We're not Nazis, we're punk-anarchists
By Moti KatzThe teenagers in Petah Tikva's Gan Yehonatan club stress that they are not Nazis.
"We're punks!" they say.
"People think all new immigrants are anti-Semites. That's not true at all," one of the teenagers says, referring to anti-Semitic incidents in town, like last year's desecration of a large synagogue.
"We don't like the ultra-Orthodox but we wouldn't paint swastikas on synagogues either," he says.
Some 150 young immigrants from the former Soviet Union frequent the Gan Yehonatan club in the afternoons. The purpose of the club is to keep the youths from drinking and hanging out in parks.
The boys admit uncomfortably that they are familiar with the Nazi-Russian youth in Petah Tikva.
"There are groups of neo-Nazis - not here at the club, though. They exist in every town in the country," says one youth.
Some of the youths regard Israelis with anger and distrust. They are a close-knit group, but complain that Israelis treat them with contempt and see them as stereotypes. Most of all, they say they don't belong. The reports of vandalism and attacks on ultra-Orthodox residents have intensified this feeling.
When asked what they know of Nazi and anti-Semitic groups, they act embarrassed. Gradually, however, they open up and talk about the "Nazi skinheads" and terror they impose on other groups.
'Good' and 'bad' skinheads
"You must distinguish between two groups of skinheads," one says. "There are good skinheads and Nazi skinheads, called boneheads." (Nazi skinheads are often called boneheads by traditionalist skinheads and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice.)
"The boneheads shave their heads and wear white suspenders with jeans or military trousers, sometimes with a white collar," one boy says. Most of them are over 18 years old, some even serve in the military, and they advocate typical Nazi ideology, based on hatred of Jews and Israelis, he says.
"A few months ago, the boneheads held a ceremony to mark Hitler's birthday in one of the cemeteries," a boy says.
Irena, 18, from the central region, has spent some time with the Nazi boneheads.
"I was a skingirl - that's what you call the Nazi skinheads' girls," she says.
Irena's boyfriend was the group leader, dubbed the "Fuhrer."
"We were a bunch of immigrant Russian boys and girls, and we had a certain dress code. The boys usually shaved their heads and wore military pants.
"On weekends we'd meet in parks, where we'd drink and smoke and listen to Nazi music. Nazi music isn't Rammstein [a German band that incorporates elements of metal/hard rock, industrial metal and electronic music]," she says with a smile. Some evenings fights would break out between her group and others who met in the parks. Irena's boyfriend, the Fuhrer, was involved in fighting among the groups.
One group at odds with the Nazi skinheads is the "good" Nazi skinheads, as the youngsters call them. The good skinheads are not Nazis or Jew haters - "they are radical right wing Islamophobes who believe in the working class," a youth says.
There are many shaven heads among the good skinheads, who wear jeans, sometimes bleach-stained, red suspenders and red laces on their military boots. One boy says that he was beaten up once by the Nazi skinheads for wearing red suspenders. "The red symbolizes Communism to them, and the Communists defeated the Nazis," he says.
Most of the youths in Gan Yehonatan categorize themselves as punk-anarchists. "We, the punks, usually wear tight black trousers and various Mohawk hair styles," he says. "We also have metalists, who listen to heavy metal music, wear lots of earrings and rivets, army boots and are into piercing."
Some of them are convinced that the boneheads desecrated the big synagogue and tried to frame the punks.
After school, in the afternoons, the Gan Yehonatan group walks along the gravel path leading to the club in Petah Tikva. Several girls, some dressed in black, greet each other politely. Boys with thuggish expressions chain smoke and converse among themselves in Russian, dotted with Hebrew phrases.
The club provides the teenagers with activities to help them deal with their difficulties in creative ways. At least seven punk and rock bands have come out of the club, as well as a breakdance group. The club also has a music room, a carpentry workshop and a basketball court.
After the lights go out
Gan Yehonatan opened about three years ago, after a municipal committee headed by Nurit Tibi, director of the Beit Hila educational center, discovered that drinking and violence were prevalent among immigrant CSI youth. The committee decided to open a club in an old rundown building belonging to the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, opposite the town's Yad Lebanim park.
It wasn't easy to reach the CSI youth, says youth activity coordinator Bella Alexandrov. But gradually they started coming and infused life into the place.
In the late evening hours, the lights go out at Gan Yehonatan. Only two girls remain with Alexandrov to confide their problems. The rest of the group, equipped with cigarettes and booze, drift off into the dark corners of the park.
Alexandrov looks at them sadly as they disappear. She hopes this evening will end without any violent incidents, and that tomorrow they will come back "home."
"Because this is the only place that could possibly constitute a home for them," she says.
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nazis r killers there posers and not punkz flipen haters gosh!!!
i hate the nazis . wut in isal . oh some surived from the holocaust + their still doing the nazi party that freaken suckz
bring back the Palestinians?
