Isreal's other problem involving suicide

[Jason McCullough]

Stolen from A&L Daily, Israelis killing themselves because of poverty:

Menashe Habakuk was once described as Israel's golden boy. National judo champion during the late 1980s, he won the gold medal at the 1990 Maccabiah games, married an adoring fan and went to work as a trainer in a studio near Tel Aviv.

Six years later he was working part time as an air conditioning repairman in Modi'in, outside Jerusalem, raising two small children and dreaming of getting back to the sport. When a friend's plan to open a new studio fell through and he lost his air conditioning job, he went into a downward spiral of poverty and depression from which he never emerged. On April 23, the last day of Passover, he killed himself. He was 36.

Habakuk's death would have gone largely unnoticed, just one of the estimated 400 to 600 Israelis who kill themselves every year for a variety of reasons. But one month after his death he re-emerged as a media star of sorts. He was one of 18 Israelis believed to have committed suicide during the preceding two months because of economic desperation.

The rash of "economic suicides," as they have become known, exploded onto the front pages on May 22 with the death of Ze'ev Nir, 67, a failed caterer from the Haifa suburb of Binyamina. Nir's suicide became front-page news because of his family. His brother, Ehud Manor, is one of Israel's most celebrated songwriters.

In a letter he left taped to his body, Nir asked his family for forgiveness, explaining that he could

no longer endure the family business's financial difficulties. "I am going through a terrible emotional crisis, with which I can no longer live," he wrote. "I beg your forgiveness, and wish you all long and happy years without me."

Within a day after Nir's body was found hanged in his backyard, newspapers were running pictures of others, including two that very week: Rachel Hartman, a schoolteacher who killed herself May 19 after being laid off, and Rafi Cohen, 45, owner of a Beersheva electronics store, who killed himself, also on May 19, saying in a note that his debts were unmanageable.

Labor and Social Affairs Minister Zvulun Orlev responded by calling for government action to stem "the wave of suicides resulting from the economic situation." He called for an interministerial team to provide people suffering financially with advice and services in employment, housing and mental health. He also called for the formation of support groups and Internet forums.

Sigal Habakuk, Menashe's widow, put the problem starkly in an interview with the daily Yediot Ahronot. "We couldn't buy treats for the children," she said. "Sometimes we couldn't even afford milk and bread. From time to time they cut off our electricity and water. We didn't have a gas line, and our phone only took incoming calls. The struggle was nearly impossible. Menashe was used to seeing a full refrigerator at least on holidays. It could be that that's what broke his heart in the end, the empty refrigerator on the holiday.

[Idar Thorvaldsen]

The greatest damage the Intifada has caused Israel probably doesn't stem directly from the suicide bombings, but from the economic problems it has caused the country. They lack cheap Palestinian labour, tourism has declined sharply, and the IDF needs a lot of money for its operations, among other things.

Their economic hardships pale into insignificance comparing to that endured by the Palestinian population, of course, but it's a powerful incentive for peace for the general public. The Palestinian social structure probably allows them to cope with their problems better than the Israelis, from what I've read.

In a way, both "problems with suicide" stem from economics; it's highly unlikely that you would have all these suicide bomber candidates if the situation in the territories wasn't as awful as it is.

[Rywill]

Interesting. I hadn't read anything about this before, but it makes sense if you think about it.

[TimElhajj]

Man, that's just sad. I imagine all the death and destruction going on has to inform that kind of decision, too. I didn't know anything about this either.

The Palestinian social structure probably allows them to cope with their problems better than the Israelis, from what I've read

I can see how that's true, too. Interesting point.

[Toddy]

There was an article about this a while back in the NYT, how the Palestinians are coping with, well, pretty much nothing, because their society is so closely knit. They really look after one another in the Arab world. In that way, they're a lot more advanced than we are.

[Peter Frazier]

In Australia we tend to view the aboriginal societies in a similar manner. i.e They are very communal and look after each other as a matter of course. This is regarded as being great thing right up until it involves government funding being squandered and misappropriated.

[TimElhajj]

In Australia we tend to view the aboriginal societies in a similar manner. i.e They are very communal and look after each other as a matter of course. This is regarded as being great thing right up until it involves government funding being squandered and misappropriated.

Peter, I can't quite make the connection. What does squandered and misapporpriated govt funds have to do with a close knit society?

[Peter Frazier]

Probably the communal aspect- it means that nepotism is rampant and there is a culture of not detailing expenditure because much of it has to do with spurious actions like paying a cousin's phone bill or lending your brother the money for a new car and then writing the loan off. There is quite an uproar whenever the (white) Government ministers suggest reforming the system because it's construed as paternalism.
The original aboriginal communities were truly communist as regards possessions. I remember a recount by an explorer who, when he first met a group of aboriginal men, offered the leader a blanket. The leader then cut the blanket into equal size pieces and gave it to each of the other men. Things have changed quite a bit since then but the fact remains that aboriginal people never refuse requests of aid from their kin. (And they have an incredible grandmother-network that keeps track of whose kin is where.) This is great for those in need but it also means that anyone who is lucky or hard working never has the chance to develop more wealth because they immediately are surrounded by people claiming hardship and chipping away at any gains. Likewise anyone who gets a government job is also expected to bend rules for the community.
So what I was offering was the view that tight knit communities are great for those in need but they can also create their own sort of economic ghetto. It offers an interesting community choice- would you care to live in a society where everyone is close and supportive but poor with no future prospects, or one where your money is yours but noone gives a rat's arse about you?

[Jason McCullough]

Unlike the US, which produced the ward bosses of Chicago?

[Peter Frazier]

I guess the difference is that one group knows they're doing something wrong and tries to disguise it and the other group expects it to be done to fit with their cultural norms.
I'll leave you to figure which is which. :wink:

[Joe O'Malley]

The part that's interesting tom me is that Israel has all these suicudes each year, but none of them seem to want to blow up any Palestinians along the way. It just seems odd to me. When I was a kid I was told that suicides were often done for attention or to make a statement. Killing yourself over poor economics and not making a statement-what is that?

[Anders Hallin]

Why kill someone when you have the military to do it for you?

[Idar Thorvaldsen]

The part that's interesting tom me is that Israel has all these suicudes each year, but none of them seem to want to blow up any Palestinians along the way. It just seems odd to me. When I was a kid I was told that suicides were often done for attention or to make a statement. Killing yourself over poor economics and not making a statement-what is that?

You're dead, aren't you? If that's not a statement, I don't know what is.

[Jason McCullough]

I guess the difference is that one group knows they're doing something wrong and tries to disguise it and the other group expects it to be done to fit with their cultural norms.
I'll leave you to figure which is which. :wink:

Mmm hmmm.

[Joe O'Malley]

You're dead, aren't you? If that's not a statement, I don't know what is.

Agreed, it is a statement. But more often it can end up being a question. If there's no "goodbye cruel world" note, a lot of suicides are never really reported as such. In the US each year hundreds of people die from "self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head." If there isn't a ntoe the authorities are very hesitant to go on a limb and pronounce suicide. It's the same with motorists barrelling into concrete barriers and driving off tall bridges. No note, no declaration.

Sorry, that's off the point. I was just pointing out before the difference between the Palestinians, willing to blow themselves and however many innocents they can take with them to smithereens in the cause of (what they call) justice, versus the Isrealis in the same country who prefer to die quiet, despairing deaths. They are less than a zip code away, yet a world apart.