About a boy on the road

Frimet Roth: The boy (Pencil)

This past week has seen activists on behalf of people with disabilities all fired up here in Israel. 

Somebody - new to our Whatsapp group - shared details of his encounter with an escapee from an institution in Tiberias, northern Israel, for people with disabilities. 

The frightened youth had "jumped into my car" to quote the man. And then pleaded to be driven to the nearest synagogue.

The man photographed the boy - I have posted my sketch of that photo - and after a few questions concluded he had fled from the residence [name deleted]. 

The boy cried while relating to the man that he'd been  physically abused by staff there.

The man whose name I am withholding despite his posting it, called and spoke to the director of that institution, while recording the conversation. He then posted that audio recording which I have heard. 

He explained in the call that the frightened boy had told him he is being beaten there. 

He went on to say that the moment he had arrived at the institution the boy ran to the guard's booth refusing to enter the building. Without skipping a beat, the director  inquires whether he's certain the boy is from her institution. He explains that if it's the facility beside the pool, then that's the one. She confirms that it is. 

The director then requests the name of the road on which he had entered the caller's car. The caller provides those details. We then hear the director ask a co-worker, "Which resident fled and escaped again?"  She learns his name and then thanks the caller for contacting her. 

She then concludes with this: "Everything is OK and is being taken care of" adding "It's a resident who has been hitting himself since the morning. He's restless." 

The man, who did as instructed, then reported the incident to the police. Shortly afterwards he updated our Whatsapp group with this: 

"Update from the Tiberias Police: The incident is closed. They spoke to the director of the institution and she will deal with it."

Needless to say, this enraged our group. As one member aptly responded:

"Unbelievable. Left it with the director of the institution. Who at the police updated you? The abuser is the investigator, the judge and the executioner."

Accounts of abuse at institutions for people with disabilities and police indifference to them continue to emerge. Yet the government of Israel fails to act. 

These places need to be shut down as they have been in the rest of the developed world.  Why is Israel so advanced in other fields and yet so prehistoric in this one?