The raise of Russian neo-nazi groups in Israel should not surprise the ones who know the history of this land in XX century. The big number of Gentiles living here always produced the ones who expressed their hatred toward Jews in openly hostile forms. Thus, ethnic German community in Palestine (so called Tampliers) under British mandate also had national-socialist party of Palestine, which had strong links with the notarious Mufti of Jerusalem and was dissolved in September 1939. British authorities found the solution in exchange of ethnic Germans of Palestine who were wishing to repatriate for British POW and in relocation of the rest to Australia in 1942. Hope that Israeli government would be wise enough and will solve the issue in a more or less similar way, if it wants the country to remain "a shelter from anti-semitism".
I was a skinhead who didn't hold racist beliefs but that is irrelevant. I can understand how some punks and skins can be disenchanted with people thinking they are nazis, but what are they Russian nazi dingbats in Israel thinking??? First off the nazis thought of Slavs as the untermenschen, which is not that far off as being Jewish in their eyes. On top of that they believe in nazi ideology and go and settle in Israel of all places. Better hope Hamas doesn't find these kids because it sounds like they're stupid enough to fall for anything, even 72 virgins.
the liberal return law has encouraged anyone to establish themselves a jew..There is no single standard.Airline pilots ,doctors have standards that are universally correct and unquestionably established.The Jewish agency under Gen Uzi Narkiss in 1980 took in Indian Gentiles and muslims from Bombay, and are still accepting the same Bne Israel synogogue as thecame source.It is time for one standard .the traditional halacha, No one dictates to the vatican who is a catholic.No goverment should enter a religous matter.We cannot have multiple standards ,in order to please everyone.Not is building rules,car safty standards are there Lassafaire attitude,that will work.There will soon no longer be a bonified certified Jew.Play with 3500year established rules will bring disaster to our belief ,nation and country.Should we allow the reality of the term Jew to fade into no meaning.Should are daughters and sons marry out of faith ,because Israel is liberal and doesn't care.
I would think that Israel with all it's problems would still be the last place, you'd come across a skinhead. The article stated that some of these youths have served in the army ? I would think by serving in the army , they'd would be a much a part of society as anyone else, so why do they feel isolated and turn to this Nazi crap. Any skinhead walking around in Israel should by thrown in Jail and/or deported. They shouldn't be serving in the people's army or walking the same streets as there fellow citizens. At the same time Israel needs to be more accepting of all their citizens Jew or non Jew , especially if they serve in the army, there's Othordox Jews that don't even serve.
Espousing and/or promoting truly nazi ideology and action is not considered treason in Israel?? I'm for free speech, but this is a different matter altogether. As for the young punks, same differences exist in UK, US, Canada: not all mostly-shaven heads are racist sociopaths. Also, Mr. Moti Katz and Ha'aretz editors, your distinction between these young people and "Israelis" is highly insulting; if they are, as you claim, IMMIGRANTS to Israel, then they, too are Israeli - or do only Moroccan, Iraqi, German, Polish, American, South African, Syrian, Argentinian, etc. immigrants get to be called and treated as full-fledged Israelis? The real neo-nazis in Israel, if existant, should be tried and, if they have advocated wide-spread oppression/destruction of Jews and/or destruction of the Jewish state, convicted of high treason & dealt with accordingly. As for the others, maybe they'd identify more as Israeli & intermingle more if the rest of you embraced them as fellow counrymen
The antagonism of punks and neo-nazis is an international phenonmenon. The punk culture is anti-authority, anti-military, angry, depressed and rebellious but not rascist. The music grates on adult ears but many punks play in bands or write lyrics and it is central to their subculture. Neo-nazis are militaristic, anti-Jewish, anti-Black, anti-Hispanic and also angry. The commonalities are apparent to outsiders who see shaved(neo0nazi) or partly shaved (punk) heads and depressed, angry, anti-social young people. But they hate each other deeply all over the world--US, Europe, Latin America and Israel. Both attract a lot of alienated and mentally unstable youth.
Do it now.
We can’t throw out the Terrorists or the Nazis it seems. The communists aren’t much better. There is no particular reason to throw out the punks or anarchists, but if they start acting like anarchists used to, they should be arrested just like anyone else who commits crimes.
To Sociology 101 I have an answer the attack on a Jew because he is dressed as Haredi is Jewish antisemitism. This attack is not some evening college class. It is hatred perpetrated by a group asocial inviduals practicing age old antisemitism. These drags of society should be returned to the land of Staling and Rasputin instead living in Israel. Jews in Baltimore walk with a streimel and are not molested. Shame on you for tolerating such degenerated type of social behavior
Please tell me this article is a Purim joke. You cannot be serious! How could Russian youths want to be Nazis, after the Nazis were responsible for about 20,000,000 Russian deaths?
With all their minor details in dress codes they sound lehavdil like groups of Chasidim. If some are Nazis and hate Jews, why are they living in Israel? If I hated Russians I wouldn't live in Moscow! If the public see all skinheads as boneheads, why don't the 'good' skinheads stop being skinheads? If the British public thought anyone wearing a trilby was a mafia killer, we frum Jews would stop wearing trilbies and find another style of head covering.
