It seems the city bought special equipment to remove the graffiti in a better way. Interestingly, the city workers were busy working on the graffiti as they were being protected by the police from the local bystanders crowding around expressing their opposition to the removal. Many of the bystanders (some right there and some a bit further back) upset were not wearing masks, and while the police could have bothered them for that, they did not (that I could tell) and were simply keeping them at bay.
That neighborhood could be as beautiful as most of the city is, but instead it looks like a public bathroom stall. I find this very sad. And that is separate from the hurtful messages painted all over the place there.
The biggest issue with this is that it is an exercise in futility. By tomorrow all the graffiti, and more, will be back, and possibly with even more hurtful messages. This has been done before and will be done again. This is a useless move, though it too must be done.
The city has to find a more useful way of dealing with this. They can't choose to ignore it entirely, because of the court order, but just removing it without dealing with the root of the problem is futile. I dont have the solutions but they likely include actually using the installed security cameras and heavily fining violators, along with talking with community leaders and coming to an understanding.
As futile as it is, removing the graffiti is at least a good start.
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Chicago fined landlords and owners in condominium buildings heavily if graf not removed by them in 48 hours. City got cleaner quickly
ReplyDeleteAs someone who does not live in RBS, and is not familiar with these neighborhoods, I'm curious what these messages said, where they were painted, and who the target audience is
ReplyDeletethey are largely anti-zionist messages, images of swastikas and palestinian flags, and declaring immodestly dressed women should not pass through the neighborhood (in various forms of messages)
DeleteRemember, this is in Ramat Bet Shemesh BET. Ramat Bet Shemesh Aleph, for example, has none of this.
ReplyDeleteOh we have our fair share of exhibitionist kooks. As does main Beit Shemesh.
ReplyDelete