If you ask the commander of the Jaffa police, The state of the residents personal safety is the best that it has ever been. But a peek into the citys backyards reveals protection rackets, family feuds and a cycle of bloodshed that refuses to end. Were sitting on a powder keg over here. When it explodes, everybodys going to get hurt, warns a long-time resident of Jaffa who believes that this summer is going to be particularly 'hot'. A little more than a year ago, Israel Hayom ran an article which described Jaffa as a quiet city, a city with a strong real estate boom, whose welfare everyone desired. Bino Gabso, the legendary Dr. Shakshuka, described the new state of affairs in Jaffa as follows: Men walk their dogs and women ride bicycles. But that was only Jewish Jaffa. In Arab Jaffa, people laughed at that statement, saying that it referred to a different city. It was obvious to everyone that only when the sparks from the conflagration that is taking place on the Arab side of Jaffa reach the Jewish sections, the situation wouldchange, and a different kind of article would be written about Jaffa. So we went back to the city that since 2009 has had too many unsolved murders, all of whose victims have been Israeli Arabs. We found that everything has a price. In many cases, an out of place word can be worth twenty thousand shekels; a person who cuts in front of somebody on the road will put down thirty thousand shekels to avoid unpleasant consequences, and the price of murder is one hundred thousand shekels yes, just to bear the loss and keep ones mouth shut. After that, it costs a good deal less. There is another unsolved case in Arab Jaffa. In this Jaffa, everybody knows everything about everybody, and nobody talks to the police. Among themselves, everybody talks to everybody else all the time who said what to whom and about which murder. But the police are off-limits and the Jewish neighbors are definitely not involved. It is a chicken-and-egg thing: if Jews get hurt, the police will come and make trouble. So calm is preserved even though everybody is willing to swear that any moment now, the Jews of Jaffa will feel the heat as well. Jaffa's The Wire Detective: As you were running away, you threw something into a trash can. The police saw you throwing the object, which made a lot of noise when it fell in. What was it- Suspect: I didnt throw anything. Detective: Im telling you that you and Jihad were on your way to commit a crime of some sort. What were you planning on doing- Suspect: Thats not true. We were going to eat at Victory. Detective: Im telling you that a person who goes walking in the street in the middle of the night with a bullet-proof vest, a gun and a flashlight isnt on his way to eat. This is something else. In the Jaffa District and in Tel Aviv police's Central Unit, officials say that the unsolved cases are very hard to crack because this population doesnt talk. But when we leave the boiling-hot Ajami neighborhood at the beginning of the summer and arrive at the air-conditioned office of Deputy Commander Yoram Ohayon, everything looks and sounds completely different. Its likely that Jaffas situation has never been better in terms of the residents personal safety, the personal safety of the people who come here every weekend and the safety of the businesspeople, says Ohayon. During my time, quite a few murder cases in the district have been solved, he adds. We caught up with Deputy Commander Ohayon as he was packing up to move on to his next assignment as commander of the Yarkon District. He says he is leaving his replacement a good row to hoe. All our success comes not only from the polices hard work but also from the cooperation of the citys Arab residents. Everybody realized that keeping the peace was in everyones best interest. To be honest and fair, I will tell you that of course, we have not succeeded completely. A few days ago, my wife asked me whether I thought that a day would ever come when Id get rid of all the criminals and the thieves. The answer is no, but if I manage to reach the calm that we have created here in Jaffa in other places, Ill be a very happy man. The residents whom we met do not quite agree with Ohayons description of matters. Some of them told us this week, Ohayon is living in a fantasy. It was difficult to find anyone who was willing to be identified by name because an interview with a newspaper gets you a hail of bullets on your doorstep, so everyone spoke off the record. Those who were willing to talk recall how, when the latest murder occurred on Shivtei Yisrael Street, everyone went out into the street and saw Abed Bawab fall to the ground from his motorcycle. But the clearest memory of the past year is actually from last Yom Kippur, when the atmosphere on the street was tense and police reinforcements patrolled the narrow streets. That did not prevent the murder of Hassan Zini, 27, a local resident with no criminal record, immediately after the holiday. As in most of the latest cases, no suspect has been found almost a year later. Police officials believe that the background for Zinis murder was personal rather than criminal. On Saturday night, shortly after midnight, Zini was sitting in a caf on Kedem Street with his friends. At one point, he began walking toward his home on Ibn Sina Street. It was then that a motorcycle came toward him. Zini started to run, but the assassin caught up with him, fired a burst of gunfire and fled. Nobody can break this cycle of murders, says attorney Sharon Keinan, who for the past fifteen years has been involved in all the murder cases connected with Jaffas Arab sector. Sometimes mothers come to me, asking me to leave their sons in jail even though they are innocent, says Keinan. Theyre afraid that when their sons leave prison, theyll want to take revenge. At other times, the victims brothers come to me and say, We have jobs and weve started to live normal lives, but this murder obligates us to take revenge. We have to get back to business. Keinan smiles in hearing the polices rosy description of the situation. As far as Im concerned, over the past fifteen years, the situation in Jaffa has only been getting worse. Violence is becoming more common. There are more weapons on the streets, he says. Washing away the evidence Everybody agrees on one thing: a good deal of crime in