Actually, you're wrong, dead wrong. There are vast differences between neo-nazi and anti-nazi skinheads as you could probably tell from the frequent and very violent clashes between them. Anti-Nazi skinheads stem from the anti-fascist current within punk rock and working class ska music. As someone who grew up in the punk rock movement and is a proud Jew, I knew many anti-Nazi skinheads and anti-fascist punks who violently confronted neo-nazis, rednecks, all types that you and i despise. You dont understand the movement, and although looking back today I realize that most of it was pretty silly and a product of youthful soul-searching, we and those like us were diametrically opposed to neo-nazis, and we were certainly not one and the same.
Rosenthal- your ignorance is embarrassing! It wasn't Olmert who allowed all these bent Russians into Israel, but the gov'ts of the 1990s who reacted to their "demographic threat." "heroic settlers"...HA! What a laugh. I'd like to see how heroic they (you?) would be when the IDF you routinely abuse finally drops you like a bad habit. You'll come running and crying to us diaspora Jews for $ while calling us Jew-haters. Face it: what Zionism has become is BAD FOR JEWS. Corruption and unaccountability are so built into Israeli culture that no government could remedy it. Even if your nazi-esque wetdream of ethnic cleansing came to pass, Israel would consume itself with such dreadful mismanagement.
This is not as bizarre as you think. The Russian aliya in the 90s had many non-Jews who felt mariginalized and discrimated against. The fact some of their youth would embrace the Nazi skinhead culture is actually an understandable reaction. "The Jews reject me, treat me with disrespect, so to cope I will be a skinhead." This decision is also combined with drugs, unemployment, and a sense of hopelessness. It is shocking, but on another level, its not so different from other youth who join violent gangs, or engage in anti-social behavior. We've long had gangs and youth crime in Israel, and experienced problems with earlier immigrants. As bizarre as it seems, this is actually a related phenomenon. And there is a way out. We need to more accomodating and welcoming to non-Jews in the Russian community. At the same time, we should confront these skinhead youth directly.
The Olmert government would rather let assorted Gentile Anti-Semites into Israel than allow in proud Jews who support the heroic Settlers. After all proud Jews would never vote for the Olmert government which wants to give up Judea Samaria and half of Jerusalem to the Hamas Nazi-like government. Gentile Anti-Semitic immigrants however might vote for the defeatist Olmert-Livni government since the Olmert-Livni governments policies are NOT good for the Jews.
Thefault is of the Medina. These Russian skiheads are not Jews somewhere in their ancestry there was a Jew which would qualify them as Mischling under the Nuremberg law but they have no Jewish blood . You are surprised about their behavior
Everyday I come to realise more and more that everything around us is a human carnaval. How is to live in a contraditory, hypocrite social system? Easy. The truth that matter is because being a jew is just a label. Religion is just a system designed to slave the spirit. People have different ideas, ideals and sometimes badly, but philosophies creed. Good article.
When I was in Vienna and tried to come to Israel with the Youth Aliya in 1938 there Haliziyut which attempted to change the Galut mentality what has done allowed the drags of society from Russia to immigrate to Israel and you are surprisedabout their behavior
These people aren't real nazi's who really follow hitler, they're displaced kids who look to do something extreme and rebellious. HARDLY reflective of the average Russian-Israeli either
How can a nation that lost six million because of this ideology allow this to take place in their home-land. This is a desecration of those that were persecuted and a symtom of the left allowing these people to come under the pretext of the LAW of return. They are not only not Jewish but active Nazis. This is a recent phenomena in Israel if it is allowed to continue it will mushroom out of controll like every other illness which is not controlled at its first recognition.
A very depressing article. British jews have to stand up and deal with these types of people in the uk all the time. We have a big communal security operation which helps protect us.The thought that neo nazis exist like this in israel is pretty disgusting. It is time for israel to come down hard on them. Zero tolerance of nazis in israel would be a good start.
the differences between the boneheads and skinheads is pretty clear to me; punk music rocks and I bet that some of the lyrics really express how pissed off the kids are with the world we've made for them. Maybe Ha'aretz can expand the culture page to make it a little more contemporary; lots of brilliant social scientists have looked to marginals and artists as a barometer of the society. Lets hope the security services and others deal with the boneheads or the skinheads will and it won't be pretty for the boneheads!
None of this would happen if the Law of return only allowed Jews to go to Israel and not some off beat Russian with one Jewish grandfather and his wife and kids. As a Russian Jew I ask you please stop letting them into Israel.
Skin heads are skinheads. What surprises me is the way Moti Katz interviews them, as if these kids are deep fountains of profound knowledge. Thanks Moti, now I know that a skingirl is a skinhead that is a girl...oooh, I couldn have figured that one out if that skingirl hadn't explained that to you... deep...very deep.
NO. I can't believe what I red. Tell me it's a nightmare ! THAT IN ISRAËL ?