."
While the group was checking out, Dor, one of the youths, walked out to his room balcony and spilled a whole bottle of beer into the swimming pool. Mayan was most upset. "Why would you do such a thing?" she yelled. Dor explained that he did "what everyone was doing." The pool was dirty anyway. Some spilled beer into it, "others pee in it. We're just fooling around. Otherwise, what's the point of coming here?"
What is this good for? I asked.
"We come here after we end 12 years of schooling and exams, and before we enlist with the army. We might soon be killed in some military operation or terror attack, so what have we got to lose? We are trying to live the moment and make the best of it."
Motorbikes in the swimming pool
Last week, the Tourism Ministry issued a warning to the renters of bikes and scooters on Ayia Napa: They now must check where the bikes were rented from and whether they are licensed and insured. This followed a series of accidents involving Israeli youths. I
n fact, at least six Israelis are caught here every day - driving drunk or without a helmet. Last year, they even had fatalities. Several months ago, a few Israelis, who returned drunk to their hotel, parked the bikes in the swimming pool. The hotel owner refused to give them back their passports and called the police. They were arrested and fined.
The whole vacation was over in three days. Now, the Israelis need to take their bus back to the Larnaka Airport, but there are more surprises in store. When the Cypriot driver arrives to pick up Asaf and Barak from Filipina hotel, it turned out they had just gone to return the mini-tractor they had rented.
The driver fumed, driving around the hotel for 20 minutes, until the two arrived. They were very relaxed entering the bus. "We did not know that the pickup was coming," Asaf apologized, but the driver would not be placated. "Those Israelis," he yelled. "They think they own the bus and they can come and go as they please." Next, he checks the back seats, only to find out that one of the boys is lying there with his shoes on the new upholstery. "Is this how they taught you to behave growing up?" he asked the boy. "I would like to take your suitcase and step on it, if I only could."
With all the screaming at the back of the bus, Asaf and Barak summed up their vacation. "We drank constantly, but we did not break anything. We rented a mini-tractor, but it did not work properly. We wanted it to go faster, like 150kph. We tried to pick up some Swedish girls, but they did not want us. I think it is because they are anti-Semites."