Jaffa has nothing to do with Jaffas residents, but rather with unsavory characters from outside the city for whom Jaffa is a prime location for all sorts of criminal activity. For example, gangs of car thieves that operate in the city often involve cooperation between young Russian girls from Bat Yam and criminals from Kafr Qasim. Just recently, gunshots were fired in the Hajji Kahil restaurant. The incident made the headlines when one of the people involved turned out to be one of the attackers sent by Dudu Topaz. As in other incidents, this one, involving the gunfire, was quickly silenced. This is an excellent example of the way things work here, Ohayon says. A minute after the shooting went down in the middle of the night, everyone was busy using hoses to wash away the evidence. As if nothing had really happened. Its a mentality that we cant deal with. If a person doesnt complain, I cant make him do anything. Ohayon is right. In a place where a quarrel over a dog can end in a gunfight between neighbors, it may be hard to find rationality. But just like in sports, sometimes it seems that in Jaffa, statistics do not lie. Of seven cases in which the victims were Arabs from Jaffa, from December 2009 to the summer of 2011, only one case has been solved. Even if a great deal of information about the other six has been gathered, it is not the kind that will help the police close the cases. You can be sure that if it were Jews, the situation would be different, Jaffa residents said this week. But Ohayon stands behind his people. Thats nonsense. The residents of Jaffa are tax-paying citizens who have the right to service from the Israel Police just like any other resident. I can promise you that they get it, too. Like giving aspirin to a cancer patient He blocked our car and got out holding a handgun. He fired at us and hit the windshield. Father and I ran toward our house. We waited nearby because we wanted to complain. I spoke on the telephone and then I saw 'A.s motorcycle. 'A' took out a gun and started shooting at me. I ran toward the car and they fired eight bullets at me and then ran off. My mother was wounded and we took her to the hospital. (From the police testimony of a Jaffa resident who survived an attempt on his life). Summer is good for Jaffa in every way. In the area of the flea market, there is not a table to be had in any of the restaurants at night. Even the drug dealers who sell 'soft' drugs to students and young people who come from the center of the country say that business is very good. In the Abu Seif orchard, business is booming. It is final exam time in the universities, and all-night parties are in full swing. Somebody has to supply the gang from north Tel Aviv and Florentine with stuff to improve the mood. Its also wedding season for the various wedding halls in Jaffa. The car thieves have learned that it might not be a good idea to mess with Ohayons police officers, who patrol around those halls. In any case, business is better in the citys northern sector, but the numbers show that there has been an increase of only about two percent in car thefts as compared with last year. What about protection rackets? Well, they have crossed over from Clock Tower Square and the promenade, heading toward the Tel Aviv Port. Its more awkward to take protection fees from your neighbors businesses, but with the Jewish crime families mostly behind bars, the criminals suddenly find the nightclubs at Tel Aviv Port tempting. Its all a function of education, says a Jaffa native who also happens to be one of the citys best-known residents. The Tel Aviv municipality really is engaging in projects to benefit the Arab residents. Its trying to get education in here so that people can learn professions and have a better future. But its like giving aspirin to a cancer patient. Its not even Prozac. After years of neglect, you cant expect that things will be all right here and that people wont go into crime or succeed in avoiding a fate that promises them unemployment. Whats funny and sad in this whole story is that the Jewish residents, the police, the government and everybody who is close to the matter thinks that they wont be hurt. But this is a powder keg, and when it explodes, everybodys going to get hurt. Things are definitely simmering, says Keinan. You see more and more cases, more young people going into crime. Its not that we run out of cases. Consider that this mentality of omertá, of family honor, makes it very difficult for the legal system to function. Nevertheless, I think that it is too early to turn Jaffa into the Triangle [an area in the Galilee encompassing three Arab-Israeli towns], and anyone who does that is just blowing hot air. Information for freedom of action I saw them as they surrounded us on Shivtei Yisrael Street and when they blocked us. They stood five meters away from our car. 'A' was driving. 'T' opened the door and got out and fired a bullet at our car. (From the testimony of a Jaffa resident who survived an attempt on his life). The population in Jaffa is almost equally divided among Jews and Arabs. It has always been this way. Because of the good neighborly relations, crime in Jaffa has never had anything to do with nationalism. The status quo has been preserved to this day. However, the real division is beginning among the Arab population. The Christians are divided into two groups, the Muslims into three, and everybody informs on everybody else. When they provide this information to the appropriate people, the criminals get, in exchange, an advantage in the power struggles that they have with one another. If we can believe the local residents, this means a great deal of freedom of action for petty crimes. The police find it convenient to turn a blind eye to burglaries and trafficking in light drugs, says a young man on Japhet Street. If you want to believe the fantasies of those folks, go right ahead, Deputy Commander Ohayon says with a smile from his chair. Theyre inventions. So if there is truth in Jaffa, it is somewhere in the middle. As we cross Clock Tower Square under a spectacular sunset, we can only look in amazement at the abundance of luxury apartments that people from outside the city are lining up to buy, and then at the darker, paralyzed areas on the other side of Jaffa. On that side, there will be no quiet tonight.